There were a few major changes made to the Nova in 1968, one was a dramatic redesign, another was dropping the Chevy II moniker, and finally, the car would only be available in a two or four-door sedan. The station wagon and two-door hardtop were no longer an option. The new Nova had a freshly-contoured body that was longer, lower, and wider, and carried popular-for-the-time, long-hood with a short-decklid shape. Chevrolet boasted of its “clean sweep in styling, performance, and economy.”

The Chevrolet Camaro and Chevelle were also competing with the Nova for shoppers looking to buy a sporty-looking coupe. Unfortunately, this cu into Nova sales, and Super Sport production dropped to nearly half that of the previous year to 6,571.

When it came to engine selection, the 153 cubic-inch four-cylinder engine was still available, but as in previous years, not many were sold due to a lack of interest. As base engines, the 140 horsepower 230 cubic-inch six-cylinder and the 250 cubic inch six-cylinder with 155 horsepower were the standard. A base-level 307 cubic-inch V8 with 200 horsepower replaced the 283 cubic-inch V8 engine from previous years. The 307 cubic-inch V8 was only available with a two-barrel Rochester carburetor.  For those seeking a little more in the “go” department, a 327 cubic-inch V8 with 275 horsepower, and an L79 version with 325 horsepower was on the menu.

If you ordered the Super Sport Nova, the standard engine was a 295 horsepower 350 cubic-inch V8 with a four-barrel carburetor. If that wasn’t enough, buyers could choose to upgrade to one of two 396 cubic-inch engines with either 350 or 375 horsepower respectively.

There was one more engine option available, but it wasn’t officially from Chevrolet. Shops like Motion Performance, Don Yenko, and Dick Harrell were building supercars that were outfitted with the 427 cubic-inch V8.

This year, buyers had the choice of either a three-speed manual transmission, a four-speed manual, or a two-speed Powerglide. The only available three-speed automatic was the Turbo 400 that came behind certain 396 cubic-inch engines. Performance Novas delivered with a four-speed manual transmission used either a Muncie M20, M21, or M22 gearbox. Manually-shifted, non-performance-oriented models that came with a four-speed, received an iron-case gearbox from Saginaw. A little known fact is that Chevrolet offered a manually-shifted, semi-automatic transmission called a Torque Drive that was available in four- and six-cylinder-powered cars. This transmission never gained any popularity, and didn’t last long as an option.