For Fan Car Friday this week we bring you Frank and his gorgeous 66′ Malibu “Faith”.  Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with written consent from the owner.

“My love for 66’s started in the usual place, at home. My father purchased a 66 Malibu upon returning home from Vietnam in ‘67’. A hopped up 327 4 speed purchased from a GM engineer in N.J. as the story goes. My Father loved that car and polished it until the paint got thin. I came home from the hospital in the summer of 68 in the 66. Unfortunately, in the early seventies, my father severely injured and broke his leg, and was unable to drive the 4 speed anymore. He never owned another manual. He sold the car to neighbor with a warning that the small block had big block power and to be careful. Just a few days later the car was totaled. My Father went to see the car and the motor and trans had been removed and misplaced. His leg was healing, and his heart broken the 66 was no more. Later he would joke that who ever stole that motor was in for a surprise and would find mountains for cam lobes.
That’s where, as a young man, all I ever wanted was a 1966 Chevelle. I saw the love in my fathers eyes every time he would tell of a street race. How other 327s in town accused him of flying small block flags with a big block under the hood. How he would run it hard and punish clutches.
Growing up my Father owned an Auto repair business for many years and used to say nothing ever came in quicker than the 66.
My childhood consisted of nothing but the desire to own a 66 and be like my Dad. My mother used to say I was born with a Matchbox car in each hand and stayed that way. Still the same way at age 51.
I built every 66 Chevelle model I could get my hands on, the same model kits over and over customizing each one to my liking. Combining parts from other kits and building a replica of my Fathers. Every one of them, a 4-speed.
Some kids collected baseball cards or played sports, I collected Hot Rod and Car Craft. Built models and practiced rebuilding carburetors my Father would bring home for me. I collected and pasted every 1966 article into photo albums, because some day I would need them when I had my own, so I thought.  I scribbled 66 Chevelle, Malibu, Super Sport and Hurst on just about every notebook, book cover and school wall imaginable.
My first car ended up being an early 70s Oldsmobile and so began a love affair with Rockets but never really lost interest in the 66s. Being blessed with several nice Olds and 2 Hurst cars they all were automatic. I had yet to have my Hurst Competition Plus like Dad.
My 40s were a troubled time in life and no cars were in my future. I never lost interest I just wasn’t an owner anymore.
One thing that troubled me during this time in my life, when I did get up the courage to attend a car show was the number of owners that would shun me the minute they heard I wasn’t an owner. I used to lie and tell them I was currently shopping, or a car was home under repair. Sad what I had to do just to be able to talk cars. Very sad indeed.
In 2015 I began shopping again, was it going to be another Oldsmobile, maybe a Ford. I am a closet Ford lover especially Flat Heads. Then I saw some postings for 66 Chevelle’s and I thought to myself it would have to be a 4 speed. I pulled out my Chevelle scrap books and the old 35mm slides of my father’s 66 and pondered the idea. Oh, heck lets go shopping!
I found just the car, a pretty good example in need of some help. Just what the doctor ordered for an obsessive, compulsive fruitcake like me. A 66 Malibu small block 4 speed.
I met the owner halfway at his credit union about 75 miles out of town on the day of purchase. We handled the financials and she was mine. My fiancée Julie was with me and her smile was just as large. She’s an enthusiast as well and calls herself a Chevy Girl. We headed
out of town, Julie behind me. A short time later I sat at the last traffic light with nothing but open highway in front of me. I turned her loose and pulled second on a sloppy shifter yet some how I was kid scribbling on my notebook again.
I never shun anyone at a show or cruise and even started a local car club based on friendship and understanding without judgement. The Ventura Classics Car Club. Kind of a Hot Rod church where all are welcome to talk cars. It really concerns me when someone asks about my car and then in conversation, they seem ashamed at not being owner. Those are my
converts and immediately perk up when I inquire about their interests and what they would want to own someday.
Our Club and the car folks of Ventura County have really been a Blessing and support system during the 5+ years of ownership for which I am eternally grateful In 2019, with the Grace of God, a good woman (Julie) and a dear friend (Mike) which I will forever be in debt to, she’s come a long way. With any classic there are always trials and troubles and she’s had more than the usual fill.
Mike was testing or should I say playing with the Muncie he just built me and sidestepped second gear, she started sideways, I slid sideways in the passenger seat, we smiled and there I was a notebook scribbling kid again.
She now has that Hurst Shifter, a smooth as butter Muncie and a Dyno run 500+ hp 383 stroker roller Small Block and a 12-bolt putting it to the ground. Some SS trim goodies but still a proud Malibu, no clones here.
Her name is Faith and the license plate says SI MUOVE Italian for “It Moves” and yes, she does.“

The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile which was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1977 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-Body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet’s most successful nameplates. Body styles include coupes, sedans, convertibles and station wagons. Super Sport versions were produced through the 1973 model year, and Lagunas from 1973 through 1976. After a four-year absence, the El Camino was reintroduced as part of the new Chevelle lineup in 1964. The Chevelle also provided the platform for the Monte Carlo introduced in 1970. The Malibu, the top of the line model through 1972, completely replaced the Chevelle nameplate for the redesigned, downsized 1978 model year.

The automobile marketplace was changing significantly during the early 1960s and became highly competitive in the smaller-sized car segments. The domestic Big Three automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) were responding to the success of American Motors’ compact Rambler American and Classic models that made AMC the leading maker of small cars for several years and increasing Rambler on the 1961 domestic sales charts to third-place behind Chevrolet and Ford. The innovative Chevrolet Corvair and the Chevy II, which was designed to compete with Ford’s Falcon, were losing ground. Ford released the mid-sized Fairlane in 1962, to which Chevrolet responded with the 1964 Chevelle based on a new A platform design. Riding on a 115-inch (2,900 mm) wheelbase, the new Chevelle was similar in size, simplicity, and concept to the standard-sized 1955–1957 Chevrolet models. The Chevelle was the U.S. auto industry’s only all-new car for 1964 and was positioned to fill the gap between the small Chevy II and the full-sized Chevrolet models. Introduced in August 1963 by “Bunkie” Knudsen, the Chevelle filled the gap for Chevrolet with sales of 338,286 for the year.

Two-door hardtop coupes, and convertibles, four-door sedans, and four-door station wagons were offered throughout the entire run. This also included a coupe utility (El Camino) which was a derivative of the two-door wagon. In line with other Chevrolet series, the two-door hardtops were called Sport coupes. Four-door hardtops, dubbed Sport Sedans, were available (1966 through 1972). A two-door station wagon was available in 1964 and 1965 in the base 300 series. Station wagons were marketed with exclusive nameplates: Greenbrier (previously used with the Corvair based vans), Concours, and Concours Estate. Six-cylinder and V8 power was offered across the board. Chevelles were also assembled and sold in Canada. While similar to their stateside counterparts, the convertible was available in the base Chevelle series, a model never offered in the United States. The Chevelle was the basis for the Beaumont, a retrimmed model sold only in Canada by Pontiac dealers through 1969. Originally conceived as an upsizing of the Chevy II with a unibody platform (similar to the Fairlane and the full-size Chrysler B-platform of the same era) which originated with the XP-726 program, GM’s “senior compact” A-platform used a body-on-frame construction using a suspension setup similar to its full sized automobiles with a four-link rear suspension (the differential has four control arms which are attached to the frame with rear coil springs sandwiched between the differential and spring pocket—this design was used with the B platform vehicles and later used by Ford Motor Company with its FOX platform automobiles).

1966 saw a complete restyle of the Chevelle on the previous frame that included smooth contours, a broad new grille and bumper treatment, and curved side windows. Bulging rear fender lines and a “flying buttress” roofline (tunneled into the “C” pillar) were highlights of the ’66 hardtops, shared with other GM “A” body models. The new body reflected the “Coke bottle” body shape that became the fad for American cars in the mid-1960s. A 4-door hardtop-styled Sport Sedan joined the Malibu series. It was an attractive car and was offered through 1972, but never achieved the high-production figures as the pillared sedan. Chevelles continued in 300, 300 Deluxe, and Malibu trim. Available engines were a 327-cubic-inch V8 instead of either of the sixes, or the mid-level option, a 220-horsepower 283-cubic-inch V8. Options included a tachometer, mag-style wheel covers, and sintered-metallic brakes, four-way power seats, a tissue dispenser, and cruise control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Chevelle

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