Nickey chevrolet history books

It was sold in 1973, when it became keystone chevrolet. This one measures about 6 and 18 inches wide and about 1 and 12 inches tall. Nickey history nickey peformance nickey peformance. But when legislation clamped down on dealerbuilt muscle cars, the gurus at nickey chevrolet simply conformed to the regulations and offered smoglegal lt1, l88 and 454powered machines. The new nickey performance camaro super cars are poised and ready to once again make muscle car history. Lot of 9 eisenhower dollars in very good condition. From michigans royal pontiac dealership and the soupedup royal pontiac bobcats they built and sold, to the new cars from such fabled names as carroll shelby, mr. Some of the most radical streetstrip cars known to exist were created in the 60s and 70s in nickeys hiperformance shop. Commonly found on the rear body, tail light panels, windows, etc. Nickey chevrolet also referred to as nickey chicago was a chevrolet automobile dealership located in chicago, illinois, usa. Nickey chevrolet buys the famous chuck daigh scarab the.

Nickey was known for the monstrous big block camaros, chevelles, and novas they produced as well as their catalogue selling almost any high performance accessory a guy could imagine, literally from. The cars were essentially race cars laden with smog systems. Early history of bill thomas 427 bigblock conversions for. Reventlow who along with warren olson, assembled a team of very talented racing car builders starting, with dick troutman and tom barnes. Nickey chevrolet was a chicago institution until it closed in 1977. Harrell would become nickey s performance advisor, overseeing client relationships as it pertained to performance chevrolets. Swissborn automobile designer and racing driver louis chevrolet sits behind the wheel of his prototype car. Using the formula which nickey pioneered back in the day, nickey performance is now offering the new state of the art camaro, in stage i, stage ii and stage iii configurations. The complete history auto editors of consumer guide on. Nickey vice president al seelig and parts manager don swiatek were. The last known car converted by nickey chevrolet before closing at. This type of plate would usually have been installed on the front of cars during the 1960s and 1970s musclecar era.

Thus began his next foray into the chevrolet history books when he transplanted a 427 into the new camaro, ushering in the era of supercar conversions and cementing himself as. The last known car converted by nickey chevrolet before closing at the end of 1973. Nickey chevrolet was the original super car headquarters. Probably the most comprehensive onevolume edition available. Nickey chevrolet was established in the 1920s at the corner of kedvale and irving park rd. Feature on 1967 chevrolet camaro converted to 427 power by bill thomas for nickey chevrolet in 1967. Nickey chevrolet was a major chicagoarea chevy dealer from the 1920s until the early 70s. Here is a 67 tahoe turquoise nickey camaro with a tripower 427 and the evil looking stinger hood. No discussion about chevrolet performance and the history of the company would be complete without mention of nickey chevrolet and don swiatek. Nickey chevrolet was the first high performance dealership to install a 427 engine in the newly introduced 67 camaro. One of the currently offered services on site at their st.

Quartet of nickey chevys, including a double copo, to sell. The chevrolet car and truck business traces its roots back to michigans lumber industry in the middle of the 19th century. Nickey chevrolet chicago vintage racing decalsticker. A few months after i was hired by general manager al seelig, he hired a wellknown, top chevrolet drag racer, dick harrell, to oversee the new nickey high. The complete book of american muscle supercars tom. Contains a lot of details on the various models throughout chevys history. It was developed as a competitor to carroll shelbys cobra. Inexpensive and smaller than the midsized muscle cars like the chevelles, it was able to accept a huge engine. Nickey chevrolet s final location was at 4501 irving park road, in chicago. New super cool nickey chevrolet decal for your camaro. From the late 1950s onward, nickey chevrolet in chicago, illinois, built a reputation as one of the countrys goto dealers for high performance parts, and later, turnkey cars. Supreme court transcript of record with supporting pleadings poplett, ray e, nash, peter g on. It is impossible to have a discussion about chevrolet performance and the history of the company without a mention of nickey chevrolet. Thus began his next foray into the chevrolet history books when he transplanted a 427 into the new camaro, ushering in the era of supercar conversions and cementing himself as mr.

Quick with a backward k before yenko, there was nickey. When the kennedy expressway was built nickey chevrolet moved to its final home, in the mid 50s. Lance reventlow and the scarab racing cars he had built by his own company which was incorporated in 1957, turned out be legendary. Nickey chevrolet 1960 1970s style license plate camaro. Jim drove it successfully until the end of 59 when the team was sold to dan blocker and the scarab was sold to augie. The car scored 999 points at the 20 muscle car and corvette nationals, receiving a concours gold certification and the award for the best chevroletmodified read more. But nickey wasnt exactly the name of a person, but rather the name of a company with several big players involved throughout the years. During the late 1960s, it became the largest chevrolet dealership and highperformance car parts shop in the world. Classic shop talk 1967 chevrolet nickeybill thomas 427.

Unfortunately, there are but a few true nickey cars still running around the streets. The complete book of american muscle supercars catalogs these amazing cars, along with the builders who unleashed them on the american scene. The original nickey chevrolet dealership traces its history all the way back to 1925. Nickey chevrolet buys the famous chuck daigh scarab. This car was originally an ss350 with the rally sport option, 4 speed, and a 3. Documented with the certificate of authenticity by nickey chicago and don swiatek as an l88 conversion.

Nickey performance is an industry leading custom hiperformance. This nickey chevrolet bill thomas anaheim license plate was purchased from a friends collection. The bill thomas cheetah was an american sports car designed and engineered entirely with american components, and built from 1963 to 1966 by chevrolet performance tuner bill thomas. Founded in 1925 and run for many years by brothers e. Nickey chevrolet 4501 irving park road chicago, il. Notarized affidavit from the second owner detailing the history of the car. Harrell would become nickeys performance advisor, overseeing client relationships as it pertained to performance chevrolets. Unfollow nickey chevrolet to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Lumber mills gave way to carriage and wagon manufacturing and the claim, before motorcars burst on the scene, that flint was the vehicle capital of the world. Within months after chevrolets september 1966 introduction of its allnew 67 camaro, nickey and nickeythomas ss427 camaros were on the road. Most nickey cars were camaros, even though you could get other models such as novas and chevelles. Having made a splash, the camaro offered the ideal platform for performance.

In addition to sales and service of typical chevrolet products, nickey chevrolet was well known for selling high performance versions of. Authentic firstgeneration nickey super camaros are very difficult to find, and are amongst the most valuable of collectible camaros, opening the door to highquality replicas like this 1967 rsss. For sale is an original nickey chevrolet high performance and speed equipment catalog. Supreme court transcript of record with supporting pleadings. Stefano bimbi of nickey performance super car history.

Nickey chevrolet started the craze of dumping 427s into camaros. Selling more chevrolets than almost any dealer in in america, the dealers highperformance department worked in conjunction with bill thomas as. Bill thomas race cars, anaheim, ca built 427 camaros for california customers, while nickey chevrolet, chicago, il covered the rest of the country. Camaro decal, nickey original super car headquarters. Fred cady 252, nickey chevrolet chicago 6564 chevy ii, original. This is a 1969 catalog due to the 1969 camaro being used as the reference car and options available on it. Nickey chevrolet of chicago was the original performance car superstore in the 60s and was responsible for helping create a new genre of what is now known as the super car. Of the three 1967 nickey camaros collector mike guarise has owned, this bolero red coupe is his favorite, and with good reason. This is the story of how those wagon makers quickly converted to producing automobiles, overtaking automotive. They created cars that were so different from the original vehicles that the. Documented with the certificate of authenticity by nickey chicago and don swiatek as an l88 conversion documented by nicb as delivered new to nickey chevrolet on 111773 notarized affidavit from the second owner detailing the history of the car the last known car converted by nickey chevrolet before closing at the end of 1973 the car scored 999 points at the 20 muscle car and corvette. Its twinturbo powerhouse is based on a gm skunkworks 427 cui c5r racing block and delivers over 1,000 rear wheel horsepower. Nickey chevrolet was a major chicagoarea chevy dealer. Yenko, shelby, baldwin motion, grand spaulding, and more.