The Chevelle was a mid sized automobile manufactured by Chevrolet. It was launched in the year 1964 and was in production till the end of the 1970s. The Chevelle was one of General Motors' highly popular models. The Chevelle models suited all kind of people; there were economical family cars as well as powerful coupes and convertibles within its range of automobiles. The Chevelle chassis was redesigned based on the GM A platform.

During the mid sixties the entire automobile market was flooded with muscle cars which were small; however had loads of horsepower. The Chevelle too was one such model but it added extra features such as flexibility and convenience. In 1965, Chevrolet had to compete with other car manufacturers and needed to enhance their product. They did so by launching the limited edition 396 which was known as the Z-16 package. Initially there were only 201 models that were launched. These models featured 375 horsepower engine, highly-modified suspension and power-assisted steering, and anti-roll bars in the front and rear. It had a 4 speed transmission whose ratio was raised from 3.31 to 4.56. The 283 and 327 engines were still available in 1965. The standard engine produced 195 horsepower whilst the top of the line Z79 327 produced 350 horsepower. Its engine configuration was a V8 engine, which had a displacement of 6.5L. Its HP to weight ratio was 8.1 LB/HP and had a compression rate of 11.0:1.

The Chevelle was a rear wheel drive vehicle with its engine located in the front. It weighed approximately 3010 lbs.