All due respect to Ford’s Falcon and Plymouth’s Valiant, Chevrolet designers knocked one out of the park with their second year Chevrolet Nova. The two-door hardtop styling was reflective of a more substantial car as opposed to an entry-level compact. Throw in the SS option, and Chevy had quite an attractive package. And for your review, here’s a ’63 Nova SS survivor still wearing a lot of originality. It is located in Sherman Oaks, California and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $17,750 with twenty-five bids tendered so far.
Eventually, the SS designation would mean a high-performance attribute for Chevrolet’s compact series but in ’63, it was all about appearance – there wasn’t even a V8 engine available at this point. The SS option meant bucket seats, a center console, special wheel covers, unique trim, full instrumentation, and SS badging all added to a Nova 400, two-door hardtop. It did mandate a six-cylinder engine, however, instead of the Chevy II’s lowly in-line four. Production was stout in ’63 with 372K Chevy II/Novas rolling off of Chevrolet’s assembly lines; 42K wearing the SS designation.
Power is provided by a 120 gross HP, 194 CI, in-line six-cylinder that has been rebuilt and bored out .060″. The seller doesn’t state how recent the rebuild is but advises that the car “runs and drives great“. The brake and fuel lines have been replaced as have the shocks. The typically found Powerglide, two-speed automatic transmission puts the power to the rear wheels.
Originally wearing Ermine White, this Nova was repainted in Azure Aqua some time ago as it underwent a full restoration. It looks great! There is no sign of rust or crash damage and the seller states that the doors don’t sag, certainly a problem with aging two-door GM hardtop models – the bronze hinge inserts just wear out. The bumpers and trim are listed as original and they do have a bit of pitting in place – but it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. There are 140 images of this Nova here on dropbox, be sure to check them out.
The interior is still in its original color but it’s not stated if it was replaced when the car was restored. By and large, it looks great, though the images are just snippets without any widescale or comprehensive images. The seller has added three-point safety belts but beyond that, it looks like it would have in ’63. The seller adds that the fuel gauge and radio are non-working, some of the weather stripping needs to be replaced and the rearview mirror should be swapped with the correct item which he has.
Also of note, the instrument cluster has been rebuilt with all gauges working other than the aforementioned fuel gauge. This is a really nice addition as Chevrolet, unlike Mopar, was content to just provide idiot lights for the engine’s most important functions.
The best thing about this Nova is its originality, it hasn’t been molested into a hotrod or pseudo muscle car, it is as Chevrolet intended. Let’s hope the next owner sees the value in that and leaves it as it is, right?
Nice car. Sure would be hard not to slide a small block V8 and 4 speed into something like this. The lack of rust alone makes this one a good buy.
I’m all for keeping these cars as original as possible, but I can’t help think about a 327/4-speed in here, too…
Survivor? Color change, rebuilt engine, new brake and fuel lines, replaced interior? Sure, that’s a survivor. Just saying. Lol
I knew someone would take your position, I even considered changing the title but didn’t – and I get your point, but… The reason that I stayed with the “Survivor” moniker is that this car has “survived” some Chevy gearhead from hot rodding it, and essentially ruining it.
JO
I just lost a lot of respect for this site.
That’s your call RKS, read it or not.
JO
RKS you are definitely on the wrong website.
Being an SS, it should at least have the 230 LOL.
230 was only on the full-size cars in 63. For a Nova it was the 194 or nothing.
I am going to agree with Jim on this. It may not be a survivor in the truest sense of the word, but it is pretty close considering most of these have had a 4 link rear put in, Mustang II front end, disk brakes all around etc etc. In my book it makes it by the skin of its teeth.
I just searched the term “Survivor” and read an article by Hemmings (not a minor source). The article was about a Buick convertible and referred to Bloomington Gold, Buick Club of America and the Antique Car Club of America, each having a different definition of what constitutes a “Survivor”. I consider myself one. Does that mean I still have ALL the same parts I was born with? Hardly. I think we should not take ourselves and our personal views on such a subject too seriously. :-) Terry J
Calling it a “survivor” doesn’t bother me a bit. Looking at a great car like this 58 years after rolling off the production line is all that matters to me. We can all individually assess what’s been done to help the car get to this point in its long life and categorize it any way we want, so criticizing the use of the term “survivor” seems petty and unnecessary. Love the car👍
Big deal or not, the definition of a “survivor” car has most definitely expanded as of late, being used over and over – often on cars with questionable provenance. This example notwithstanding, the diminishment of the term is the unfortunate result.
I know Henry Gibson famously drove a Ford Pinto in The Blues Brothers, but who else thinks that a Nova SS might have been a more appropriate car for an Illinois Nazi? 🤣 (BTW, I know that SS stood for Super Sport).
LOL it’s a 58 year old car, and it’s here. I’d say it “survived”.
In high school, I had a 1962 Chevy Nova convertible with this same power train. Man, that was a cool ride. My twin brother ran it off the road at speed and nearly ended up in the river. We hauled it out, and as teenagers and with the help of an obliging neighbor, replaced the driver’s door and front fender with junkyard items, then “resprayed” with a paint can. It looked good from 30 feet.
My first hot rod. 1976
Dropped a 350 4 spd in it, had bit painted iridescent blue, cut and rolled the fender wells and put 15″ wheels all around with 50’s on back. Handled like pure crap but what a blast to drive.
I swore one day I’d build one again but do it right. I had $900 in that car. Today it would cost, what? $20-30 grand?
Ok, so what is a survivor? To me it’s a 100% original automobile. Any replaced wear parts should be OEM. The best survivor has documented history attesting to its originality. I know many will disagree. Fifteen years ago I found and was lucky to get my hands on a 100 percent survivor 63 corvette coupe. It had 83,000 documented miles and was in good used never restored condition. I carefully had the entire car rewired, and every piece of rubber replaced. Finding those pieces in factory packaging was a labor of love. When I sold it the happy new owner got a 12 inch stack of documentation going back to the dealer in Denver.
I agree fully with Bing.
I have posted similar views on this site in the past – if it isn’t 100% factory original, absent of course necessary maintenance items, it is simply not a survivor as a vehicle.
Many may wish to dilute the true term, but once diluted, anything, a car or anything else, is longer pure.
Howard Shaw, Editor of HEMMINGS: “To begin with, we’re going to differentiate between “original” and “survivor.” When it comes to categorization of old cars, the latter term generally is a good deal more lenient, while the former really sticks in a lot of people’s craws.” LOL, Terry J
‘I just lost a lot of respect for this site”
Baffling statement.
I didn’t have a lot of time to expound on my comment to Jim earlier so here we go. CARS THAT HAVE BEEN REPAINTED ARE NOT SURVIVORS. If this car had been sprayed in it’s original color I could almost let it go. The thing is calling a car like this a survivor is an insult to those that have actually worked to keep their vehicles in that condition, and blurs the lines so much that the term doesn’t mean anything anymore. An automotive site throwing this term at cars like this actually hurts the hobby, and the business. Think about it folks.
Hurts the hobby?! Huh? The cat that owns this Nova is at $18,600 for a six-cylinder economy hardtop that was considered, at one time, to be a consumable car. And there’s still two days to go in the bidding. Think about that…
JO
I think that a true, 1963 Chevy Nova SS had a silver paint scheme in the rear end, no matter what the color of the rest of the car was–.
I don’t think i ever seen those gages or a clock in a unibody 6 cyl nova before.
I would imagine the fanciest wheel covers like these “disappeared” on many occasions. Annoying when a pebble gets trapped inside 1 of them.
Looks like a pertronix conversion with a full 12 volts going to the coil. Not sure if you would have had to change the coil as well.
Let the little car grow up 502 and a 9” Ford hahahaha
Owned 5 of these through the years (back in the day). Might say I’m a fan. OBtW, a V8, stick shift swap has some tricks to it, like sourcing a front sump oil pan & parts. The location of the block-side bell crank pivot ball stud was unique to the Chevy II V8 engine block, it sits in a different location (much lower) than other Chevrolet engines. They make adapters. This stuff is available but will surprise the unlearned. Then there’s the 4 bolt vs 5 bolt brake drums front & rear on earlier Chevy 2. And a 327/350/or even a hot 283 will break that 10 bolt diff especially with a stick tranny.
I noticed you didn’t give your usual 0-60 and quarter mile times?
Still waiting for it to finish?
Hmm.
Seems that we are now deleting comments that hit a little too close to home. There was nothing in my deleted comment that was out line or offensive in any way. Why was it removed?
As I simply stated in my deleted comment, the overuse of the term “survivor” as of late has in my opinion had the unfortunate result of diluting the meaning of the word – ultimately rendering the phrase meaningless.
As JO said so eloquently himself, “Think about that…”
Jcs:
Your comment is back. There is some serious weirdness going on today where some comments end up in the trash on their own – yours is not the only one. Deletion is a manual process so I’m not sure what’s up. And no, there was nothing objectionable about it.
JO
Jim, the weirdness is nothing new. Sometimes it takes comments several hours to appear, if they do at all. That’s why you see so many people double posting, they don’t see what the just wrote and write it again. That has been going on for months.
Steve R
Steve:
Yes, I am aware of it, I mentioned it to our Editor-in-Chief when the response time was really, really slow a while back. In the interim, I monitor/moderate comments constantly and will make certain that things that aren’t supposed to be spam, or deleted, aren’t. I try to delete double posts too as I catch them.
Thx,
JO
Either I have totally lost my mind (totally possible) or my comment has been reinstated.
All the best
Jcs
Hi Jim, Not sure if it was the correct nomenclature, but my ’62 had what we called a 10 bolt and it was a drop out. That held up fine with the 194 six and even when Dad and I put in the 283, but later when I scored a ‘Vette 327 that beast broke those differentials and the 3 speed tranny on a regular basis. But they were plentiful and cheap so my pals & I got “Pit Crew” fast at replacing them. That little red Chevy 2 was fast. :-) Terry J
OK, that’s what I thought.
Thx,
JO
My stepfather had that very car. 6 with a Powerglide. We drove it to Vegas for my 21st birthday. Wonder what every happened to his?
These things with a 283 were lots of fun in their day.
Funny story: Had a friend who converted one of these with a 194 I6 w/3 on the tree to a built 283 with the correct front-sump pan (which cost an arm and a leg) and a floor shifter. Puked its guts out on first start due to not torquing the rod bolts correctly (talk about oversight) and destroyed the oil pan. He found a 305 and transferred over the 283 heads and intake and brazed the oil pan up. He built that one right, and it was a bit of a handful, as the 305 had gobs of torque for such a little body.
Fun days indeed for a teenager to get a front-row seat to that story!
Had a 63 Nova SS in HS and loved that little car so much I got one again. The original Nova I had was that 194 6 banger people talked about. I don’t know why people want to keep 58 year old technology when we have so much better equipment today. I have a 63 red convertible with a white top, my old car was a hardtop, with a LS-3, GM L65E transmission
Heidt’s front clip, Heidt’s 4 link rear end with a Ford 9” and posi. Willwood disc brakes front and back, Coilovers all around and this thing corners like a go-kart. I know how much body roll the original suspension had because I drove like I stoled in HS. The only thing that is 1963 is the sheet metal. With 450 ponies under the hood compared to 95, obviously I don’t drive like that anymore.
My first car would be produced the following year although it would come with two more doors and 2 more pistons. I added dual exhaust and a mirror to the passenger side door. No seat belts, which made the DMV officer for my road test a little nervous, but it came that way from the factory so it passed. I got it repainted in the original bluish silver GM paint, (sorry I can’t remember paint code) and added an electronic distributor.
The car cost my parents $500.00 in 1980. The above mentioned upgrades @ $2000.00. Why don’t I own that car anymore?!
Just looked in The Encyclopedia of American Cars and apparently the Falcon Sprint hardtop was the only compact entry of the big 3 to have an available V8?
Considering Ford offered a V8 Falcon in 63 AND had an intermediate sized sedan 2 YEARS before Chevrolet, the Blue Oval was on a bit of a roll. But the styling at GM, especially Chevrolet, easily bested Ford.
The only part of the article I don’t agree with is that Mopar products used idiot lights more often than…? My experience has been just the opposite. Although my fuzzy memory of my 69 Valiant says that they did use idiot lights, so I will need to research that.
Boy oh boy, what a beehive. A concours car is 100% original, a survivor is a nice car perhaps original # matching but not perfect that’s lived longer than most of the arguers of this subject. My 64 Buick Riviera don’t have the original battery or tires and not every nut and bolt came on the car from the factory but that car is over 56 years old and still has original 425 engine transmission and rear end. The headlight bulbs were probably changed at one time as well the tail light bulbs. But it has survived all these years without ever being in even a minor fender bender. The interior is original. Now you call it what you want, but to me it’s a survivor.
God bless America
Call it what you want but it’s a neat car in good condition that could be fun to own. Didn’t realize so much BS could be concocted up over it. Takes the shine right off of it. Fall back guys, you’ve already shot yourselves in the foot.
Hi, I didn’t mean to dog ya for the survivor thing. To me this is a nicely restored little nova. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with your ideas either. It’s a big hobby. Still…not a survivor. Lol
KC John:
It has been a great discussion all the way around and I appreciate you tapping the keg as so to speak.
JO
On another note, I agree about the styling – the whole Nova line was early-Mitchell-era GM at its’ finest, with overtones of the original Riviera around the cowl and body sides. The hardtop manages to be lower and sleeker than the post sedans without the roof looking like it was borrowed from a smaller car like the Falcon hardtop’s does.
I’d like a warmed over 250 six in there. Keep it stock looking. Would a 292 fit?
So much debate over the term “Survivor” since this Nova SS popped up. Now, let’s weigh in on the term “Restored”. That word gets applied to everything from a 100 point show car to one essentially carved out of Bondo. Me, I really don’t care what terms people use. If I’m interested in a car I’ll determine it’s condition on my own and not depend on someone’s subjective view through their rose colored glasses. Just me and my opinion.
I still remember the L79 Chevy II here a while back….with a bin of 250 thousand dollars, caused quite a stir on this site,
Labeling everything is what it is although it gets confusing at times. Like a comment the other day someone claimed Any V8 Mustang was a muscle car, haha, no brother. Survivor. Restored. Restomod, Tribute. Clone, barn find, it goes on and on. The hobby seems alive and well, hope it stays a while longer.