No high-schooler in the ’70s or ’80s ran body colored steel wheels with factory low-budget “dog dish” hubcaps like this 1970 Chevrolet Nova. That was like advertising you borrowed your Mom’s car for a night of striking out. Today, the same look is at least as cool as a set of aftermarket wheels. With its lowered stance and fat, barely DOT-legal rear meats, this green Nova in Delisle, Saskatchewan, Canada probably doesn’t draw much action from the tuner crowd. Lock horns with this big-block Chevy at your own risk, because this thoroughly overhauled green machine means business.
Believe it or not, Chevy would sell you a big block Nova in 1970, the last time the 396 cid (6.5L) mill filled this “compact” Nova’s engine bay in production. What year was this 565 inch monster available? Uh, that would be never. To build a 565 (9.3L), simply start with a stroked 502 inch 454 and bore it to a final combination of 4.60-inch bores with a 4.25-inch stroke. Picture Folgers coffee cans flying up and down at 5000 RPM. “That,” as iconic football caller Keith Jackson said of vicious defenders, “will wreck your parlor.”
Somewhat ironically, the seller details the low mileage and originality of this car including “75% original paint,” then immediately dives into describing a ridiculously wonderful list of far-from-original modifications from stem to stern. That small brake pedal suggests the car began life with an adjacent clutch pedal. With perhaps 800 HP on tap, maybe changing gears should be left to the automatic transmission for consistency. Who needs clutching and shifting as more variables to catapult you afield at random oblique angles? Thanks to MotorTrend for some details.
Green performance cars have a reputation as slow sellers, though the original hue’s unlikely to cool interest in this high-quality show-winner and multiple magazine feature car, known as Plain Jane.
There’s no bad side to this Nova, including the underside. Nearly everything visible deviates from stock except for the tire count: still four. Check out the well-crafted listing here on eBay and the driving video on YouTube for a taste of this Nova’s potential. At least six bidders have it over $50,000 with about four days left. Would you call this stock-hood, steel wheel, big-block Nova a sleeper?
Well thought and and executed. Good sleeper presentation. Bidding will be strong, won’t be inexpensive, nor should it be.
Steve R
Sure u can put that horse power in a nova but why? 400 hp not enough to move it.
Nice car a little to much hp in my opinion.
A 350 cube chevy was more than enough in my humble opinion.
Good luck to buyer and seller.
Answer is yes. Ever seen Kurt Urban’s 72 “Super Sleeper” ? Proven street cruiser that runs mid 9’s.
1160 horse 825 lbs of torque out of a double supercharged LS2.
And its also green but not in the shape that this car is in. This
car is perfect imo. Subtle, mean and green!
This was built to draw attention at car shows and get into magazines. That’s precisely what has happened. The planning and work that went into this car are first rate, it’s one if the rare cars thst gets better the more time you spend looking at it. The attention to detail is first rate.
It’s not the sort of car that does a burnout leaving a car show and slides into a ditch of hits a telephone pole, that’s done by the guy whose car doesn’t measure up and gets ignored.
Steve R
Deathproof.
Nobody is going to be fooled by a 54 year old car that sets off car alarms and rattles windows for blocks around.
Thought the same thing Primo.
Not to mention the rear meats lol.
Crazy ride, see that thing jump in 2nd gear. Detroit locker too ⚙️
Wow. Very cool build 👏 😎
Todd, excellent write up!
Funny and informative.
Build looks good, engine detail is clean and tidy.
Never understood the rationale for not taking the exhaust to the rear bumper – noisy, fumey and looks cheap. Or not boosting the braking system … stock or hyper-modified.
Nice build – a monster for sure- in a groovy platform with a semi-semi sleeper vibe.
💯 Torino. Good work Fitch.
Anything less than 550 cubes is for saps and squares. Seriously, it amazes me how relatively common these humongous engines have become
I had a ‘70 four door in the same color w/230 CID inline 6 and a 2-speed PowerSlide automatic. Personally I love the color.
SS (Super Sleeper) lol
Saskatchewan is the perfect place for this car. Long, flat , straight roads.
Those old grain elevators would be flashing by like telephone poles !
Thank you for the comments. It’s my car. I built this as my “last” car. I’m getting on age wise and had full intentions of keeping the Nova. Unfortunately, my wife is extremely ill with cancer and fate has forced my hand. Car is actually nicer in person than in the pix and the video(s). WS
Wayne, you built an incredible car.
Very sorry to hear your wife is ill with cancer.
Sorry that you are selling your Nova for personal reasons, I hope your wife is comfortable and recovers.
I thought your name was familiar. I have some of your books. I always looked for your name in the byline, you knew whatever you wrote would be interesting and you’d learn something.
Thank you for the work you did.
Steve R
Thanks for chiming in, Wayne! Epic build – one of the coolest cars I’ve written up. Your work is top-notch. Very sorry for the circumstances. All the best. – Todd We’d love to hear from the new owner as well!
I love this car. But it’s going to be big bucks and it should have a 6 speed. I just like to shift.
Wow, did some serious work on this one. Very nice indeed. My Impala had the exhaust stop where this one does. The droning was too much, had to run out back in the stock location. This one is ready to go….
I can answer to two of the questions or comments:
Power Brakes: The engine produces approximately 10-inches of vacuum. Probably enough to keep power brakes happy under all circumstances, but a bigger issue is spark plug access to #7 cylinder. Right now it takes 15 minutes or so to remove and replace that plug. A booster will make that nearly impossible, even with a small diameter Chinese booster.
Tailpipes: I had full intensions of running the pipes out the back, but the ARB I built interferes. It might be possible to snake 3-inch pipes around it, but not with any sort of ease.
WS
Wayne,
Praying for you and your Wife.
This is a beautiful build and very well thought out.
You have every nut and bolt planned out.
Picking up your book
1,001 Tech Tips.
Hope this auction goes great for you – Almost done.
I spoke too soon and see what you mean about the limited booster space and all the work you put into the ARB.
Love the automatic with all that displacment – let it do the work and hang on for dear life !
The next owner will have a true handbuilt beast.
I love the color. My first brand new car was a 69 Nova in the same shade of green but with black vinyl top and Ralley wheels. It was a nice car but not near as nice as the 69 Firebird 400 I traded it for in 71.
To me a car built like this one is for drag racing at the strip.
God Bless America
Actually. as a high schooler in the 70’s; a lot of us ran Poverty hubcaps and steel wheels. If you wanted to get fancy, you ran trim rings also. Dog Dish hubcaps and police car wheels were especially popular amongst the local Mopar crowd.
Working minimum wage at the local gas station didn’t provide enough funding for the all the required speed parts and fancy wheels. We built them one piece at a time, and wheels were a desire, but 4 barrels and headers were an absolute requirement.
So many Sleepers were dressed like grannys but given away by sound…you just couldn’t muffle or muzzle it.