Wow, I've never seen or heard of these cars. The pictures in redfox's thread are cool. How many of these were built? Who built them? Are any of them left? And how did these slip by me all these years. Hmmmm.

Nice car pics, keep'em coming. Nostalgic, my favorite!

are you talking about the hatchback Novas?
Gm built quite a few of them, actually. they look just like any other Nova until you get close and see that the trunk is huge. i'm not sure, but i think the hatch was made of fiberglass to keep it light.

Check out the pics on the superstock pictures thread redfox started. There's 3 different cars.

yeah, what novaderrik said hatchback is that what you mean? my first car was a 74 nova ss hatchback. the whole rear hatch lifted up,window and all! mine was all steel, the cool thing was that the rear seat folded down to make the back area bigger! i put that girl in a creek bed and destroyed it. 18 and stupid what can you say:(
i found my first camaro right after that and it's been camaros ever since!

I was wondering the same thing. Looks like a Mopar roof.

No, these are the old ones. 63-64-65 era. I know about the 70's models.

http://novaresource.org/history/novafb3.jpg

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 three of the fastback Novas spent almost their entire racing lives on the drag strip.

http://novaresource.org/history.htm

Thats a 65 there..........................anymore pics? As a longtime Nova owner I had no idea, you guys come up with the neatest history!:thumbsup:

Thats a 65 there..........................anymore pics? As a longtime Nova owner I had no idea, you guys come up with the neatest history!:thumbsup:

Did you click on the link to Novaresource?

If there were only 3 of the fastbacks made in 1963, how does it transmogrify into a 65? If I add a 69 front clip to my 67 Camaro, is it a 67 or a 69?

So are the 2 Fastback Novas floating around still? Or are they tucked away deep in someones garage?
They were sold to the 2 dealers a long time ago. Where are they now?

You can lead a horse to writing but you can't make him read...

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.

1 down, two to go...

Rare I am sure. Another car I have always wondered about that I am unsure was really "produced" as opposed to modified is the 70-72 Monte Carlo Convertible.....have seen a few on Ebay...were those produced by GM?

what is transmogrify?

what is transmogrify?

You can find the definition of most any word simply by typing it into the search box at engines like Google and Yahoo.

Google comes up with 163,000 results if you do this. The top one will be
http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2003/09/19.html
which contains the following definition:

transmogrify \trans-MOG-ruh-fy\, transitive verb:
To change into a different shape or to transform, often with bizarre or humorous effect.

Rare I am sure. Another car I have always wondered about that I am unsure was really "produced" as opposed to modified is the 70-72 Monte Carlo Convertible.....have seen a few on Ebay...were those produced by GM?


Nope. No converts. See www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com, also, as far as can be proven, no LS6 Monte SS's either. Only LS5's. Also, no 4 speed Monte SS's have ever shown up with paperwork. There were/are several 402bb Monte 4 speeds though.

Rich

Nope. No converts. See www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com, also, as far as can be proven, no LS6 Monte SS's either. Only LS5's. Also, no 4 speed Monte SS's have ever shown up with paperwork. There were/are several 402bb Monte 4 speeds though.

RichI thought the Vert-a-Carlo was someone chopping the roof off...I have just seen a few and it made me wonder. I LOVE that body of the Monte...and will get one someday to sit next to the Camaro...just HATE the ones I see as verts.

early 1960s road racing was growing and getting popular around the country
the big 3 factorys were getting involved with 421 Tempest, V8 Darts and Falcons, and Chevy had the Corvette Z06 and the Grand Sport lightweight Corvette and had Bill Thomas build a 1963 Nova with a Corvette FI 327 and Corvette IRS. It was a very cool looking little road racer. BT was also working on the fastback Novas
In 1963 the big wheels at Chevy decided to crack down and issue another ban on racing and all the racing programs were stopped including the 427 MarkII engine, the Grand Sport, and the Novas.
The 1963 Nova with a Corvette FI 327 and Corvette IRS was sold to Dick Harrell and converted to a 427 Z11 engine and solid rear axle drag car.
Then later ran a BB Chevy.

You can lead a horse to writing but you can't make him read...

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.

1 down, two to go...

My bad, I made a typo. I was asking if the 2 were still around. This was a while ago that they were sold. Who has them and where are they now?

This was a while ago that they were sold. Who has them and where are they now?

Yeah, I'm still waiting too! LOL :)

Are you just asking question and sitting on your duff waiting for the answers to pop up or are you actively seeking information? Have you googled any key words?
Alan Greene had not only the Nova, but several other historic high speed Chevys. The dealership closed up in 1970, so finding anyone who worked there may be difficult.

Where's his 67 Z28?
http://maecomotorsport.com/drivers/drTerryMiller.htm

Where's his Cheetah?
http://www.cheetahcars.com/Yeakelcar.htm
http://www.cheetahcars.com/Race_History.htm

How about his Corvette?
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/vettehis/vett1963.htm

I remember reading a post some where that one of the fastback Nova's is being restored and one of them destroyed the fiberglass top when it blew off while drag racing.

I felt like digging up this thread to share some pics. Enjoy!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/BillThomasCar.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/Novafastback.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/NovaFastback2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/bill1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/bill2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/bill3.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/bill4.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/FunkyuNova66/bill5.jpg

An unusual combination of a straight axle front end with an independent rear suspension. I also see that door bars were not used in that car. They must not have used DD2000 to dyno the engine...

Thanks for the info Funkynova66. Since I'm on the road 4-5 days a week, and at my shop usually when I am home, I don't have time to sit on my duff & search for answers as much as I'd like too.