As a teen in the original muscle car era, mike guarise lived within a short distance of chicagos nickey chevrolet, but driving a nickey supercar was a dream for mike in those days, the dream later became a passion. Reviewed in the united states on november 15, 2011. Unfortunately, there are but a few true nickey cars still running around the streets. Here is a 67 tahoe turquoise nickey camaro with a tripower 427 and the evil looking stinger hood. Taking nothing away from the grand spaulding 1967 dart gss or yenko copo camaro, the baldwinmotion cars were on a whole different level with. New super cool nickey chevrolet decal for your camaro. The complete book of american muscle supercars catalogs these amazing cars, along with the builders who unleashed them on the american scene. The complete book of american muscle supercars by tom glatch. The most nickey families were found in the usa in 1880. But by 1966 rosen and ed simonin the general manager at baldwin formed a partnership that would allow any customer to have a camaro, chevelle, or corvette built into a killer street machine at motion performance and delivered through baldwin. Lost muscle car dealerships by duncan brown, paperback.
Nickey chevrolet was the original super car headquarters. The original nickey chevrolet dealership traces its history all the way back to 1925. Notarized affidavit from the second owner detailing the history of the car. The complete book of chevrolet camaro, 2nd edition. For those of us who where around to experience the arrival of some of the most legendary machines in. Nickey chevrolet buys the famous chuck daigh scarab the old. Unrestored 1967 chevrolet camaro had l88 power transfusion. If you like red, try this 67 bolero red nickey camaro. Nickey chevrolet news newspapers books scholar jstor april 2017 learn how and when to. Nickey chevrolet was based in chicago, usa, and perhaps the biggest factory performance sales and service dealership, speedshop and super car converter anywhere, during their reign. The complete book of american muscle supercars by tom. Commonly found on the rear body, tail light panels, windows, etc. Of the three 1967 nickey camaros collector mike guarise has owned, this bolero red coupe is his favorite, and with good reason. Sep 18, 2015 bone up on some of your bow tie history.
Mar 30, 2018 feature on 1967 chevrolet camaro converted to 427 power by bill thomas for nickey chevrolet in 1967. For sale is an original nickey chevrolet high performance and speed equipment catalog. Nickey chevrolet 4501 irving park road chicago, il. Documented with the certificate of authenticity by nickey chicago and don swiatek as an l88 conversion. Nickey chevrolet buys the famous chuck daigh scarab the.
The nickey family name was found in the usa, the uk, canada, and scotland between 1840 and 1920. Its twinturbo powerhouse is based on a gm skunkworks 427 cui c5r racing block and delivers over 1,000 rear wheel horsepower. Baldwin was a familyrun chevrolet dealership, and it had no reputation or previous dealings in the highperformance car business. Not from the rumble of charging trains or wrigley field racket, but from the roar of 427 power. Supreme court transcript of record with supporting pleadings poplett, ray e, nash, peter g on.
When the kennedy expressway was built nickey chevrolet moved to its final home, in the mid 50s. Feb 21, 2014 few cars possess the significance of this 74 camaro lt, which underwent what is most likely the last 427 l88 stage iii super car conversion at nickey chevrolet before the famous dealership. Early history of bill thomas 427 bigblock conversions for. Text is supported with more than 350 historic photos and illustrations. Dec 22, 2010 nickey chevrolet was established in the 1920s at the corner of kedvale and irving park rd. Nickey certified balanced and blueprinted chevrolet v8 engine, dual fourbarrel carburetors, muncie fourspeed manual transmission, independent front suspension with aarms and coil springs, live 12bolt rear axle with semielliptic leaf springs, and fourwheel hydraulic drum brakes. Nickey chevrolet was a chevrolet automobile dealership located in chicago, illinois, usa. Selling more chevrolets than almost any dealer in in america, the dealers highperformance department worked in conjunction with bill thomas as. But by 1966 rosen and ed simonin the general manager at baldwin formed a partnership that would allow any customer to have a camaro, chevelle, or corvette built into a killer street machine at motion performance and delivered through baldwin chevrolet. As spring dawned in 1967, the roads around chicago were trembling. A team was established to work as a committee, and actually inspect the vehicles, at their location. 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. Much like the betterknown yenko super car, nickey chevrolet company of chicago produced their own versio.
A wide range of chevrolet cars received the yenko treatment. For what ever reason, the guy painted the k in the sign backwards. He wasnt satisfied with the performance of the smallblock engine, so nickey chevrolet, then. It was sold in 1973, when it became keystone chevrolet. There was a smoke stack next to the dealership in chicago that could be seen for miles. Jun 28, 2016 it is impossible to have a discussion about chevrolet performance and the history of the company without a mention of nickey chevrolet. John schroeders 67 nickey ss 427 camaro 67 nickey camaro remember this nickey camaro. Both were located in baldwin, long island, ny, a new york city suburb. Nickey certified balanced and blueprinted chevrolet v8 engine, dual fourbarrel carburetors, muncie fourspeed manual transmission.
Don yenko and some other creative individuals recognized the loophole in the copo central office production order system at general motors. The story goes that the pontiac gto created the muscle car era. Barry volkert has an interesting little mystery in the 1970 chevrolet nova hes restoring. The last known car converted by nickey chevrolet before closing at the end of 1973.
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. That said, the car that spawned the rowdiest time in performance history wasnt the gto you could go down and buy from a dealership. Nickey chevrolet also referred to as nickey chicago was a chevrolet automobile dealership located in chicago, illinois, usa. For anyone interested in learning about the history of the chevrolet camaro, this is the book for you. This car was originally an ss350 with the rally sport option, 4 speed, and a 3. Feature on 1967 chevrolet camaro converted to 427 power by bill thomas for nickey chevrolet in 1967. Pontiac cars chevrolet corvette general motors us cars american muscle cars vintage cars vintage auto vintage signs vintage photos it was the 50s, and when the new cars arrived at the dealerships, those big xmilitary flood lights lit up the sky and you followed the light to the dealership, where you were mesmerized by the big, shiny, chromed. Some of the most radical streetstrip cars known to exist were created in the 60s and 70s in nickeys hiperformance shop.
In 1840 there were 3 nickey families living in indiana. Nickey name, people with the given name or nickname nickey. Nickey chevrolet of chicago was one of the largest chevy dealers in america and had big plans for chevrolets new pony car in 1967. Todd wenzel chevrolet is the only authorized nickey chicago camaro retailer in the state of michigan. Provenance puzzle lacks only backward k chicago tribune. Although that is mighty debatable, it was the first car to wear the name. The chevrolet car and truck business traces its roots back to michigans lumber industry in the middle of the 19th century. Volkert, a vietnam vet and south florida retiree, knows his nova is a rare nickey chevrolet performance. Early history of bill thomas 427 bigblock conversions for nickey chevrolet lives in this. Yenko, shelby, baldwin motion, grand spaulding, and more.
Something like the coffee table book day one, from muscle car era participant marty schorr. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title nickey. Nickey chevrolet was a chicago institution until it closed in 1977. Nickey chevrolet buys the famous chuck daigh scarab. Among the dealershipbased supercar builders of the 1960s and 70sincluding yenko, nickey, grand spaulding dodge, and royal pontiac to name a fewthe most outrageous builder of true street terrors was baldwinmotion. Muscle car historian duncan brown revisits this glorious. This is the story of how those wagon makers quickly converted to producing automobiles, overtaking.
Tom stephani is writing a book on the history of nickey chevrolet ive gotta keep an eye out for that. The last known car converted by nickey chevrolet before. Nicky chevrolet was the sponsor of the famous purple people eater corvette which dominated the b production in 1958. An entire volume dedicated to detailing and preserving the iconic muscle car dealerships of the 1960s and early 1970s, many whose doors are now closed. Camaro decal, nickey original super car headquarters. During the late 1960s, it became the largest chevrolet dealership and. The complete book of american muscle supercars tom glatch. Nickey chevrolet was a major chicagoarea chevy dealer. Jan 20, 2012 the nickey 427 cars were built in two locations, with bill thomas racing cars handling the programs development work and construction of the cars sold on the west coast, while the popular drag racer dick harrell, mr. Nickey chevrolet sign bing images chevrolet dealership. Quartet of nickey chevys, including a double copo, to sell. Early history of bill thomas 427 bigblock conversions for nickey chevrolet lives. The original baldwinmotion performance group 19671974 represented a partnership between baldwin auto company, a franchised chevrolet dealership dating back to the early1920s and motion performance, a highprofile speed shop with a reputation for building fast chevys. Norms grand spaulding dodge, nickey chevrolet, don yenko, george hurst, baldwinmotion.
Copo cars are often associated with performanceminded chevrolet dealers like yenko, dan, and. During the late 1960s, it became the largest chevrolet dealership and highperformance car parts shop in the world. 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. Nickey vintage style straight axle nova gasser funny car sub frame subframe. The complete book of american muscle supercars yenko, shelby, baldwin motion, grand spaulding, and more. This one measures about 6 and 18 inches wide and about 1 and 12 inches tall. Yenko, shelby, baldwin motion, grand spaulding, and more glatch, tom, newhardt, david on. Nickey camaro dealer todd wenzel chevy grand rapids.
The cars were essentially race cars laden with smog systems. Nickey chevrolet of chicago, illinois was indeed the original super car headquarters. Nickey hiperformance hot rod tshirt, black xxlarge. This was about 33% of all the recorded nickeys in the usa. Norms grand spaulding dodge, nickey chevrolet, don yenko. Now, seven highly prized nickey chevrolets are heading for auction next month. The complete book of american muscle supercars is a gorgeously illustrated history of american highperformance cars from their origins to today. In addition to sales and service of typical chevrolet products, nickey chevrolet was well known for selling high performance versions. Camaro by david newhardt and the complete book of camaro by david newhardt, due in. Feature on 1967 chevrolet camaro converted to 427 power by bill thomas for.
Supreme court transcript of record with supporting pleadings. Apr 28, 2014 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. Working with legendary chevrolet engine builder bill thomas in california, nickey developed a plan to install the potent 427ci corvette engines into the camaro in late 1966. Aug 05, 2016 ou left out the part where jim jeffords 58 and 59 national champion corvette driver and jack stephani nickey chevrolet corvette racing team owner went to california and bought one of the 3 scarabs from lance. No discussion about chevrolet performance and the history of the company would be complete without mention of nickey chevrolet and don swiatek. Early history of bill thomas 427 bigblock conversions for nickey. Nickey chevrolets final location was at 4501 irving park road, in chicago. This is a 1969 catalog due to the 1969 camaro being used as the reference car and options available on it. Nickey chevrolet was a major chicagoarea chevy dealer from the 1920s until the early 70s. The complete book of chevrolet camaro, 2nd edition continues the story of americas premier performance car. Nickey 2010 camaro stage iii hot rod tshirt, large.
Al seelig had a sign painter put up a vertical sign saying nickey. Nickey chevrolet of chicago was one of the largest chevy dealers in america and had big plans for chevrolet s new pony car in 1967. Early in the high performance 427 camaro days, it was the team of dick harrell and bill thomas that masterminded the nickey 427 camaro. Chevrolet, initially spearheaded production and sales in chicago. Mar 30, 2012 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 highperformance speed shop and lend his name. Founded in 1925 and run for many years by brothers e. Nickey performance is an industry leading custom hiperformance shop. The complete book of american muscle supercars tom. But nickey wasnt exactly the name of a person, but rather the name of a company with several big players involved throughout the years.
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. Few cars possess the significance of this 74 camaro lt, which underwent what is most likely the last 427 l88 stage iii super car conversion. Quartet of nickey chevys, including a double copo, to sell at no reserve matt litwin on dec 22nd. 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. I wrote a lot of nickeybill thomas ads and press releases back in the day. Dec 12, 2017 something like the coffee table book day one, from muscle car era participant marty schorr. Indiana and 1 other state had the highest population of nickey families in 1840. Classic shop talk 1967 chevrolet nickeybill thomas 427. Not all the signs and advertising were converted immediately. 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. Nickey was known for the monstrous big block camaros, chevelles, and novas they produced as well as their catalogue selling almost any high performance.
Most nickey cars were camaros, even though you could get other models such as novas and chevelles. I drag raced from 1959up and worked at nickey chevrolet in chicago when the mark iv 396 came out in 1965 and the 427 in 1966. This strategic partnership provides car enthusiasts with the opportunity to build a unique high performance vehicle, and distinguishes wenzel as one of the select few, hand picked nickey chicago retailers in the country. Jim drove it successfully until the end of 59 when the team was sold to dan blocker and the scarab was sold to augie.
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