Chevy Nova: GM's Best Small Car

The history of the Chevy Nova.

From it's humble beginnings as the Chevy II, Nova survived and even thrived for 17 model years.

The first generation (1962-1965) Nova was a compact car made to compete with the Ford Falcon, and copied (and improved on) its design in a lot of ways.

The second generation (1966-1967) saw the Nova stay true to it's original design philosophy. It got a more elegant look based off of the Super Nova concept. Generation two also saw the 350hp Nova SS.

The third generation (1968-1974) took the Nova from the height of the muscle car era into the gas crisis. The fastest Nova's were produced at the time. Nova SS had a 396CI/375HP big block. The ultra rare and valuable Yenko Deuce's were made in 1969 and 1970.

The fourth generation (1975-1979) refined the Nova's philosophy of affordable transportation that can be fun. Eventually GM's fleet was downsized and Nova was squeezed out of the lineup.