Patrick Wilson 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle - The Mojo's Workin'

Patrick Wilson has got a bit of voodoo magic working for him. Sure, he has he moments where everything clicks on stage, pounding the skins for Weezer (don't worry if you're drawing a blank--we'll bet your kids are hip to this one). We're talking about Patrick's '67 Chevelle, about which he says: "I wanted a car that had big power and predictable handling all day long, and I considered a BMW M5 or Mercedes E55, but this car has so much mojo that I'm glad I didn't."

Patrick's journey toward owning a bare bones, corner carving, 121/2-second quarter-mile daily driver that he is unabashedly jazzed about started early on, as he watched his father and brother tinker on and even paint classic American musclecars right in the garage. Unfortunately, Patrick's father died when he was eight, and, as he puts it, "that life went away." The life that came calling, however was in music, and Patrick paid his dues as a struggling musician. But when Weezer became a success with its Blue album and its hit singles "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and "Buddy Holly" in 1994, Patrick decided to reclaim the car part of this life. Ironically, this newly minted rock star went car shopping like us wannabe rock-star guys do, finding a car in one of SoCal's primary trader rags, The Recycler. "Cars from the mid '60s and Chevelles especially look right to me," Patrick told us, so he ended up picking up a '67 Chevelle, a cream puff 283 'Glide car.

The first step for Patrick was to do something of a restification on the car, which he thought was cool, especially when the 283 was replaced with a mild 350. A little suspension work happened as well, but the work done up until sometime in '03 was pretty tame. At that point, Patrick tells us, "Things went downhill ... building this car became a sickness." The bug took root during a Web-surfing session, when Patrick came across the Hotrods to Hell Web site (www.hotrodstohell.net). CHP readers are familiar with HTH's CenterDrive truck-arm rear suspension setup from our April '04 article "Hell Camino." After researching the subject on the Internet as much as possible, Patrick then headed out to HTH's Burbank digs, spending hours at the shop, talking with HTH proprietor Steve McClenon, and soaking up as much info as he could. But it took a look at the Chevelle From Hell, HTH's hardest-core in-progress project, a car McClenon describes as a "200-mph-plus daily driver Chevelle" (don't worry, you'll see it here when it's done). This final push set Patrick on the downhill slide, and he left a deposit along with the car to start work that day.

In this case, however, installing HTH's front and rear suspension turned out to be only the beginning. "It (the truck-arm setup) made such a drastic difference," Patrick told us, "I decided I needed big beans to go along with the handling." M&R Engines of Glendale, California, got the call, and responded with a 507-horse 409ci small-block--if Pat was looking for beans, he certainly got the super-sized portion. McClenon and HTH massaged the Chevelle here as well, though, building a new firewall and transmission tunnel to accommodate a 3-inch engine setback. In an A-body, McClenon told us, moving that weight rearward leads to more forward bite and better cornering. It's hard to argue to the contrary, since Pat's Chevelle tore through our 600-foot slalom in 63.1 mph, a performance many new cars would be thrilled to match. And did we happen to mention the 12.55 at 115.70 quarter? Mojo, indeed.

Quite simply, Patrick is thrilled with the way his Chevelle turned out: "I appreciate its simplicity and the craftsmanship that went into it. Everything on the car has a purpose, and there's nothing unnecessary going on, which is very satisfying to me. I don't think I would get the same feeling from a mass-produced car." One feature, though, got added at Mrs. Wilson's insistence, and that's the very slick, ultra-tucked 'cage with snout bars. Jen Wilson happened to see an HTH car that had been through a slight incident--one that obliterated the car, except for what was inside the rollcage area. So the missus had her way and Pat got a very cool, almost unnoticeable rollcage. Pat's also enthused about the stock car pedal assembly, the inner fender delete, and the custom gauge pod where the heater controls were. Best of all though, he says, "Other than the bigger wheels and boom tube exhaust, it looks like your grandma's ride." Grandma never had it like this, we'll tell you that.