Street Feature: This Nova Is Mean And Clean As Heck

We love a good, well built Nova. They’re light, agile cars that are perfect for hotrod and performance builds. Because of their smaller and more nimble design, even a mild build can yield impressive levels of performance.

This ’72 Nova belongs to Tom Rush of Port Angeles, Washington, and he has had it for two years. “It needed some cleaning and it needed some work, but not a lot of work,” Tom explained. “I was looking for a Nova when I found this.” Not a crime of passion, Tom knew what he wanted and sought this Nova out. This is the last year of this body style and that’s what he wanted.

The build is mild, yet impressive and features a small-block 383 cubic-inch stroker motor, dual Edelbrock 500cfm carburetors, a TH-350 automatic transmission, and 12-bolt positraction rearend with 3.73:1 gearing. It’s built to cruise comfortably, but still pack a little more punch than your average small-block build. This Nova is designed with cruising in mind and meant to be driven.

The suspension has been upgraded in the rear with a ladder-bar setup, but left stock in the front. It also has upgraded front brakes to disc for better stopping power. “I just love the way it sounds,” Tom told us, “Nothing like a thumping motor.” The motor has been given some care and now has an upgraded camshaft and gear drive. “I also just love the body. It’s like the ‘70s look, a true muscelcar.”

We love Tom’s Nova, and we’d love to see what you folks are driving out there. If you love it, odds are good that we will too, so shoot us an email with a couple pictures and a little information on your ride, you might just see it here as one of our Street Features.

About the author

Kyler Lacey

A 2015 Graduate from Whitworth University, Kyler has always loved cars. He grew up with his dad's '67 Camaro in the garage and started turning wrenches at a young age. At seventeen, he bought his first classic, a '57 Chevy Bel Air four-door, and has since added a '66 Plymouth Valiant and '97 Cadillac Deville to his collection. When he isn't writing for Power Automedia, he's out shooting pictures at car shows, hiking in the forests of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, or working on something in the garage.
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