1962 Bill Thomas Novel Nova

1962 Chevrolet Nova ”Bill Thomas Novel Nova”

VIN: 204370130661

The Original Bill Thomas “Novel Nova”

This is the very car featured in the March, 1966, issues of Popular Hot Rodding and Hot Rod magazines where it was dubbed “The Novel Nova.”

The Novel Nova was Bill Thomas’s first “Instant Funny Car,” built in November of 1965 by Bill Thomas Race Cars of Anaheim, California, and is considered to be the first factory-backed Chevy Funny Car ever built. It was the very first Nova to get the Thomas lightweight tubular sub frame and straight axle.

The Novel Nova was the predecessor and prototype for the world famous 1966 Nickey Chevy II Nova which was a collaborative project joining Nickey Chevrolet, Bill Thomas Race Cars and the late, great, hall of fame drag racer, Dick Harrell. The Nickey Nova was also built at the Bill Thomas Race Cars in Anaheim, headquarters, alongside this prototype!

Unique to this special race car are these milestones:

1) The Novel Nova is the very first altered wheel base straight axle Chevy af/x race car.

2) It is the very first Chevy Nova af/x race car to have a tilt fiberglass front end.

3) It is also the very first af/x Chevy drag race car with fiberglass doors equipped with Lexan windows.

This gem is not a re-bodied old race car. It has miraculously survived the ravages of time primarily due to the fact that the car spent most of its life tucked away in a small garage, virtually unscathed and in its original condition. It was hidden in plain sight by its 70’s red, white and blue patriotic paint scheme.

John Tinberg, head builder and fabricator for Nickey Chicago, started the rotisserie restoration in September, 2008. It was completed in 2009, to its original specifications with guidance from — and authentication verified by — Bill Thomas and his son, Bill Thomas III. A certificate of authenticity signed by Thomas accompanies this car.

This is the last car Bill Thomas was involved with before his death in October, 2009.

The car retains all of its original body components installed by Bill Thomas Race Cars including the very same fiberglass doors, tilt front end, plexiglas windows, and aluminum dash.

In true Bill Thomas tradition, the car is equipped with a date-coded 427 “Semi-Hemi” engine and Hilborn fuel injection, Muncie 4 speed, and Olds rear end.

Even the front American mag wheels (real magnesium) and tires are the same ones put on the car back in 1965!

Soon after its restoration, it was unveiled and featured at the 2009 inaugural Nickey Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago, where it was again featured in November, 2010.

From the CEO of Nickey Chicago, Stefano Bimbi, comes this historical perspective:

This incredible piece of American drag racing history was commissioned directly by General Motors, specifically by Vince Piggens, GM’s Hi-Performance chief executive during the 60’s although GM was ”officially” out of racing. To circumvent Ed Cole’s 1963 corporate edict, famed racing engineers and engine builders like Bill Thomas were enlisted to help support Chevrolet’s private racers and grass roots efforts.

It was Bill Thomas’s covert job to build a drag car which could do the following: 1) beat the factory sponsored Chrysler and Ford af/x and light weight offerings and 2) provide an avenue for the young, up-and-coming drag racers to build their own hot rods, ideally incorporating GMs biggest and “baddest” engine of the day, the Mark IV porcupine semi-hemi, aka the Big Block Chevy.

The Novel Nova is the first prototype Chevrolet ”Funny Car” and has the pedigree and provenance that any museum or high end private collection could hope to find in a vintage race car. This unique piece of drag racing Americana just can’t be duplicated.

Hundreds of these Funny Car “kits” were sold and eventually found their way to drag strips on all corners of the USA. Some of the originals are still in use today. Nickey Chicago continues to build these sub frames based on Bill Thomas’s Novel Nova.

This Car has been sold, contact us to find similar cars if

interested.

Call Danny for more info 630.377.1222

http://www.billthomasnovelnova.com/part_2_-_the_car