Muscle Car of the Week: 1966 Nova!!

This week we're looking at a classic option for muscle car restoration, the 1966 Chevy Nova!

The '66 Nova officially launched the second generation of the model, and with it came some pretty nice upgrades. Under the hood Chevy introduced the now iconic Turbo Fire V8. It had a 327 cubic inch diameter and delivered 350 horsepower on the chassis dyno tester. Unlike other engines options offered by Chevy in that year, the Turbo Fire was only available with a four speed standard tranny. The automatic versions weren't offered. It was because of this, in fact, that the Nova was finally considered to be a muscle car in '66.

The Nova had technically been around since 1962 but the second generation was redesigned from scratch in order to compete with popular muscle cars like the Mustang and the Falcon. Chevy added, a sharp new front grille, a semi-fastback roof line, and "humped" fenders. These new upgrades combined to make this a prime choice for an auto restoration enthusiast nowadays.

The original ticket price on the Nova was right around $2500 in 1966. Today online we see them getting from $20K-$60K for a fully restored SS Model.