Comedian Gabriel Iglesias brought his 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS to Jay Leno's garage.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias, a.k.a. Fluffy, went to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas in hopes of selling a car, but ended up buying this 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 and sending it straight to Jay Leno's garage without even driving it.
As he explains in the episode, Iglesias sold both cars at the auction, thus netting him some cash. He ended up coming home with six cars, including the Chevelle.
As impulse buys go, this is a pretty good one. One of Chevrolet's most legendary mid-century muscle cars, it's a clean example with a numbers-matching engine, 4-speed manual transmission, and plenty of documentation. So much so that someone has reapplied the original factory chalk marks.
As the name suggests, the Chevelle SS396 is powered by a 396 cubic-inch V-8 engine with a claimed maximum output of 325 horsepower when new. Chevrolet offered a larger engine during the Chevelle SS's marketing period, which was considered quite powerful at the time. Short for "Super Sport," the SS badge traditionally signifies a performance version of the regular Chevrolet model, and it is making a comeback with the Chevrolet Blazer EV.
While it has a powerful engine, this Chevelle lacks comfort features like air conditioning. This kept the price down to $3,638.35 in 1969 when the original owner purchased it from a dealer in Aurora, Colorado. The auction price was not disclosed, but it was undoubtedly much higher than that.
Iglesias had not driven the car before transporting it to California for this episode of "Jay Leno's Garage," so this video includes his first impressions. Chevelle ran a little rough, but it doesn't look like he has buyer's remorse.