American Muscle Car: Chevrolet Chevelle SS / Chevrolet Impala 409

Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 and SS-454 SUPER SPORT -- Chevrolets SS designation originally adorned the high-performance Impalas, but the most popular Super Sport by far was the Chevelle. All it took was the 396 and 454 "rat motors" to turn this little grocery-getter into a pavement-pounder! 61 - 64 Chevrolet Impala 409 SHES REAL FINE -- the legendary 409 Impala. Chevys 348 engine was fine for most everybody, but some people felt they needed a little more kick... people like Junior Johnson, Buck Baker, and Dave Strickler. When Chevy squeezed one horsepower per cubic inch out of this engine in 1962, it sent everyone in Detroit back into the engine lab, and practically everyone else in America to the Chevy dealer.