The Chevrolet 400 was a

compact car Compact car is a vehicle size class—predominantly used in North America—that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However, before ...

made by General Motors de Argentina from 1962 to 1974.Chevrolet 400
at Coche Argentino (archived, 2005) The "400" was

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

's reply to Ford and

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

after those companies introduced the first

s to Argentina, the

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

and Valiant II respectively.Historia del Chevrolet 400
by Alejandro Franco on Autosdeculto.com.ar The "400" was based on the Chevrolet model known in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as Chevy II (and later "Chevrolet Nova"). Only the 4-door sedan version was manufactured in the country, although U.S. versions included a complete line of body styles, including a hardtop coupe, convertible coupe, 2-door sedan, and

station wagon A station wagon (American English, US, also wagon) or estate car (British English, UK, also estate) is an automotive Car body style, body-style variant of a Sedan (automobile), sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo ...

History

The Beginning

In the 1960s, the auto industry was revolutionized with the emergence of a new concept vehicle: the

. In Argentina, a radical change occurred in the structures of large factories, such that Chrysler began to manufacture the "Valiant II" while Ford produced the "Falcon".Historia del Ford Falcon
on ''Revista Road Test'' Nro 36, October 1993

's response was a car derived from the U.S. market, the Chevy II, traded as "Chevrolet 400" in Argentina. The first version of the 400 included round headlights on its front grille and was equipped with Chevrolet's ubiquitous overhead-valve, six-cylinder engine of 194 cubic inches or 3179 cc.

Chevrolet 400 Argentina

left, A Chevrolet 400 in the assembly line of GM Argentina The first Chevrolet 400 was manufactured on March 21, 1962. As cited above the car was equipped with an engine named "194" which had a displacement of 194 cubic inches (or 3179 cc). The 400 was offered in two models: the "Special" which was a luxury sedan and the "Base", most of which were used as

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

. Its engine came equipped with a single-barrel Rochester BC carburetor, while the Special had a Holley. Both engines had 106 HP. The models came with a 3-speed manual transmission. Chevrolet 400 1962

In 1964, GM released the "Super", which showed a slight touch up on its front portion showing a whole new grill. The Super premiered the new inline "230" six-cylinder engine (3769 cc), 127 HP and a Holley R2751 carburetor, and equipped with 3-speed manual transmission as usual. In 1967 Chevrolet launched the 400 "Super Sport", the most aggressive version of the line that featured a more powerful engine and an innovative gearbox. These had the 250 cubic-inch OHV Six, and ZF 4-speed selector with trigger shifter, released just this year. The Super Sport, equipped with this engine-box duo, produced 155 HP. It also came equipped with a 2-barrel Holley RX 7214-A carburetor. It also brought updated front-end styling with quad round headlights. That same year, racer Carlos Alberto Pairetti was crowned champion of

Turismo Carretera Turismo Carretera ( Road racing, lit., ''Road Touring'') is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the 2nd oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera. ...

driving a prototype Chevrolet nicknamed "The Orange Thunder" ('El trueno naranja' in Spanish), the name adopted due to the color of the unit, equipped with a 250 engine with a transmission similar to the

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

The end of the Chevrolet 400

The 400 was replaced by the ''Chevy'' (pictured) based on the American Nova However, in 1969, the "Chevy" (based on the 1968 Chevy II Nova), a sports car that became the most famous in the history of the brand. The idea was to offer a luxury car with sports features on one side (Chevy 400), and sport on the other (Chevy). What was not taken into account is that sales of the Chevy increased at the expense of its predecessor, the 400, causing a competition between both models. While the 400 was produced alongside the Chevy, the 400's North American counterpart ceased production after the 1967 model year. It was then that to avoid more of a problem, in 1972, "Rally Sport" was launched, which was cheaper than the Chevrolet 400. The same came with three engine options: the "194", the "230" and "250", which came equipped with a carburetor Holey R 2751, and coupled to the 4-speed box. These versions came with different shades of color characteristic of this series: White, Red with black side stripes, light blue with white side stripes or orange with the best known black sidebands. It also highlighted the logo "RS" in the rear of the car and a new grille with 2 headlights instead of 4. In 1974, Chevrolet Argentina ended production of the "400" with 93,000 units manufactured until then. It was replaced by the Argentine "Chevy Malibu" (based on the 1968–72 American Chevrolet Nova 4-door sedan, with no relation to the North American market

Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car that was manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and from 1997 to 2025. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-w ...

) based on the Chevelle series. However, the same year, the engine "194" would be used for what would be the first General Motors'

mid-size car Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in ...

in Argentina, the Opel K-180.

Engines

3 different sizes of Chevrolet Straight-6 engines were offered. '' 'Chevrolet 400 STD * Motor "194" - 194 inches. cub. 3185 cc - 106 hp. '' 'Chevrolet 400 Special * Motor "194" - 194 inches. cub. 3185 cc - 106 hp. * Motor "230" - 230 inches. cub. 3769 cc - 127 hp. '' 'Chevrolet 400 Super * Motor "230" - 230 inches. cub. 3769 cc - 127 hp. '' 'Chevrolet 400 Super Sport * Motor "250" - 250 inches. cub. 4097 cc - 155 hp. '' 'Rally Sport Chevrolet 400 * Motor "194" - 194 inches. cub. 3185 cc - 106 hp. * Motor "230" - 230 inches. cub. 3769 cc - 127 hp. * Motor "250" - 250 inches. cub. 4097 cc - 155 hp.

Sports

The Chevrolet 400 made its debut in the TC in the 1960s, at the same time they began to appear as the first national compact in motorsport. The prototype Chevitú coupé driven by the famous pilot Froilán González (derived from the US Chevrolet Chevy II Nova coupé), was the pioneer in this activity receiving praise and denials alike. The '400' was piloted at TC for several pamphlets, among which stood out Jorge Cupeiro, Carlos Marincovich, Jorge Martínez Boero and Charles Giay, among others.

Chevrolet Prototype

The "Chevrolet Prototype", were a litter of vehicles submitted by various coaches that their machines with motorized

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

engines.

References

{{Chevrolet vehicles

400 __NOTOC__ Year 400 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...

Cars introduced in 1962 1970s cars Sedans Cars of Argentina