“Nickey! Nickey! Nickey!” was Nickey Chevrolet’s radio
jingle in the Chicago area in the 60’s and 70’s. Nickey was a
local high performance Chevrolet dealer behind some of the most
radical street/strip cars known to exist. Nickey Chevrolet’s High
Performance Department produced 427 Camaros and Chevelles as well as
a catalogue selling almost any high performance accessory a guy
could imagine.
Early in the high performance 427 Camaro days, it was the team of
Dick Harrell and Bill Thomas that masterminded the Nickey 427
Camaro. At that time, Bill Thomas was the guru of big block
Chevrolet race motors. Harrell, who was nicknamed “Mr. Chevrolet”,
was one of the winningest racecar drivers of that era. This
combination of engine builder and racer was of a fame that certainly
could sell cars. Although Yenko Chevrolet, Baldwin Motion, and Gibb
Chevrolet were all in the same business, Nickey Chevrolet with the
help of Dick Harrell may have been the forerunner of 427 Camaros and
Chevelle production.
Nickey Cars were a joint project between Nickey Chevrolet in
Chicago and Bill Thomas Engine Company in Anaheim California. As it
states in the 67/68 catalogs, a customer could take delivery of
their new "Nickey Car" either at Nickey Chevrolet in
Chicago, or at Bill Thomas in Anaheim California. There were no
other authorized "Nickey Car" dealers. Sometime in 1968,
Nickey Chevrolet and Bill Thomas parted company and from that point
on, only the 69 cars purchased directly from Nickey Chevrolet are
"Nickey Cars". Nickey Chevrolet had a program
whereby they would pay your airfare to Chicago, from anywhere in the
country, to pick up your new Nickey car.
The 1969 Nickey Camaro you see here started life as a Z28. It is
one of only two Nickey Z28’s to become 427 Camaros. This Camaro --
optioned with an L88 aluminum head 427, a Muncie M22 4-speed, and
radio/heater delete -- was
heavily modified for the drag strip. It comes complete with all the
typical high performance accessories of the day: headers, Mallory
ignition, traction bars, heavy-duty clutch, scattershield, flex fan,
gauges, Sun tach, Hurst shifter, Hurst shocks, and Goodyear slicks
mounted on SS Cragars. Many
weight saving modifications were made as well: removal of window
track mechanisms, the exchange of drum brakes in place of the disc
brakes, in addition to having the “heater delete” option.
This car was intended to be competitive: Kevin has a vintage
photo of it coming off the line at Maple Grove Dragstrip with its
front wheels off the asphalt. An awesome sight!
