As our first ever cross-over feature from our sister mag – Lateral-G.net – we figure we’d start off with a bang! With a brilliant crimson flash, accents of smooth chromatic black, hovering low above the ground like a cat set to pounce; there is nothing quite like a woman draped in red to seer the senses. Much was the case with John Boggio’s 1965 Chevelle Malibu SS. This seductive Chevy first caught our eyes while sitting in an inexplicable lonely corner of the Street Machine Nationals in Pomona, CA in 2015. With no owner in sight and no hints to her driver’s identity, we were left to do a bit of stalking and admiration from a distance. It was not until this year’s reiteration of the event that we were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time, and we finally caught up with John Boggio about the origins of his sinfully red masterpiece.
Photos: Tim King | Words: Tim King & Michael Phillips
While the prologue to the Chevelle’s story seems to be congruent with thousands of others, having been bought by John in high school, that is the extent of the car’s ordinariness. John was forced to sell his high school sweet-heart in 1998. It was not for more than a decade, 12 years later almost to the day, that fate reunited them. A close friend of John’s spotted the familiar Chev parked in a yard and boasting its for-sale status and preserved nature. Boggio was able to repurchase his beautiful Chevelle and in many ways felt as though he had just dug up a personal time capsule. The car had barely been touched since his previous ownership of it, even his long expired insurance and registration cards remained in the glove box. Despite its nostalgic loveliness, the muscle car was a far cry from the specimen visible today. Over the next seven years, John built his red beauty little by little as both time and money would allow.
Although the first tool the seductive Chevelle uses to capture attention is its pristine Torch Red paint, there is much more to this lady in red than just another pretty face. Each and every body panel has been addressed and finished for an ultra smooth surface. The body work was completed by Next Level Motorsports in Riverside, CA and Foothill Auto Body then sprayed her down with the signature color. Perfectly complimenting the crimson sheetmetal is a smoothed out body, in which all of the chrome elements were powdercoated black by John. The razor sharp bodylines meeting with the soft curves of fender, hood, and other panels, all wrapped in the devious paint scheme make for one of the most striking examples of a perfectly executed restomod that we’ve seen.
This smooth Chenille however, is not all beauty with no braun to back it up. Under her hood the original motor is long gone and favorably replaced with a spruced up LS1. The modern V8 is plenty potent in its own right, but in order to continue pushing the envelope, it has been modified to reach a higher potential. The motor was balanced, blueprinted, and overbuilt with an ARP stud kit and Manley Pushrods. Air is force fed into the LS motor though a pair of custom, beautifully mounted K&N filters and then a 2.9L Whipple Supercharger. The blower produces 12lbs. of boost and combines with a number of other supporting modifications to scoot this beauty down the road quite nicely. A custom in-trunk, breif-case mounted cell along with an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump provide fuel.
Finally a Wegner Automotive front drive was added to keep the pulleys spinning, including the 165-amp Powermaster alternator. The sum of the powerplant is good for 586.5 hp at 5800 RPM and a staggering 760.2 lb.-ft. of torque at just 3200 RPM, at the rear wheels. Keeping the motivator under control is a Be-Cool aluminum radiator and the power is applied through 765R4 Trans. The super-built transmission began life as a 700R4 but was modified by Bowtie Overdrives. A TCS 3,000 RPM stall finishes off the combo. Connecting the power to the rear is a Inland Empire Driveline aluminum driveshaft. The rearend itself a Chris Alston Chassisworks 9-inch custom fab housing fitted with an Eaton Truetrac, 3.55 gears, and 35-spline axles.
The exquisite styling and build quality of John’s Chevelle is brought to her ultra aggressive tone with the Slam’d stance that we love oh so much. Putting this attitude together with proper altitude is a number of modifications and custom-built quality components featuring a full RideTech air setup along with adjustable shocks for ultimate tune-ability. The Falken tires hug a set of Donz Gijante forged wheels, black spoked and machine lipped. The fronts are 19×9-inch with a respective 255/30 tire and the rears are a wide 20×12 with a 315/30 tire. Filling up the wheels is a set of massive 14-inch 6-piston Wilwood brakes in the front and 4-piston calipers in the rear along with a Wilwood master cylinder to make sure everything flows properly. The combination of power, prowess, and control create this stunning sport machine. And of course, her interior was addressed with equal attention to excellent detail.
The plush and aggressive interior is a blend of comfort with bespoke quality and race derived, intimidating touch-points. To start, a complete stereo system was installed by Art Of Sound, consisting of Alpine headunit and a small army of Rockford Fosgate speakers with dual amplifiers. Factory original bucket seats were remade with custom stitched leather and suede. An inverse color scheme adorns the interior, with black leather and panels, highlighted in red stitch and a healthy dose of carbon fiber. The interior work was finished by Elegance Upholstery from Upland, CA whose work clearly is vouched for by their name. Finally displaying the information of the Chevelle’s mood is a set of custom Speedhut gauges and John is fully engaged with the Killduff Machine shift-kit and Sparco race-spec steering wheel.
John Boggios’s Seductive Chevelle is a true testament of passion. With a long history between car and owner and multi-year build process that has clearly spelled out the hidden beauty of the machine. Her looks can kill as efficiently as her performance and her refinement rivals factory-made luxury vehicles. This 1965 Chevy possesses the heart of her owner and has admittedly stolen a piece of ours as well. Stay tuned as we feature more muscle-machines from our partners over at Lateral-G in the coming months!
Slam’d Specs
Owner: John Boggio
Vehicle: 1965′ Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS
Hometown: Riverside, CA
Wheels/Tires:
Falken Azenis 255/30 and 315/30
Donz Gijante forged wheels, 19×9 and 20×12
Suspension/Chassis:
RideTech drop spindles and tubular control arms
RideTech front airbags and rear Adjustable Shocks
Boxed and stiffened chassis
Body/Paint:
Torch Red Paint from Foothill Auto Body
Shaved body
Black powder-coated trim
Interior/Stereo:
Alpine headunit
Rockford Fosgate speakers and dual Amplifiers
Brakes:
Wilwood Master Cylinder
Wilwood 14″ Discs, 6-piston front calipers and 4-piston rear
Engine/Performance:
LS1 V8
ARP stud kit
Manley pushrods
2.9L Whipple Supercharger
Custom intake with twin K&N filters
765R4 Transmission
TCS 3,000 RPM stall
Chris Alston Chassisworks 9-inch rearend
Eaton Truetrac, 3.55 gears and 35-spline axles
Inland Empire Driveline aluminum driveshaft
BeCool Radiator
