It seems every gearhead has a story about the car that got away. You know, the sad tale of the the asphalt-pounding, sweet-sounding Chevy driven in college then sold when the kids came along.
     Well, Nanaimo, B.C.’s  Reg Miller has heard about such stories but he doesn't have one of his own to tell.  The asphalt-pounding, sweet-sounding SS Chevelle 396 he drove home from the local Jack Harris Chevrolet dealership on February 4, 1970 is still in his possession.  And with under 50,000 miles on the odometer, this Hugger Orange Chevy looks as good as new. It looks so good that Miller had a long-standing joke with the dealership's owner Tom Harris, the son of the late Jack Harris and sales manager back in 1970.  "I tell him the dealership sold me a five-year, 50,000-mile warranty back in 1970, so it's still under warranty," says Miller. Harris responds by telling Miller he'd gladly give a full refund on the car, a steal of a deal for Harris.
     When Miller ordered the car in October of 1969 it listed out for a little more than $5,400 but, despite an sheet full of options (36 in all), he wrangled a $1,000 discount.  "I paid a $200 dollar deposit and the overall bill came to $4,400," says Miller, who remembers his parents telling their 19-year-old son, who was making less than three bucks an hour at the time, he was crazy to buy the car. Crazy like a fox. It took Miller two years to pay off a car now worth more than 10 times what he paid for it.  The fact the car is a low mileage big-block Chevelle helps the value, but isn't the only reason this car has turned into quite an investment.
     For starters, the car's build sheet states it was one of only 700 1970 Chevelle's built in Canada with the Z25 (SS) option. That's rare enough when you consider a large percentage were probably thrashed and trashed, but according to Miller his car was one of the more heavily optioned Chevelle's to roll off the assembly line.  "I talked to George Zapora, GM's Vintage Car specialist in Oshawa and he said he didn't remember ever seeing an SS Chevelle with so many options," says Miller. The car's vinyl roof ($115 option) and Strato-bucket seats are somewhat frivolous options for such a street warrior and the bumper guards ($18) and power steering ($120) make the car a little more sophisticated than many Chevelle’s Miller remembers matching up with in the good old days.
     The car’s most interesting option is the eye-catching Hugger Orange paint colour.  You could order a Hugger Orange Chevelle in 1969, but it wasn't available in 1970 and you won't find the car's paint code (SP 4644) in any book or GM literature pertaining to 1970 Chevelles. Yet, SP 4644 is clearly stamped on the car's VIN plate and written in chalk on the firewall.  Miller battled the dealership to get the colour he wanted.  "At first, they didn't want to do it," he says. "Then they said they'd do it but they'd have to charge $220 extra. In the end, I deleted the special instrument package ($98 option) and the dealer ate the other half. Until the day it arrived at the dealership I wasn't sure what colour it was going to be." The colour explains the car's personalized licence plate, RM COPO.
     In Miller's mind, the Hugger Orange paint colour met the COPO (Central Office Production Orders) specifications, which state "the COPO designation indicated something about the car is a bit out of the ordinary and is often engine designated." But GM's Zapora says the car is not a COPO. "Now I just tell people the plate stands for 'Canada's Only Painted Orange' 1970 Chevelle," says Miller.  In 1971, Miller swapped the original wheels and tires for a set of Cragar SS mags and Mickey Thompson Indy Profile tires and changed the car’s stance by installing some GM air shocks and taller coil springs in the back while adding spacers to lift the front end. The original wheels still hang on the back wall of his garage along with the coil springs. Miller has actually kept every part he’s ever removed or replaced, from the original cam to a cracked glove-box door.
     After reading an article in the January, 1970 edition of Car Life that called the 396 “a bruiser with a glass jaw” Miller decided that when he took possession of the car he’d make a few engine changes. So, months after he drove it home, a pair of Hooker Headers took the place of the stock exhaust manifolds while a Holley 780 carb and Edelbrock manifold helped the engine breath a lot better. He also removed the car’s stock induction system when he realized it didn’t work very well unless the car was going flat out. After swapping the 3.31:1 rear-end gears for a set of  4.11 cogs he had car that would eat up some serious road.
     Yes, he still has all the original parts.  In 1974, Miller got a job in a logging camp and bought a pickup truck putting an end to the Chevelle’s life as every-day transportation. Stuck to the wall in Miller’s garage is an oil change sticker from March 21, 1974. The mileage was listed as 33,457 miles, which means in 28 years Miller has put just a little under 10,000 miles on the odometer.  In 1985 Miller put the car in storage and began raising a family but in 1995 his son’s began to bug him to put the car back on the road.
     The car’s engine needed a little work since a stuck piston led to broken rings. So, three years ago Miller’s buddy, Donnie Vickers, rebuilt the motor installing a different cam and some Keith Black pistons which upped the compression from the stock 10.25:1. Originally his car’s stock 396 was rated at 350 horsepower, but Miller figures it’s closer to 375 hp today.
     As far as the body and the interior, Miller hasn’t touched a thing and why would he? The car looks brand new. Even the aftermarket Craig eight-track tape he installed in 1970 is still pumping out the tunes. Despite what seems like impressive foresight, Miller says he never intended to keep the car. “Everybody was buying cars then and you just went day-to-day and you’d enjoy it and the years went by,” he says. “Once you’ve had something that long, it becomes a part of the family. I wouldn’t consider selling it. My sons will get it one day. I can’t believe it lasted this long and most people who see it ask me how long it took to restore. I just tell them 32 years.”