The 1966 Chevrolet Nova SS started life as a humble compact, but buried deep in its order form was an engine option that turned it into one of the quickest bargains on the street. For 2,535 dollars, the right box checked could put a genuine performance engine under the hood of a car most people assumed was just economical transportation.
The second generation Chevy II is in show rooms for the 1966 model year ans is now partially based on the Super Nova concept vehicle. The  Nova SS standard equipment is a 194 cu in inline six cylinder engine, but the full arsenal of Chevrolet large and small blocks is available for the Nova SS. The Base SS version would cost just $159.00 more than the entry level 400 version in 1966.
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By the mid-1960s, Chevrolet had a problem most automakers would love to have: a compact economy car that customers kept trying to turn into a race car. The second-generation Chevy II arrived for 1966 wearing a fresh, more muscular body, and buried in its order sheet was an engine option nobody expected to find in a car this small and this cheap. Slot in the right box on the form, and a 2,535-dollar Nova SS could suddenly out-punch cars costing twice as much. What exactly was hiding under that unassuming hood?
The L79 Option That Turned a Compact Into a Muscle Car
New for 1966, the L79 Turbo-Fire 327 delivered 350 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 360 lb-ft of torque, paired with a close-ratio 4-speed manual. It sat at the top of an engine lineup that already ranged from a base 194-cubic-inch inline six up through 283 and standard 327 V8 options, but the L79 was the one that mattered — it turned an economy-car platform into a genuine street and strip threat almost overnight.
A Muscle Car Built Around a Compact Platform
The 1966 Nova was partially based on the Super Nova concept vehicle, and its lighter, smaller chassis than the full-size Chevelle gave the L79-equipped cars a real power-to-weight advantage. That combination of a compact body and a big-block-adjacent engine option foreshadowed the more famous Nova SS 396 that would arrive just two years later, but the 1966 L79 cars are the ones that quietly proved the formula worked first.
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