Afriend of mine said according to the numbers he ran on my car that my car was originally equipt with a powerglide trans and a 396 BB. He also said that it is a true ss which I know, but is this combo common. I also have a bench seat and the shift is on te column. Could this car have been ordered with drag racing in mind with the original owner wanting the car to look like a sleeper? any comments would be appreciated!

I don't doubt that the car was equipped with a glide and the 396. GM was putting 427s in corvettes at the same time with power glides.

This is the combo you would have got if you ordered a base SS396 car. They came with glide, bench seat, and column shift. The buckets, console, th400 and 4 speeds were all options.
This car was probably a normal dealer order, and there are quite a few around. Many of them have been changed over to the common 'SS sport look' of having the buckets and console.
This should be a 325 horse car.

The Powerglide was definitely available in '67 behind the 396 in Chevelles. In fact, it was the only automatic in '66. In '67 the 1st printing brochure in Canada shows the 'glide as the only automatic. The U.S. & 2nd printing Canadian brochures list the Powerglide & TH400 as being available behind the 396s, but to check availability before ordering. I've heard of a '67 SS396 ordered with the TH400 but built with the Powerglide. Supposedly there was a shortage of TH400s due to a fire at the TH400 plant, so where there was a choice of the 2 different automatics, GM might just substitute in order to build the car. The 'glide was available in '68 as well with the 396. BTW, the 'glide was also available behind the L34 (350 horse).