The story of how the compact Nova II was transformed from a 4 cylinder sleeper to a small-block and eventually big-block powered door slammer is reminiscent of the same thing that would happen two decades later with the GNX; the Nova became the smaller of the muscle cars that overcame the hurdles of the performance market.

By the time that Chevy had introduced an L79  327 option for the Nova during the 1966 sales year, big insurance companies were beginning to earmark certain cars with options that they deemed as “high performance.”

Since the muscle cars of the era were known by such race attributes as engine badges, hood scoops and stripes, insurance companies were able to target certain makes and models for surcharges, which could easily soar once a car was determined to be highly optioned.

In the case of the L79 powered Nova SS that was introduced in ’66 however, no such adornments gave the small car away. Amos Automotive Publishing’s Paul Zazarine explains how the list for earmarked performance cars became extensive by the end of the horsepower decade, “By the late ’60s, the insurance companies had earmarked quite an extensive list of high performance cars for what were called, ‘surcharges,’ and the surcharge on a high performance car could be up to 50 percent of your regular insurance premium.”

Chevy’s Nova SS would then become the division’s ultimate stealth street racer, because it had managed to pack a punch while slipping under the insurance radar.

Paul Zazarine explains, “Cars like the Nova gave you a loophole; you could have the L79, 350 horse [motor] and the insurance company would [just] look at it as a 327 engine…no big deal.”

The introduction of the Camaro made the real Bowtie news in 1967, but the Nova SS’ light weight and aggressive small-block made the compact comparable in performance. As far as insurance policies were concerned however, the Nova was just a compact model with a small cube motor in it.

Because of this, the Nova continued to be lucky enough to stay off of the insurance companies’ map as it continued to grow as Chevy’s greatest sleeper. As the performance decade advanced, however, Chevy would start a new performance program in rebellion against GM’s displacement mandates.

During the late ’60s, GM’s corporate rule on engine options in factory cars was that nothing bigger than 400 cubic inches could be stuffed under the hood of anything that was smaller than the full sized Impala. Chevy’s director of product promotions at the time, Vince Piggins started the COPO ordering program in response to this mandate.

The new, subframed Nova SS for 1968 would be the first to have Chevy’s 375 horse, 396 as an available option. But for those who still wanted the performance of a big-block with the displacement of a small-block, the COPO program made it possible within the Nova’s narrow walls.

This is because a small number of LT1 350 optioned Novas were equipped through the COPO program. Of all the sleepers that came out of the late ’60s, the COPO Nova was one of the most remarkable because it packed almost as much power as the hydraulic cammed big-block featured in the SS396 version, but with a 70 pound motor weight difference.

The LT1 350 was Chevy’s most aggressive factory small-block, and it was the same 350 that would eventually power the Z28 and the top of the line, small-block Corvette. The 375 horse, 396 “rat motor” made the compact Nova into a street fighter, but the LT1 small-block made 360 horses in spite of its relatively smaller size.

The Nova’s history, even in its transformation from “the Deuce” to the “SS396” that we have all come to know as Chevy’s compact brute will always be upscaled by the Trans Am racing heritage of the Camaro. Even if this is the case, the Nova and its subsequent performance platforms will always be the Bowtie’s greatest underdogs.