Chevy II to Chevrolet Nova second Generation 1966-1967

This 1967 Chevrolet Nova SS hides a 565 cubic-inch Dart Pro M aluminum big block reportedly making 900 horsepower — a number that has nothing to do with anything Chevrolet built for this body style. A narrowed 9-inch rear on ladder bars, a transbrake, and a tubbed six-point cage all point toward serious quarter-mile intentions, while custom Indigo Blue paint and stainless trim keep it show-worthy too. Gateway Classic Cars documented every part on this Chicago showroom build. Watch to see what a full Pro Street transformation of a compact muscle car actually looks like.

Nine hundred horsepower from a small-block-sized engine bay sounds like a typo until you read the parts list. This 1967 Chevy II Nova SS left Gateway Classic Cars’ Chicago showroom carrying a 565 cubic-inch Dart Pro M aluminum big block that dwarfs anything Chevrolet ever offered in this body style, wrapped around a chassis so thoroughly reworked that almost nothing below the paint is stock. A transbrake, a line lock, and a narrowed 9-inch rear end on a ladder-bar suspension all point toward one very specific use case. What does it take to turn a compact 1967 economy car into a full Pro Street monster?

A 565 Cubic-Inch Answer to a Question Nobody at Chevrolet Asked

Chevrolet’s biggest 1967 big block option topped out well short of 500 cubic inches, so the 565 CID Dart Pro M aluminum block under this hood isn’t a factory casting at all — it’s an aftermarket foundation built specifically for engines chasing four-digit horsepower ceilings. Inside sit a Callies billet crankshaft, Oliver connecting rods, and 13.3:1 compression J&E pistons, a combination engineered for sustained high-RPM abuse rather than daily commuting. That the finished combination reportedly makes 900 horsepower says less about any single part and more about how every component was selected to survive what the others produce under load.

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Jessel Rockers and a Moroso Vacuum Pump — Details Only Racers Chase

Jessel roller rockers and a Moroso external vacuum pump are the kind of parts that never show up on a stock build sheet because they solve problems only a race engine has: rocker arm flex at sustained high RPM, and crankcase vacuum management to reduce parasitic drag from piston blow-by. An MSD programmable digital 7 ignition box gives the tuner control over timing curves that a points-and-condenser 1967 distributor could never approach, while the aluminum Griffin radiator and relocated fuel cell in a custom housing both solve cooling and fuel-delivery problems that only surface once an engine is putting out this kind of power reliably.

A Narrowed 9-Inch and Ladder Bars Built for the Strip, Not the Street

Ford’s 9-inch rear axle, narrowed and hung on a ladder-bar and coil-over suspension, is drag-racing architecture transplanted wholesale into a car that Chevrolet originally built as basic transportation. Ladder bars control axle wrap under hard launches far more precisely than a stock leaf-spring or four-link setup, which is exactly why Pro Street builders reach for them almost universally. Combined with the JW Ultra bellhousing, transbrake, and line lock feeding into a JW TH400 automatic with a 3600-RPM Stahl converter, every piece of this driveline exists to launch the car as violently and consistently as possible at the tree.

When ‘Chevy II’ and ‘Nova SS’ Were the Same Badge Fight

In 1967, Chevrolet was mid-transition on what to even call this car: Chevy II remained the official model name, but ordering the SS performance option swapped every badge on the car from Chevy II to Nova SS, a naming quirk that would eventually see Nova become the standalone model name by 1969. That historical detail matters here because this particular car fully commits to the Nova SS identity — Hurst pistol-grip shifter, custom debossed Chevy logo work, and a build sheet that reads like a period Pro Street magazine feature rather than a stock restoration project.

Shaved Filler Doors and a Custom Indigo Blue Paint Job

Beyond the mechanical work, the body received a genuinely custom treatment: shaved gas filler door and cowl vents for a cleaner surface, custom Indigo Blue paint with hand-applied pinstriping, and show-quality stainless trim and bumpers that suggest this build was meant to win as many points at a car show as it was to run a quarter mile. That dual purpose — genuinely fast and genuinely show-worthy — is harder to pull off than either extreme alone, since show-car detailing and drag-strip functionality tend to pull a build in opposite directions from one another.

A Tubbed Six-Point Cage Built for Real Track Time

A tubbed chassis with a six-point roll cage and swing-arm bracing isn’t a cosmetic upgrade — it’s a safety requirement once a car is capable of running quarter-mile times fast enough to trigger NHRA cage rules, generally in the mid-10-second range or quicker. Paired with the powder-coated tubular front chassis and rack-and-pinion steering conversion, this Nova was engineered by someone who fully expected to run it hard at a sanctioned track, not just idle it through a cruise night. Custom cloth-covered bucket seats keep the interior livable despite all the structural work happening around the driver.

Gateway Classic Cars and the Pro Street Inventory Niche

Gateway Classic Cars built its multi-showroom consignment business partly on carrying exactly this kind of extensively documented specialty build, cars too heavily modified to fit a traditional muscle car auction category but too well-executed to sell as a rough project. Listing every individual part by brand name, from Jessel to Moroso to JW, is standard practice for Gateway’s Chicago showroom team, giving serious buyers enough detail to evaluate a six-figure build without needing to crawl underneath it themselves first, sight unseen, before making a serious offer on a car this specialized.

A Six-Figure Question: What Does a Build Like This Actually Cost to Replicate

Pricing out this build piece by piece — a Dart Pro M block, forged rotating assembly, Jessel valvetrain, JW drivetrain components, a narrowed 9-inch with ladder bars, a certified cage, and full custom bodywork — routinely lands well past six figures before labor is even factored in, which is exactly why cars like this one tend to sell for a fraction of their true build cost. That gap between investment and resale value is the open secret of the Pro Street world: buyers get an enormous amount of engineering and craftsmanship for the money precisely because so few people are shopping for a 900-horsepower Chevy II in the first place. For a buyer who is, this Nova represents a shortcut past years of parts-sourcing and machine-shop scheduling that most builders never fully escape.

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