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1970 was the pinnacle year of the first Muscle Car era. Compression ratios were slated to drop for the '71 model year, emissions stardards were changing and insurance companies were making ready to send rates higher than the torque and horsepower ratings of the factory Super Cars that they were covering. Be that as it may, "The Big Three" auto makers and AMC were going to play the game the best they could for as long as they could.   Chevrolet had things pretty well covered in the performance department and you could get the job done on three levels. The Corvette, wrap your ass in fiberglass with engine choices ranging from a 300 horsepower 350 to a 390 horsepower 454! Camaro, which showed up late to the party, (70 1/2) took you from a 300 horsepower 350 (360 H.P. LT1 in the Z28) up to a 375 horsepower 396 (actually, 402 cubic inches). But let's face it, those were the extremes. Chevrolet did their best work in the middle of the line. Yes, I'm talking about the Chevelle, but not just any Chevelle, I'm talkin' about the SS 454.   The Chevelle was a great mid-sized car that had all of the right stuff for a performance car. It was perfect for the task at hand with room for five inside and room for a Big Block motor in the engine bay. Now, the 396 was the base Big Block and could still put a smile on your face but the 454 was just a ground pounder. It came in two versions, the first was the LS-5. It was rated at 360 horsepower at 4400 RPM with 500 ft/lbs. of torque and 10.25:1 compression. With 3.31 gears you could still pull 0-60 in around 6 seconds flat and quarter mile in the 14.20's at around 100 miles an hour! Not bad for the slow version but wait there's more, just check the box that said LS-6 and you got the King Kong of Bowtie muscle! I'm talkin' 450 horsepower at an astounding 5600 RPM and 500 ft/lbs. of torque at 3600! The LS-6 had 11:1 compression, a solid lifter cam and forged steel crank and rods. Throw in a set of forged aluminum TRW pistons and top it off with an 800 CFM Holley carb and you've got the highest rated engine of the first Musclecar era. You could get it with an automatic or a 4-speed but the automatic had to be a the Turbo Hydra-matic 400 and the 4-speed had to be the Muncie M22 "Rockcrusher"! You could get rearend gears ranging from 3.31's to 4.10's and could pull quarter mile times from the high 13's to the very low 13's. With an LS-6 and 4.10's one road test yielded a time of 13.12 at just under 109 miles an hour!   The SS454 Chevelle seemed to have it all from Cowl Induction to racing stripes and stylish wheels to beautiful interiors but the icing on the cake was that 454 cubic inch engine that made it the Class of 1970.   - Dan Davis.