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Modern Chevy Nova Digitally Imagined With SVE Yenko Styling Traits

Introduced in 1961 for the 1962 model year, the Chevy II was the right car at the right time for General Motors. Better known as the Nova, the X-body icon followed the same recipe until 1979, when GM pulled the plug in favor of the Citation. Later on, the compact car was revived in the guise of a rebadged Toyota Corolla assembled locally at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, where Tesla makes electric vehicles nowadays.
Modern Chevy Nova rendering by wb.artist20 28 photos
Photo: wb.artist20 on Instagram
Modern Chevy Nova rendering by wb.artist20Modern Chevy Nova rendering by wb.artist201970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine1970 Chevrolet Nova with Dart SHP twin-turbo V8 engine
Clare MacKichan, the gentleman who contributed to the first-generation Corvette and Bel Air designs, penned the Chevy II Nova under a strict guideline from the Detroit-based automaker’s bean counters. Following the commercial success of the value-oriented Ford Falcon for the North American market, General Motors wanted in on the action just like it did a few years later with the original Mustang pony car and the first-generation Camaro.

The Nova sold particularly well until the oil crisis, which is often considered a turning point for the U.S. automotive industry for a few reasons. Rising fuel prices and the Clean Air Act hastened the downfall of yacht-long Cadillac luxobarges and gas-guzzling V8s, and the biggest repercussions of these events were the Malaise Era and very reliable Japanese automobiles.

Although General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler have all recovered from the woes of the Malaise Era, the Big Three in Detroit never managed to surpass the appeal of Toyota and Honda in terms of economy cars after the U.S. public got a taste of world-class reliability. The Corolla, Civic, Camry, and Accord dominate their respective classes, and that’s why a revival of the Nova doesn’t make sense at all for the Golden Bowtie.

Be that as it may, Oscar Vargas imagined the Nova for the 2021 model year with modern styling cues from the Camaro and a little bit of Yenko sprinkles from Specialty Vehicle Engineering. Most likely underpinned by a shorter version of the Alpha vehicle architecture of the Camaro, the present-day Nova would be an extremely interesting proposition over a Toyota GR 86, although it’s bound to fail once again due to a shift in consumer preference.

You see, sports cars accounted for approximately 1.6 percent of the U.S. new-car market in 2020, translating to just over 231,000 sales. Roughly two-thirds of the aforementioned figure came in the guise of the Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro, which are down by a significant margin from just a few years ago because of the health crisis that shall not be named, a sea of affordable and luxed-up crossover utility vehicles, and good ol’ pickups.

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Editor's note: 1970 Chevrolet Nova "Black Nasty" also pictured in the gallery.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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