Introduced just before the rise of the muscle cars to power in 1961, the Chevrolet Nova may not have been a bomb during its prime years, but it certainly has become one of the favorite platforms on which custom shops all over the country exercise their prowess.
As part of autoevolution’s various special coverages over the past few months, we uncovered a wide number of Novas wearing different bodies and packing different hardware. But this one here can easily top them all off, if we are to trust what we are being told about it.
The car as you see it in the gallery above is for sale, and is presently listed on a specialized website. The price tag is not for the weak of heart – it reads $71,000 – but then again neither are the advertised performances of this cute bad boy.
Build on a Ford 9-inch rear with 4:30 gears, the Nova presents itself from afar as the usual boxy machine, only painted in bright colors. One close look and you get the feeling this is no usual Nova.
The first hint of that, if you approach it from behind, are the massive, drag race-bred wheels at the rear, and the added wing on the edge of the trunk lid. Move toward the front, and the truth reveals itself: this is, above all, a drag car.
The huge protrusion on the front hood is there to aid the massive engine under the hood. That would be a 532ci (8.7-liters) powerplant – we are not given any info on the performance numbers (for buyers, the spec sheet is available), but there’s a tiny little detail revealed by the seller that gives us an idea of its capabilities.
According to the ones selling this Nova, the car was a regular presence on the Thunder Mountain (Bandimere Speedway). There it faced other giants and we’re told it managed to complete the quarter mile in 8.8 seconds at 153 mph.
The car as you see it in the gallery above is for sale, and is presently listed on a specialized website. The price tag is not for the weak of heart – it reads $71,000 – but then again neither are the advertised performances of this cute bad boy.
Build on a Ford 9-inch rear with 4:30 gears, the Nova presents itself from afar as the usual boxy machine, only painted in bright colors. One close look and you get the feeling this is no usual Nova.
The first hint of that, if you approach it from behind, are the massive, drag race-bred wheels at the rear, and the added wing on the edge of the trunk lid. Move toward the front, and the truth reveals itself: this is, above all, a drag car.
The huge protrusion on the front hood is there to aid the massive engine under the hood. That would be a 532ci (8.7-liters) powerplant – we are not given any info on the performance numbers (for buyers, the spec sheet is available), but there’s a tiny little detail revealed by the seller that gives us an idea of its capabilities.
According to the ones selling this Nova, the car was a regular presence on the Thunder Mountain (Bandimere Speedway). There it faced other giants and we’re told it managed to complete the quarter mile in 8.8 seconds at 153 mph.