Original Parts Group, Inc. (OPGI) Wins SEMA AWARD 3rd year in a row!

Original Parts Group, Inc.
Receives Third Consecutive
"Best GM Restored Vehicle" Award

Seal Beach, Calif. General Motors awarded
Original Parts Group, Inc., the “Best GM
Restored Vehicle” for the company’s 1967
Buick GS during the 2009 Specialty Equipment
Manufacturer's Association (SEMA) annual
convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The coveted GM Design Award recognizes
Original Parts Group’s quality and originality in their restoration products. In 2008, Original Parts Group’s 1968 GTO was recognized and in 2007 the company’s 1966 Chevelle SS 396 was awarded making this three consecutive years the company has received the honor.

The Buick GS 400 underwent a complete frame-off restoration at J&H Restorations in Riverside, California. Tony Genty, chief of operations for Original Parts Group, Inc. provided off-the-shelf parts and teamed with Joel Hoffman of J&H to assist in coordinating the build.

Original Parts Group celebrates 28 years of business in 2010, manufacturing and retailing GM restoration parts and accessories. Original Parts Group is recognized as the number one supplier and manufacturer of quality GM “A” Body parts and is committed to retaining the reputation for years to come.

Chevelle... The Beginning

Formed more or less in clay by March 1962, Chevrolet’s A-body image
took on various identities before final transformation into sheet metal.
Another clay seen a month later clearly looked like an upsized Chevy II,
and a mockup photographed in January 1963 even carried “Chevy II
Nova” identification. “Indications are very strong that Chevrolet will
modify the current Chevy II, making it wider and longer,” predicted in
an August 1963 Motor Trend review. Mentioned, too, was the claim
that the new model “might get a new name in the bargain.”

Indeed, initial plans called for trading the Chevy II for the new A-body
intermediate, with the thinking being another model line would surely
eat into the division’s proven four-tiered sales structure. Such worries,
however, quickly faded, and the decision was made late in February 1963 to put a fifth choice on the menu. The Nova didn’t burn out, and one month later the “Malibu” moniker made its first appearance on an A-body mockup. But, like the Nova badge, this tag too represented icing on the cake. Per Chevy tradition, the true model name had to begin with a “C,” thus came “Chevelle.”

General Manager Bunkie Knudsen introduced the Chevelle to the press in August 1963. “Impressed by its clean and handsome styling, Detroit’s normally undemonstrative auto reporters broke into spontaneous applause,” announced a Time magazine report. “The only complaint about Chevelle was that dealers couldn’t get enough of them,” added Automotive News in September.

Within three months, Chevelle was the second hottest-selling Chevy, taking up to 18 percent of the company’s production schedule. When the smoke cleared, the final count for the 1964 Chevelle (discounting its second-generation El Camino derivative) totaled 338,296, tops in the intermediate ranks and some 60,000 greater than that year’s Ford Fairlane tally.

Along with that El Camino rendition (marketed as a truck), the Chevelle line included the base “300” series, available in two- and four-door sedan and two- and four-door station wagon forms, and the upscale Malibu, offered as a four-door sedan, two-door sport coupe or convertible, and two- or four-door station wagon. Extra trim and more standard equipment typically set the top-shelf Malibu apart from the plain-Jane Chevelle 300. Both series featured six-cylinder and V-8 lines, and, like their 1964 B-O-P A-body counterparts, all models rolled on a 115-inch wheelbase and featured coil springs at all four corners.

Excerpt taken from chapter 5, pages 157 through 158 of, “The Complete Book Of Classic GM Muscle” by Mike Mueller. First published in 2008 by Motorbooks, an imprint of MBI Publishing.

OPGI’s Spotlight - Colin’s Corner

Hello folks, my name is Colin Date. What’s so special about me? Not much. What’s my connection with OPGI? Well, I’ll get to that here in a bit. I’m just a car dude like you. I’m a workin’ man, in my early 50s, married with two grown kids. In the extremely little amounts of spare time I have, I’m trying to restore a ’69 Buick Special. It’s taken the better part of 10 years, and just this past summer, I tore it all apart (again) because, well, I’m way too fussy at that kind of stuff. It was my first shot at a resto, and I made

more than a few mistakes along the way. By the way, that’s the car right here on this page. Looks good, I know, but trust me, it’s a “20 footer.” Right now, the car is gutted, in primer, and ready for paint. I’ll keep ya’ll updatedas we move along.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m just a car guy. Over the years, I've owned Fords and Mopars, but by far, cars by “the General” have taken up my garage space. Here’s a brief rundown: ’75 Vega GT (fresh outta high school), ’75 Buick Century (relentlessly Colin’s Corner raced against my buddy’s ’71 4-4-2), ’78 Chevette (don’t laugh too hard, I’d just gotten married and saving money was the name of the game), ’79 Camaro (OK, the saving money part didn’t last too long). From here, the lines get blurry. Too much of “life” going on. I owned a few Cavaliers, a Citation, and a Corsica (life in the ’80s). Near the end of that decade, I bought a new ’87 IROC-Z. Then onto an ’89 Suburban, then a Celebrity. Other GM stuff over the decades included an ’88 Park Avenue, an Olds Calais, a Ciera, and even an ’87 Cutlass.Whew, outta breath...

So, what’s my connection with Original Parts Group? Well, other than utilizing hundreds of OPGI parts for my ’69, I actually worked there, for almost 6 years. Awesome times with the coolest bunch of car crazy guys. A dream job if there ever was one! They must have liked me enough to invite me back—’cause here I am with my own little piece of OPGI cyberspace real estate!

Anyways, I’ll be writing on a fairly regular basis here. I won’t always be babbling on and on about my cars (bet you’re relieved). I’ll be doing a few things though. A little tech here and there, maybe some wild and wacky quizzes, short stories on rare and little known cars and facts, “General” tidbits...you get the idea. I promise to keep it light, entertaining, and hopefully a little educational at the same time.

Until next time,