For most of its 40 years, this 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454 LS6 has been doing exactly what it was built to do: tear up the drag strip. Along the way it has become arguably the most famous drag-racing Chevelle ever, capturing the SS/DA class record in 1972 and setting an elapsed time of 10:75 at 123 MPH on the way to winning Top Eliminator 14 of 16 events at Bradenton Dragway in Florida in 1976.
Purchased new by A/FX racer Bob Hamilton as a Valentine’s Day gift to his wife, the big-block beast was soon spending its Sundays at the local drag strip with Hamilton at the wheel. Sponsored by AMT and dubbed “Red Alert,” it began its long and extremely successful career in 1971, setting the SS/DA national record during the 1972 season and owning the track record at New Jersey’s Island Dragway for over two years.
Hamilton sold “Red Alert” in 1976 to racer Terry Carney who, in 1990, partnered with Bill & Jan Stephenson to reintroduce the car to a new generation of fans and a new career in popular nostalgia drag racing. The car has since run the quarter mile in the low tens at over 130 MPH. A true drag racing legend in every sense, the “Red Alert” Chevelle has always been expertly maintained and remains in splendid condition. It is almost entirely as Hamilton raced it, retaining its original sheet metal and interior and most of its original Cranberry Red paint.