66 Chevy Nova Fastback

[James2]

Inspired by the 63 Nova fastback produced for Road Racing and converted to Drag Racing when GM pulled the plug. This is a 66 Nova Fastback made up from a 68 Mustang and a Corvette I had laying around. I think the wheels are from one of the California Wheel kits, Tamiya Red Primer and Maroon under the Tamiya Clear... 

[64SS350]

Maybe they held the idea over until 1970, the rear roofline and overall size is reminiscent of the Monte Carlo.

Looks great, makes me want to build one!

[cobraman]

Sweet looking model.

[unclescott58]

Cool. Very nicely done. 

[KWT]

Awesome job, the whole way through. Very nicely done!

[o-man]

3 hours ago, KWT said:

Awesome job, the whole way through. Very nicely done!

This!

[slusher]

Very very sharp model..

[bamadon]

Like every one else said, great job. Looks like something the factory should have built.

[James2]

Thank you guys...

[D. Battista]

Always a pleasure to see your work...!

Nice job..!!!

[crazyjim]

What an excellent idea and terrific workmanship.

[Jim N]

Great job!  Really top drawer work!

[damodelguy az]

thats cool  reminds me of a torino roof   nice look   would have been neat to have seen it in a chevy production car in 66

[James2]

Back Story...

The 1963 Fastback Novas
In 1963, Chevrolet created three fastback Novas for road race competition. The Novas were all convertibles pulled from the regular production line. They were then shipped to the Corvette plant for the addition of fiberglass parts. The doors, inner panels, front fenders, hood and both front and rear bumpers were all 'glass. The new roof and fastback was also made of fiberglass and bonded to the metal. The fastback covered what would have been the trunk lid and blocked all access to the trunk area from the outside.

After a 1963 Corvette independent rear suspension was also added, the cars were shipped to Bill Thomas in California. Chevrolet also shipped the "Mystery Motors", that later ended up with Smokey Yunick, to Bill to be installed in the Novas. Bills job was to install the engines and setup the suspension for road racing. Before the Novas could be completed, GM put a ban on all factory racing.

GM ordered the cars crushed but Bill worked out a deal to keep the cars as payment for his work. The engines were sent back to Chevrolet and then to Smokey Yunick in Florida. He then sold one Nova to Fritz Callier, a Chevrolet dealer in Dallas,to be drag raced. Another one was sold to a Los Angeles Chevrolet dealer who drag raced it for less than two months before crashing it and totally destroying it. The third was sold to Alan Green Chevrolet in Seattle.

Alan Green also drag raced the Nova with driver Dick Milner and crew chief Tom Foster. Green, Milner and Foster raced the Nova at drag strips throughout the northwest United States and western Canada from 1963 until 1967. During one race the fastback roof blew off at 155 mph. The team then ventilated the rear section to keep the car from wanting to fly above 150 mph.

These fastback Novas sport a roofline similar to, but predating, that of the Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Marlin, 1966 Dodge Charger and about half of the late-1960's-era Fords. Fastbacks were popular with buyers in the later 60's, but aerodynamic efficiency on the race track was the main concern of Chevrolet engineers. Ironically, even though they were built to be road raced, all 

[donb]

Thanks for the article and the model looks great. 

[James2]

On 2/10/2018 at 2:10 PM, donb said:

Thanks for the article and the model looks great. 

Thank you!

[Pat Minarick]

Very nice

[rickcaps55]

Now that's awesome very deferent I like it.!!!! nice color combo.!!!!