I purchased the car in April 2000 from a guy in Grand Island Nebraska.
It was a long 24 hour round trip for a guy from S.W Lower Michigan. What piqued my interest in this particular car was the "P" Evening Orchid paint code. I started out just looking for a convertible to restore. The car had been sitting in his garage for ten years after he attempted a restoration. His plans were to paint it Regal Red. After a sudden death in his family, he had neither the time or the funds to continue. The car was without the engine and transmission. Many failed deals later, the owner pretty much gave up on selling, until I came along and bought it. I dont know what would have happened to this rare piece of Chevelle history if I hadn't. When I got home from my trip, my wife could not believe I paid good money for such a big mess. I gotta tell ya, it looked pretty bad. After a good cleaning, and alot of sorting, I finaly decided where to start.
The pictures pretty much do the talking.

Above:One of only two photos I recieved upon inquirey.
Below: I was sent this by a guy who looked at the car before I took interest in it.
He said it was too much project for him. So he passed on it.
Thanks Dave!

The seats were pretty much junk. I stripped them to the frames and rebuilt them. The old rag top was removed, and the frame media blasted and repaired. May-June 2000

Fall of 2000 I restored the dash to the way it was supposed to be.
I worked on the seats and searched for parts during the winter. When the snow melted, and the sun came out, I pushed her outside for more cleaning. I didn't like how the seat bottoms turned out, so I took them apart again. The second time around, I got it right, and the contour looked correct.
Man, I learned alot rebuilding those seats!

April-December 2001. I'm learning of all the things that are missing from the car, plus replacing the junk pieces. The research I did so far, told me that the Evening Orchid paint was one of three new colors offered only on the SuperSport model for 1965. The other two "SS Only" colors were Glacier Gray (a rare color as well), and Crocus Yellow. From what I had gathered, the Evening Orchid color didn't endear itself to the public. On top of that, there was an oxidation (fading) problem due to the high metalic content in the paint.
It was discontinued mid-year. Definitely a flower child kind of hippy color.........man.

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PART 2

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