Page 73 - Demo

73Grand Sport lightweights. Even GM styling head Bill Mitchell got in on the action with his self-funded Sting Ray racer, co-developed with GM stylist Larry Shinoda and driven to the 1960 SCCA C-Modified title by Dick “The Flying Dentist” Thompson. The 427ci “Mystery Motor” was intended to return Chevy to the NASCAR championship and rocked Chrysler and Ford to their cores in 1963 but was outlawed before it really began. Finally, General Motors enacted a company-wide, selfenforced anti-racing policy in 1963 for a variety of real and perceived rationales. Miraculously, GM engineers designed and developed one of the ultimate high-performance weapons of the 1960s – the new Mark IV “big-block” V8 engine, first available for 1965 with 396 cubic inches for the Corvette and limited-production Z-16 Chevelle SS. In 1966, the 396 engine became a standard production option (RPO). The following year, the new Camaro followed suit with two versions of the 396 engine, and it was introduced to Nova Super Sport models in 1968. Among the die-hard Chevrolet racing teams that would employ Chevy’s potent new engine design was South Amboy, New Jersey’s Truppi-Kling Competition, headed by Ralph Truppi and Tommy Kling, with their young hotshot driver Ray Allen. The stars aligned for TruppiKling when Chevrolet unleashed the 454ci LS6 version of the Mark IV with 450 factory-underrated horsepower as the top option for 1970 in the Chevelle SS. The mighty LS6 grabbed the headlines on the track for 1970 and 1971, especially Ray Allen’s infamous 11-second NHRA SS/EA LS6 convertible prepped by Truppi-Kling Competition. Initially viewed as an underdog, the unforgettable Briggs Chevrolet-sponsored car was the lone Chevrolet capable of regularly defeating