The Chevy Nova is an icon of classic muscle. During the height of American musclecar mania in the late 1960’s, the small Chevy Nova was even offered with big-block engine options. A car this small and lightweight packing so much power under its hood could easily be classified as a sleeper, but most people forget that it came with smaller engine options, and I’m not talking about the small-block V8.

The Nova was also offered with not only an inline six-cylinder engine, but an inline four-cylinder engine as well. The car that we found on craigslist is a 1972 Nova with a lot of looks and a little engine. It’s powered by the original 250 cubic-inch inline six-cylinder engine, paired with a manually-shifted three speed transmission on the column.

We talked to the owner of the car and got some more information about what could be your next project. While this isn’t the high-performance Nova that most of us would like to find, it is a really clean car that could be put to use as a good looking economy driver, a first car that doesn’t encourage fast driving, or a really straight start to a big-block conversion: you decide!

Lindsay Scandrett says that he has owned the car for about a year. The previous owner had cut the springs and lowered it more than she liked, so he replaced the springs and removed the lowering blocks. That is pretty much all he has done to the car at this point.

“I drive it once a week or so, weather permitting,” Lindsay told us. It has less than 20,000 original miles on it, with only just over 19,700 displayed on the odometer. It hasn’t even been broken in yet. Lindsay bought the car from the granddaughter of the original owner, and tells us, “She basically ordered the no option Nova. It has no radio or cigarette lighter. It did however have special white wall tires swapped out at the dealer, and I still have them!”

This is the definition of a low-mileage survivor. It has a little surface rust, but a nearly flawless interior. This is the kind of car that needs to be driven. It’s like Lindsay told us, “It should either be kept as is, or modified as a top-end car.” This little Nova is as solid as a rock, and is ready to hit either the road for your daily commute, or the shop for a big-block or LS engine swap.

Lindsay is selling the car to fund a couple other projects he is working on: a 1978 Monte Carlo and an LS conversion 1996 C1500 short-box. With funds needed for other projects in mind, he is not interested in trades. There is one other important thing to keep in mind before giving him a call, the ad specifically says not to call if you “haven’t asked your wife yet.” So please, make sure you have the proper permissions before making an offer.

Cars like this are getting more difficult to find, so don’t let this one slip from your grasp. Even if you aren’t interested in the straight-six drivetrain, it’s a great start to a performance build. Leave a comment and tell us how you would handle this car: drive it now or performance overhaul?