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Editor's note: This is part of a series at KSL.com featuring some of Utah's coolest cars. If you own a customized vehicle — from sports cars to semitrucks — email fjolley@ksl.com with a photo of the vehicle and a brief description for consideration.FARMINGTON — As far as dream cars go, Rick Cheshire’s 1966 Chevy II Nova speaks for itself.
Its 1000+ horsepower Twin-Turbo big-block Chevy engine and handmade, custom-colored paint job tell a story of power, speed and the embodiment of sleekness. One glance at the Nova is all it takes to know that it’s a one-of-a-kind muscle car. What you won’t be able to tell just by looking at it, however, is how much work went into it.
It was a “from the ground up” type of job for Cheshire. After wanting a Nova since he was kid — Cheshire actually had one when he was 16 years old, but sold it before he could rebuild it — he came across the car sitting in a field in Grantsville. It was a rusted-out mess, but Cheshire saw it for its potential.
He spent over five years negotiating with the car’s owner before they agreed upon a trade. Cheshire, an accomplished paint and body technician by trade, could have the car in exchange for a paint job on a different car. The deal was made, and Cheshire set out to fix up the Nova.
“The only things that I kept from it originally were the rear quarter panels, the roof, and the whitewalls,” Cheshire said.
He set out with his friends, Dean Averett and Willis Bilbrey, to work on the frame, chassis and body panels. For 1.5 years, they met after work and spent, on average, five hours per day working on the vehicle. It was a long process, but eventually, it was time to tow the Nova to Cheshire’s body shop in West Valley City.
Cheshire painted the Nova while another friend worked on the engine. He created two custom colors for his car — a pearl white and a gray charcoal. In addition to crafting custom colors, Cheshire also applied 16 clear coats. A friend airbrushed the graphics onto the Nova, and Cheshire painted, sanded, polished and buffed things down to perfection on both the inside and out.
The ’66 Nova’s paint job is masterful. No imperfections exist to either the eye or the touch.
Then, the time eventually came to drop the engine in. Needless to say, Cheshire was excited.
“It was like Christmas,” he said. “It was insane. I couldn’t stop smiling.”
Ten minutes into the test drive, the engine blew up. It over-boosted and broke one of the pistons, which chewed up the engine head and scarred the cylinders. The rebuild journey wasn’t over yet — Cheshire basically had to start over on the engine.
Since then, he’s driven it everywhere. He estimates that he’s put around 12,000 miles on it in the past four years. The Nova has won over 30 trophies in that timespan, including two out of three first-in-class finishes at the Autorama in the past three years.
The Nova is powered by a 505 cubic inch big-block Chevy engine with twin 74 mm turbos. It tops out at around 170 mph, and has run at 146 mph and 9.64 seconds on the low boost in the ¼ mile. It has a Holley fuel injection system and a Turbo 400 transmission. All of that is backed up by a 9-inch Ford rear end, which has been cut to fit the massive rear tires. The ’66 Nova gains its traction from a set of 33-inch tall, 22.5-inch wide rear tires.
The interior was kept as close as possible to factory conditions. Cheshire carried over the paint job to the interior, making it match, including the roll bar. The only non-factory component is the Nova’s digital output on the speedometer.
With its abundance of horsepower, its sleek body and its beautiful paint job, Cheshire’s Chevy is an attention-grabber. He recalls people pulling up alongside him at traffic lights, only to jump out of their vehicles and start snapping pictures of the Nova.
It hasn’t always been that way, though. Cheshire overcame his fair share of doubters while he was rebuilding the Nova.
“About every other person came into the shop and asked me what I was doing with it,” Cheshire said. “They thought that I should start over with a cleaner car. They told me that I was wasting my time on it. Now that they’ve seen it, they can’t believe it.”
Wes Mangum is a Utah State University student and a citizen of Logan. He can change his own oil and always keeps his blinker fluid reservoir full. Wes can be reached on Twitter @hjmangum or by email at mangum953@gmail.com.
