Steve Tornari’s Miranda Built 1967 Nova: Street Machine of The Year

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who color inside the lines, and those who decide to thumb their nose at the norm and go their own way. The Goodguys Street Machine of the year award is one of the biggest prizes in the custom car world, so you have to go outside the lines to have a chance at being a finalist. Owner Steve Tornari and the crew from Miranda Built took the coloring book of how to build a street machine, set it on fire, threw away the ashes, and created 1967 Nova that captured the 2014 Good Guys Street Machine of the Year.

Tornari’s clean ’67 Chevrolet is not your average Nova.

Like any car of this caliber the process can be more of a journey than a build, and the journey for Tornari’s Nova began back in 1983. While cruising the streets southern Florida Tornari saw a Nova that might have some parts he needed for his own Nova build. After getting the driver to stop an offer of $500 was made for the stranger’s center console in his Nova, that $500 offer turned into the final price for the entire car. 

Over the next 3 decades the Nova would see several rebirths that included street duty as a cruiser, and time at the drag strip as a race car. Eventually the car was taken to a local shop to get an SB2 out of a NASCAR swapped in between the fenders, but that’s when fate threw a nasty curve ball at Tornari. The motor was stolen out of the car during a break-in at the shop doing the work and that led the project to go on the back burner. 

From any angle, the Nova looks great and constantly impresses.

Fast forward to 2009 when Tornari ran into Jeremey Miranda, owner of Miranda Built at a local car show. The two began to talk and soon after the show Tornari’s 1967 Nova was on its way to Miranda’s shop to begin a new life. The project was only supposed to be a low key build, but soon ideas started flying, body panels were modified, and turbos were hung. Miranda and his team took a vision of an owner and took it well beyond expectations anyone could have ever imagined.

The Nova even made its required laps on the Auto Cross course without a single issue.

Creating this boosted show stopping classic by infusing modern technology into a muscle car without stripping out the soul is what sets this Nova apart. Every part of this Street Machine of the Year winner has some sort of custom tweak or touch that helps set it apart.

Miranda Built’s extreme attention to detail is front and center as soon as you look at the body of the car. Starting up front, a set of LED lights were color matched and used for the front turn signals, this accentuates the shaved look of the car and keeps the lines smooth.

To help drive the liquid smooth look, drip rails were deleted off the car to help the body flow. The quarters and rockers were also modified to help give the car its signature look. Charley Hutton of Charley Hutton Color Studio laid down the deep shade of grey on the Nova along with the other paint on the car. Hutton also painted the engine, intake, accessories, and turbo piping a burnt orange color with a flat clear on top.

The Nova stands out no matter what it sits next to. But that GTO does complement it well.

Besides the radical body massage the Nova received, Miranda and his team really worked on the car’s stance. The frame of the car was worked over, a TCI front clip was used and a custom in house built 4-link adds to the low and lean look. A set of Ridetech Shockwaves bring the Nova up and down at the flip of a switch and lay it low.

Tornari’s Nova is more than just a pretty face, this car has some serious power under the hood. In an age where everybody is going with an LSX power plant, Tornari went down a different route and had Miranda stuff a fuel injected SB2 from Rick Hendrick Motorsports between the frame rails. 

The detail and smooth lines continue under the hood of the Nova

Having a colorful, high winding 355 ci NASCAR motor would be enough for some, but keeping up with the mind bending nature of this build Miranda boosted the mill. A custom set of stainless steel headers have been fabricated and wear a pair of Precision 63mm turbos.

The engine is controlled by a Big Stuff 3 computer and gets its fire from a set of LSX coils that are hidden away. Speaking of hidden, a totally custom set of sheet metal inner fender wells help to hide the turbos and all the piping for the boosted setup.

Extreme Performance brought the interior to the next level with the iPad in the dash, push button start, and quality materials

So, the Nova has an insane amount of custom body work, almost 900 hp at your command, the interior must be Spartan in nature right? Negative Ghostrider, Miranda Built continued the high level of detail and quality inside this ride by using their shop partner Extreme Performance to create a truly custom interior.

The Z06 brakes are a perfect match to the Budnik Gasser D wheels used on the Nova.

The rear seat has been deleted on the car to give it almost a roadster type feel, and Extreme Performance made that look like a stock option. The roll bar has also been skillfully hidden to keep the clean look going inside the Nova.  The leather stitching and quality materials are even used in the sill plates of the car to help tie everything together.

Everything besides the engine is controlled by an iPad that’s inside the dash that runs on the ISIS operating system. If the iPad is not a touch of modern enough, Miranda added a push button start system that also acts as the stereo’s volume control.

Owner Steve Tornari with his family and the crew from Miranda Built enjoying their well deserved win.

The Nova rolls on a set of painted 20-inch Budnik “Gasser” D wheels that totally fill out the wheel wells no matter if the car is rolling, or laying frame static at the show. Another detail Miranda addressed was getting the Nova to stop just as quickly as it can go with a set of Z06 brakes at all four corners. 

Steve Tornari and the team from Miranda Built demonstrated cutting edge vision with the execution of this 1967 Nova. Moving past the typical barriers of convention a unique level of modern was infused into an iconic muscle car by the builder Miranda.

Being able to see this car in person is really the only way to see all the details and do the car justice. Tornari and Miranda proved that with enough planning, hard work, and dedication you can color outside the lines and win big while doing it.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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