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This ’72 Chevy Nova is a tricked-out example of a classic Pro Street build with a massive V8, supercharger, and drag chute.
Big Wheel Keeps on Turnin’
1972 Chevrolet Nova – carsforsale.com | Shop 1972 Chevrolet Nova on Carsforsale.com
Today’s Cool Car Find is a 1972 Chevrolet Nova heavily modified in the Pro Street style. To understand what makes this car uniquely cool, let’s quickly dig into what Pro Street is.
The era of the muscle car was as spectacular as it was brief. From the mid-1960s through the first few years of the 1970s, Detroit was producing legend after legend: Mustangs, GTOs, Barracudas, Camaros, the list goes on and on. Yet by 1972/73, a combination of high insurance costs, new emissions regulations, and an Oil Crisis conspired to push the automotive market away from muscle cars and toward more practical options.
Muscle car enthusiasts kept the faith and their cars running for decades after. As with many other automotive subcultures, owners continued to work on and modify their rides, forging or following latest trends. One such trend among muscle car owners in the 1980s and 90s was the Pro Street build, best identified by a set of massively outsized rear tires.
What is Pro Street?
Pro Street had its beginnings back in 1972 when Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins modified his NHRA Pro Stock Chevy Vega modified with a tubular frame to accommodate 14-inch-wide 32-inch-tall back tires. “Tubbing” became popular in the 1980s and ‘90s, where some builds would swap in tubular frames while others would merely alter the position of the rear leaf springs and shorten the rear axle to make room for those giant rear wheels.
There’s more to Pro Street builds than just big tires. They are also typically built from classic muscle cars of the ‘60s and ‘70s, run a giant, well-tuned V8s often poking out of the hood, sometimes feature a wheelie bar and/or a drag chute, a roll cage, and importantly, are not stripped for weight inside and retain a mostly normal interior.
Nova History
The Chevy Nova began as the Chevy II in 1961 as a ’62 model year with the Nova name applied to the 400 Series trim level. In its first generation, the Chevy II was offered in various body styles including coupe, hardtop, sedan, and wagon, even briefly as a convertible. The first Nova Super Sport debuted for the 1963 model year. The second generation of the Nova spanned two years, 1966 and ’67, seeing only minor changes. More significant was the jump to the Nova’s third generation starting in 1968.
The third-generation Nova revamped the car’s styling to more closely align with the popular and curvaceous “Coke bottle” designs. At the same time, the Nova entered the muscle car cohort with an expanded range of engine choices spanning from a puny 153 cu.-in. four-cylinder to a trio of straight-sixes to five different V8 options. The Nova SS became a performance package option in 1968, rather than a sperate trim and came equipped with a 350 V8 or one of two iterations of the 398 big block V8. The Nova’s third generation concluded in 1974, but its best performance days were already behind it. Sadly, a fourth generation pitched as a semi-luxury car and a mid-1980s hatchback undermined and adulterated the once great Nova name.
This Cool Car
Our Cool Car Find is a 1972 Chevrolet Nova and features all the proportions, curves, and brutish charms of a proper muscle car. The first thing you’ll notice about this Pro Street build is the 8-71 blower perched atop the car’s beefy, exposed V8. Despite the badging, that’s not a 427, it’s an even larger 540 V8 (horsepower unlisted but we’d guess it’s more than substantial). Those are Weld wheels up front and super-wide Trackstar rears wrapped in Hoosier DOT street legal tires. In back, you’ll find a wheelie bar and parachute in addition to a rear spoiler. Among the car’s many additional upgrades are a fire suppression kit, carbon fiber roll cage, 600-watt amp, sport-comp gauges as well as a new 9-inch Ford rear axle with LSD and customized fuel system and dual exhaust.
1972 Chevrolet Nova – carsforsale.com | Shop 1972 Chevrolet Nova on Carsforsale.com
This head-turning Pro Street built ’72 Nova is listed for $88,900.
