During last week’s Midwest Drags event, a whole bunch of self-sustained vehicles showed up to promote what they can do in a straight line. The vehicles must be driven to the track under their own power and can only bring a trailer they can tow themselves to qualify. In other words, no freebies, you can’t bring your car on a trailer.
Even though the Nova isn’t one of Chevy’s most iconic nameplates, post-1968 SS models where the "Super Sport" was transformed from a trim option into a performance package are still very popular. The Nova SS is one of the smallest muscle cars to ever come out of Detroit, and you could get an optional big-block V8 with as much as 375 hp and 415 lb-ft (563 Nm) of torque.
Now, that’s pretty cool, even by today’s standards. But if you’re planning on doing a so-called drag strip “takeover,” you’re going to need a lot more than a stock late 60s Nova, regardless of specification.
Enter the Cowboy Up Nova, a 1969 example that’s been heavily modified in order to run laps around the competition—figuratively speaking. In short, it features a Dart 427 LS motor and a Pro Mod 94 Turbo setup, but realistically speaking, it probably runs so many mods in total that it would simply take way too much screen real estate to list them all.
The modded Chevy put together several runs, most of them against some very dangerous competition, by the looks of it. Even so, it couldn’t be matched over a quarter-mile.
Its best pass occurs around the 4:10 min mark of the video, as the Cowboy Up Nova flew past the finish line in just 7.43 seconds at 186 mph (300 kph). While we couldn’t find a recent dyno chart for this car, it’s safe to assume it’s got to be pushing around 2,000 hp.
Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration. Full profile
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