Contributed by Russ Muller Photography
If you have not figured it out by now, I love classic cars. They are a canvas on which a manufacturer painted their masterpiece, while at the same time serving as a blank canvas where one can create their own vision of a masterpiece. We see it in everything from restorations to resto-mods, from pro-street to gassers, to full-on custom builds. The first-generation Chevy II has been modified in virtually every way imaginable, but as we all know and say: They’re only original once…
When my friend Scott Garrett stopped by the cruise-in that Cruisin Orlando was having at Post Time Lounge in Longwood last weekend, he brought his wife Janice’s super-clean, unadulterated ’62 Nova. I like this car for a bunch of reasons, but perhaps the most important to me is that it remains unadulterated. It still has a little straight six under the hood, backed by a 2-speed Powerglide transmission with column shift. The wheel covers and 6-cylinder badges make no effort to presents this car as anything but a humble piece of automotive transportation. The dealer-installed air conditioning was a luxury item not often found in many budget-minded Novas. Even the dealer emblem from Reedman Chevrolet in Langhorne, PA is still displayed on the trunk lid, a reminder of days gone by when dealers didn’t just slap a sticker on the back.
Now, as people walk through a car show or cruise-in, this car may not be the first one to catch their eye. The color is subtle, with its factory-painted white roof, and it doesn’t command the same attention that a House of Kolor candy Brandywine paint job would. The basic inline six looks pretty pedestrian when you open the hood, compared to say an LS-swap, and there’s not an exhaust rumble to get your attention. But this is how GM envisioned this car when they produced it in 1962. And that, to me anyway, is part of the real beauty in this car. I was not yet born in 1962, so being able to see the product that GM envisioned gives me a better appreciation of both the original and the hot-rod Novas that are out there.
I’m sure lots of people are looking at the pics of this car and thinking things like: “An 8-71 blower sticking through the hood would be badass,” or “I’d drop the car a couple inches and throw a stroker in it.” And those are great ideas and part of what makes hot-rodding so much fun. But sometimes, like in this case, keeping it original is just fine…