Diecast Essentials #1 - 1968~1972 Chevrolet Nova

"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs) 01/03/2014 at 14:03 • Filed to: Diecast

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(Disclaimer: I've had this idea for a while, and been thinking about how to go about it in order to add a little more fun to diecast collecting, but this is, essentially, an excuse to talk about the great cars of the world and maybe share a little info about them. I chose this month's car to kick this off with a model I'm familiar with and also because I have C&D's original review from 1968 at hand.)

The Car:

Released in 1963 to positive reviews, the Chevy II soon fell into the graces of Hot Rodders due to it's low weight and even lower price. While the specialized media regarded it in the same way we now regard the Corollas and Camrys of the world, enthusiasts all over the country were measuring the space between the fenders and figuring out how to stuff Chevrolet's Small Block V8s in there. Cheap to buy, modify and maintain, the Chevy II soon became known among those in the know as the second (or third, to tri-year Chevy enthusiasts) coming of the Little Deuce Coupe, and the car's third generation, released in 1968, finally acknowledged that, through ad campaigns that touted the car's affordability, brilliant performance, and even its unsuspecting looks.

Now fully matured, the car was offered with a vast array of engines, from the puny 153 Four cylinder, to the huge 375 hp 396 V8 (Which was actually a 402 in 1969 and 1970). Enthusiasts on a budget quickly flocked to the small block models, as a late 60's extension of what the Chevrolet 210 was in the late 50's. The virtually infinite market for customization and hop up options available to 327s and 350s, and the Camaro inspired subframes that underpinned the Nova made for great boulevard sleepers and weekend dragsters, while the big block equipped SS 396 was all but discreet. In the August, 1968 issue, Car & Driver had this to say in their feature length review of the Chevy II Nova:

We weren't on Motor City streets 10 minutes before we began to suspect our Chevy II wasn't a sleeper at all... Several times in the course of making our way across town we found ourselves first at the light beside a mag wheeled Super Car containing two or three young males. The reacion was always the same. All eyes instantly checked out the 396 emblem beside the marker light. Then back to the rear wheels to see if we were running slicks. Finally a quick glance at the driver just to see what kind of a guy would drive such a serious car... That kind of recognition never happens in Fords of any kind, and almost never in Plymouths or Dodges. It's the exact same response you get in a Corvette, the most tuned-in car in the US... Boy, were we wrong, bolt a 396 sign to one of these and it's no longer a sleeper... We were driving an instantly recognized and feared super stocker...

The Nova's tiniest and largest engine options would last until 1970, with the 153 fours and 396/402 V8s being dropped for the 1971 and 1972 model years. The SS performance package lasted until 1972, becoming a visual package from 1973 onwards, when the Nova suffered the same death and after life as so many other performance cars of the 60's.

The Model - Johnny Lightning #098

Only four companies have ever offered 1/64 scale models of the third generation Chevrolet Nova, Hot Wheels, in both their basic and premium ranges, Muky, an obscure company from Argentina which made the only sedan version I'm aware of, and Johnny Lightning and ERTL in their premium ranges. The ERTL model is, easily, the best of the bunch, but its price, availability and limited variations (only 5 colorways ever released) cripple its collectability a little, so I'm going with JL's version instead.

Released in 2000, in JL's second Muscle Cars USA series, this model has already represented several different years and versions, including SS, non SS, Yenko and Custom versions. It's a relatively easy to find model, even its earlier releases, and, usually, far more affordable than the expensive ERTL casting. The model pictured is a mildly customized 1969 Nova SS350 from the original 2000 release. Thanks to an... huh, accident, the stock Rally wheels were replaced for a set of what Johnny Lightning used to call "Hot Rod mags". They're not that familiar to me, to be honest, at least as Hot Rod Mags, but they look pretty good. Since the car was already apart, and engine modifications and swaps were common among Novas, the original miniature 350 V8 was replaced with a 427 unit from a 1968 Corvette, also made by Johnny Lightning.

In addition to the new wheels and engine, the car also got a set of yellos traction bars, not visible in the pictures, which will probably need to be redone later, so, in a sense, pretty much what owners did to their real cars back then. Additional versions of this model can be found on the following link: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

So... I guess that's it for today's diecast car. Sorry for the potato pictures, if I didn't collect I'd be able to afford an actual camera, but then I wouldn't need one. Opinions and suggestions are welcome and, as always, feel free to suggest what cars your collection wouldn't do without.

EL_ULY > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 01/03/2014 at 14:13

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Very well done sir, I nominate BlazinAce as the official OPPO die-cast guru

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > EL_ULY 01/03/2014 at 14:16

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I personally thought it was too long and didn't have enough of the important info I was looking for... but it's a first attempt after all... :p

oldirtybootz > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 01/03/2014 at 14:17

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This is great! Keep em coming, I'll probably do some of my collection. I'll probably start with the Dodge Demon.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > oldirtybootz 01/03/2014 at 14:22

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Please do! Like I said, the idea behind this series is to both discuss "essential" cars and, on a more personal note, to add to my own collection, so if I'm the only one who gets to input on it, we'll end up with Novas and Chevelles and not much else, haha...

oldirtybootz > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 01/03/2014 at 14:39

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I have a pretty expansive collection of muscle cars from all the Big 3 so we'll definitely have a wide variety of cars.