image: TinleyParkPatch.com

Some car enthusiasts say 1972 spurred the Chevrolet Nova in to a popularity level that would last throughout the 1970’s. 1971 sales saw a decline in the number of sales due in most part to the Chevy Vega, But ’72 saw the resurgence of the Nova as sales crested over 300,000.

The ’72 Chevy Nova was a beauty and for Tinley Park, Illinois resident Mark Kruk, it captured his heart at first glance when he was just five years old, “They kind of laughed at me ’cause I was just a kid,” said Kruk. “But my neighbor used to take us to get ice cream in his Nova and I just said, ‘I want that.”

Kruk purchased the ’72 Nova 21 years ago in 1990 and hasn’t stopped working on it since, “Literally every nut and bolt has been replaced,” Kruk said. “I have a folder about 3 inches thick of all the receipts. I don’t want to add it up. I have an idea what it might be, but I know the true cost is actually much higher than what I’m thinking.”

Kruk boasts that the car produces over 1000 horsepower and noted that the engine alone cost $30,000.

You can see pictures and read more about the incredible ’72 Nova here at the TinleyPark.Patch.com