NOTE: The photos of this car closely approximate the correct color, but it isn’t an exact match. Digital cameras have difficulty duplicating certain turquoise colors. We have adjusted the photos digitally to get the color as close as possible to the way it appears in person. The photos have not been altered in any other way and represent the car’s condition accurately.

The third generation Nova got everything right: right size, right engines, and right price. They were a best-seller and were the kind of car that could appeal to your grandmother as well as to the hardcore racer up the street. They were tough, light, and easy to fix, and even today parts are plentiful. Thanks to that combination of light weight and a big engine bay, the Nova has been popular with performance junkies for decades. This handsome 1972 Nova is exactly the kind of car that was popular in years gone by: affordable, fast, and bulletproof reliable. It isn’t perfect by any means, but it isn’t a rust bucket, either. The paint is a few years old and looks an awful lot like Tahoe Turquoise, a Camaro color from a few years earlier. It’s not green, it’s not blue, but it has a bold look that works quite well and it stands out in a sea of similar black and red Novas. The hardtop body style was dropped in ’72, making the 2-door “post” sedan the only choice if you wanted sporty, but most racers will tell you that it’s the better choice for powerful cars because the structure is more rigid. White SS stripes look suitably aggressive and it wears a steel cowl-induction hood that fits quite well. There’s the usual orange peel in the paint, but if you know a professional who can give it a proper cut-and-buff you’ll end up with a fantastic-looking Nova for not a lot of cash. The chrome and stainless trim is nice, the SS emblems look authentic, and both the grille and the tail panel are properly blacked-out. The car certainly looks right.

The interior is a little customized, starting with the diamond-tufted vinyl upholstery. It is nicely done and the front buckets remain supportive and comfortable, and we kind of like the unusual look. Reproduction door panels and a new dash pad make it look correct and the wood-rimmed steering wheel warms things up a bit in the otherwise all-black interior. Factory gauges cover only fuel level and speed, so a trio of auxiliary dials are fitted under the dash and a big white-faced tach is strapped to the column. There’s also a Hurst shifter on the floor that manages a Muncie 4-speed manual gearbox, as well as an upgraded Sony AM/FM/CD/iPod stereo with speakers in the kick panels and on the rear deck. The carpets are in good shape and the headliner is correct but has a few wrinkles around the sail panel area. In back, the trunk has an ancient mat, a spare Rally wheel, and a jack assembly.

As with most Chevys of the era, there’s no way to know much about its pedigree beyond the fact that the F in the fifth digit of the VIN tells us this was a V8 car from the start, a 307 specifically. Somewhere along the line it lost its original engine and a proper 350 cubic inch V8 was dropped into its spot. With bright Chevy Orange paint on the block and heads, a recent water pump, and some Edelbrock dress-up parts, it looks fantastic in the black engine bay. Horsepower boosts come from the Weiand intake manifold, Edelbrock 4-barrel carburetor, HEI ignition system, and a set of long-tube headers that help build torque. There’s also a new alternator, power steering and brakes, and a big radiator up front to keep it cool. It starts easily, idles well, and pulls the lightweight Nova around with genuine authority. Less mass always equals more acceleration!

It’s tidy underneath and you can easily see that it isn’t a rusty car. We believe those are the original floors and while everything is covered in a light dusting of undercoating, it doesn’t hide anything. The Muncie 4-speed shifts crisply thanks to that Hurst shifter and the 10-bolt rear end has reasonable gears inside so it’s a great street car that’s fun to drive. Important areas like the torque boxes, subframes, and pinch welds on the rockers are quite solid and the shocks are recent, too. The dual exhaust system isn’t pretty, but it sounds great and offers cool chrome tips just under the rear bumper for a little extra intimidation. Rally wheels are always a great choice on vintage GM performance cars, with these carrying staggered 215/65/15 front and 225/70/15 rear white-letter radials.

This car appeals to us simply because it doesn’t seem to be trying too hard. Clean, fun, powerful, and affordable are all adjectives that have described the Nova from day one, and they work just fine on this one as well. Not perfect, not pedigreed, but 100% ready to have fun. Call today!