Comedian Gabriel Iglesias—a.k.a. Fluffy—went to a Las Vegas Barrett-Jackson auction hoping to sell cars, 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 two cars at the auction and as a result had some cash in hand. He ended up coming home with six cars—including the Chevelle.
As impulse buys go, this is a pretty good one. It's a clean example of one of Chevy's most legendary mid-century muscle cars, complete with a numbers-matching engine, 4-speed manual transmission, and plenty of documentation. Someone even re-applied the original factory chalk marks.
Like it says in the name, the Chevelle SS396 is powered by a 396-cubic-inch V-8, which made a claimed 325 hp when new. That was considered pretty potent at the time, although Chevy did offer bigger engines throughout the Chevelle SS's run. Short for "Super Sport," the SS badge traditionally signifies performance versions of ordinary Chevy models, and it's making a comeback on the Chevy Blazer EV.
Gabriel Iglesias' 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 on Jay Leno's Garage
While it has a powerful engine, this Chevelle lacks creature comforts like air conditioning. That kept the price down to $3,638.35 in 1969, when the original owner bought the car from an Aurora, Colorado, dealership. The auction price wasn't disclosed, but you can bet it was a lot more than that.
Iglesias hadn't driven the car before shipping it to California for this "Jay Leno's Garage" episode, so this video includes his first impressions. While the Chevelle was running a bit rough, it certainly doesn't seem like he has buyer's remorse.