Older Restoration: 1966 Chevrolet Nova 327 V8

The Chevy II (aka Nova) debuted in 1962 and was an American as apple pie (and the Ford Falcon). The cars were reworked in 1966-67 with more square-edged styling, which found fewer buyers than before, but it also had the Ford Mustang to compete with in some respects. The seller has a nice 1966 Nova 2-door hardtop that was restored 16 years ago, but it looks like yesterday. With fewer photos than should be offered, this nifty Nova is in Kansas City, Missouri, and is available here on craigslist for $25,000.

Chevy’s 1966 Nova saw a nice jump in sales over 1965, followed by an immediate decline in 1967, probably due to the arrival of the Camaro that year. No mention is made of whether this Nova is a Super Sport, but it does have a 327 cubic inch V8. No mention is made of numbers-matching, but the fender insignia says “327,” and this one was rebuilt to L79 specs in 2010. More than 10,600 Chevy ii/Novas had a 327 in 1966. No mention is made of the transmission, but it is a manual. 53,500 of them had a 3-speed while 10,000 had a 4-speed.

This Sport Coupe is said to have 40,000 miles, but is that in total or since restoration in 2010? The limited photos portray a well-kept automobile, even down to the visqueen covers atop the front floor mats. The blue paint presents well, as does the matching interior, which has a bench seat rather than buckets as you might find in an SS. We wish the seller would have popped the hood for a photo of that L79ish 327, but that’s not the case.

The Nova would get another redesign in 1968, and that’s when the popularity really shone. Through the styling refresh of 1973 and the final redesign in 1975. The Nova would be retired in 1979, in advance of the front-wheel-drive Citation in 1980, which was not up to its predecessors’ standards (IMO). Our thanks to Tony Primo for the tip on this beauty!