Be Cool’s Bomber ’72 Chevelle

Be Cool's Bomber '72 Chevelle is a lot more than initially meets the eye. The Chevelle's fenders and quarters have been subtly flared while semi-gloss black accents break up the foot-deep Midnight Purple paint scheme. More than just a project car, the Bomber was a rolling test bed for new technology and innovation.

There’s a difference between the “project car” you have in your garage at home and the kind of “project cars” you see filling the carpeted halls of the SEMA show each year. These projects are collaborative team efforts, pooling together a brain trust of some of the best metal workers, fabricators, machinists, mechanics and aftermarket companies in the industry. While your project car might benefit from a couple of friends coming over on a Saturday to help drop in that small block you just rebuilt, these projects benefit from tens of thousands of dollars of donated parts, time and effort.

This is no ordinary LS1, as you can plainly see. First, it's been punched out to 388 cubic inches. Second, it's being force-fed by a ProCharger centrifugal supercharger. Oh wait, don't forget that this is the first LS motor to feature a completely custom velocity-stacked intake courtesy of Hilborn injection.

Getting this troublesome A-Body project off the ground and at SEMA is a story in and of itself, but suffice it to say, we’re glad it made it. In its current form, the Bomber is still a “work in progress.” Riding on a Schwartz Performance chassis, the Bomber was fitted with Baer disc brakes, Vintage Air climate control, a trick twin-fan polished Be Cool aluminum radiator, a custom Painless wiring harness, and all riding on first-of-its-kind Ride Tech coil-overs. Monster inky black Forgeline rollers are wrapped in Continental Tire rubber, adding to the Bomber’s mean stance.

Powering the big Chevelle is a rather unique setup, as so many LS engine conversions tend to be. Starting with a first-generation LS1 plant, the small block was bored and stroked out to 388 cubes, fitted with ARP bolts, a cool Canton pan, a Weldon Racing pump, and American Racing Headers. Above, Hilborn custom fabricated a criss-crossing curvaceous velocity stack intake unlike any other. Pressing the oxygen down those big pipes is a side-mounted ProCharger centrifugal charger.

Backing all that power is a McLeod clutch, a Tremec T56 Magnum 6-speed manual, and a Randy’s Ring & Pinion 3:88 positraction rear. To say this machine is overkill is an understatement.

The bodywork is equally as unique, as Goodmark supplied replacement sheetmetal. But rather than just simply apply the repopped steel, Redstone Restorations went to work billowing out the wheelwells, exaggerating the Chevelle’s coke-bottle shape and providing a lot more real estate for those Forgelines to fill.

inside, the cabin is just as impressive, with an Ididit tilt and collapsible column and custom leather stitch work, this Chevelles rides as smooth as it looks bad ass.

There’s still lots and lots of details and trick modifications that make this ’72 “heavy Chevy” stand out among the beauty queens, but without a doubt, we were bowled over with the work that designer and builder Gordon Aram of A-Team Racing was able to do. With the help of engine builder Terry Rosebush Performance, and Jason Hultz Design, this A-Body is a real stunner.

About the author

Kevin Shaw

Kevin Shaw is a self-proclaimed "muscle car purist," preferring solid-lifter camshafts and mechanical double-pumpers over computer-controlled fuel injection and force-feeding power-adders. If you like dirt-under-your-fingernails tech and real street driven content, this is your guy.
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