For a young car enthusiast during the 1960s, roads were filled with machines considered the pinnacle of American motoring. For Rene Maheu, who grew up around “the hard rock city” of Sudbury, his teenage years involved vivid memories with classic automotive metal. While those years may be in the past for Rene, a 1966 Chevrolet Malibu SS has fueled a long relationship with large Chevys.
In the 1970s, Rene Maheu’s need for suitable transportation for travelling to university had profoundly influenced a wish to perform a modern-time restoration. “Travelling to our local University required dependable road motivation and after some tough negotiations with my aunt, I landed a 1966 Malibu SS for the princely sum of $500.00,” said Rene when he acquired the burgundy-coloured coupe with an ivory interior that had been sitting in a garage for two years. An eight-year-old vehicle at the time, he found the “coke bottle rear quarters and sport roof line” as attractive elements of the vehicle. Although not a V8-powered machine that was so popular in the 1960s, a 230 cubic-inch inline-six engine (advertised by Chevrolet as the Turbo-Thrift 230) still delivered an ample 140 horsepower for the Malibu’s rear wheels to spin.
Rene Maheu's attraction to American performance spanned deep before the purchase of a 1966 Chevrolet Malibu SS. “My teenage years were during the short nostalgic period later to be remembered in North America as the Muscle Car Era of 1964 to 1972,” he said explaining how high wages from the industries within his area resulted in big-block powered Chevrolet Chevelles, Mopar muscle cars as well as Ford Mustangs propelled by the massive 428 cubic-inch V8 engine a common sight as daily drivers. In school, he and a friend were granted the extracurricular access to vehicles by a faculty member described as “a sympathetic shop teacher”. His formative years involved the company of vehicles like the 1960 Pontiac Parisienne, 1959 Cadillac two-door coupe, 1948 Chevrolet Deluxe and a 1953 Buick Straight 8.
By the time Rene Maheu owned his burgundy-coloured 1966 Malibu SS he knew how to keep a vehicle running. In addition to the $500.00 cost for the vehicle, he incurred an expense of $38.11 in order to get the two-door Chevrolet road legal. One of the purchases was a salvaged windshield wiper motor bought for $8.00. Later on during Rene’s ownership of the Chevrolet Malibu SS he would need a new engine mentioning “I finally blew the 6-cylinder on a 100-MPH excursion (downhill of course) one afternoon to Manitoulin Island”. Another Chevrolet inline-six engine (a 250 cubic-inch powerplant) would propel Rene’s vehicle through the remainder of his ownership.
Being a Canadian Chevrolet Malibu SS, there was a unique trait found only on the bowtie-badged vehicles sold in this country. While the SS badging would be largely reserved for V8-propelled performance machines including the Chevelle SS396 in the United States, Chevrolets sold in Canada would receive the lettering to denote an optional sport package offered with all available engines of the Malibu. Rene’s six-cylinder powered 1966 Malibu SS included bucket seats, a center console and ribbed rocker panels as optional equipment.
Rene Maheu’s 1966 Chevrolet Malibu SS would meet an untimely end shortly after he turned over the keys to a new owner. “The Malibu SS was regrettably sold to a neighbor. He promptly drove it into a rock cut 3 weeks later,” he said, recognizing the vehicle’s loss as a mix of tricky roads and a young motorist. Although Rene built a family and career, he remained passionate about General Motors muscle cars. Owning more than 30 Chevelles, El Caminos and Beaumonts (a Chevelle variant that was originally sold in Canada through Pontiac dealerships), his attention turned to finding a model similar to the vehicle of his past. Through the help of a friend, a true barn find example of a verified 1966 Malibu SS was located in Port Colborne, Ontario in June of 2016.
Purchasing and transported the 1966 Malibu SS to northern Ontario, Rene Maheu was able to start an arduous task of fully restoring the car.
