Behind Its Clean White Appearance, this ’67 Nova Is Full of Memories and Fast Performances
Sometime a high school kid will get a car that will impact their life forever. Such is the case for Chris VanWerden, who managed to get the title to this 1967 Chevrolet Nova at the age of 16.
“My dad was in Texas delivering a Corvette that we restored,” said Chris. “He found the Nova in the back row of a used car lot. He knew I wanted a ‘67 Chevy II; paid 900 dollars for it, loaded it in to the car hauler and brought it back to Michigan for me.”
Once the Nova was back in their shop, Chris got to work to fix the issues caused by the car being in a flood, mainly replacing the engine and transmission due to them being full of water.
A 355 cubic inch small block Chevrolet engine was slid in place, along with a Powerglide transmission. Chris used the Nova as his daily transportation to high school, and raced it on weekends in the High School Drags at his local track.
“I have raced the Nova in the High School Drags, Super Chevy Shows in the mid 1980’s and bracket raced it in the late 1990s,” said Chris. “This was all at the US 131 Motorsports Park. I was one of the only cars in the class that drove their car to the track every weekend. This was probably the foundation of why these drag-and-drive events are so appealing to me.”
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The drag-and-drive events started for Chris in 2018 at the West Michigan True Street Drag-and-Drive. He captured the Small Block Naturally-Aspirated title that year, and returned to back it up in 2019. After a year off, Chris turned his focus to the Summit Midwest Drags in 2021.
“I was a Did Not Finish (DNF) that year due to a broken rocker arm between the third and fourth track,” said Chris. But it provided fuel to return in 2022 and overcome the setback.
“After setting a goal of finishing, running a personal best for the car and winning the Street Machine Eliminator class, I had the good fortune that each goal that I set for myself was achieved,” said Chris. “It proved it pays to set goals.”
For 2023, Chris will try his hand at another new event to him, Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes, entering the Dial-Your-Own (DYO) class. “I watched Sick Week on YouTube and thought it looked like a cool event,” Chris admitted. “I saw that Sick Summer was advertised… so I signed up and got in.
My goals for Sick Summer are to get there, finish the week and win my class.”
The Nova known as ‘Betty White’ will roll into Sick Summer sporting a 421 cubic inch small block Chevrolet engine, naturally aspirated of course. Chris continues to rely on a Powerglide transmission, but now has a Gear Vendors Overdrive behind it for easier cruising.
“I like the idea of being able to drive the car you race while also enjoying the countryside and meeting interesting people along the way,” said Chris of his drag-and-drive experiences. “I like to prove to myself that I have built a street worthy race car that performs under pressure and can go the distance.”
The best part of drag-and-drive events for Chris is getting to share them with someone special. “My dad has joined me on all the drag and drives that I have participated in thus far,” said Chris. “He was the one that got me into muscle cars at a very young age. I watched him turn field finds into ‘best of show’ restored cars and I have learned a lot from his mentorship.
He loves being my co-pilot, and our drives along the highway and byways during the events are a great way for us to spend time with each other doing something that we both enjoy.
My dad has had so much fun that, as we speak, we are building a ’65 Dodge Coronet A/FX Tribute Car that will be a potential event participant for future drag-and-drive events.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Chris VanWerden.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com