LT1 Nova

[Chevy454]

I guess the issue is Wally probably knew Yenko was lying (as evidenced by this letter). Yenko emphatically states 500 were built. We know for a fact there were only 177 built.

The letter to Wally states 500 have been "sold"...which probably isn't a stretch, because Yenko had a dealer network across the country...the letter is dated early in the '70 model year. In '69 he'd sold 350+ units, and in '69 Yenko was competing against other Chevrolet dealers selling the *exact same cars* delivered from Chevrolet, sand the stripes/emblems...so 500 orders for the only model offered by Yenko for '70 isn't that far of a stretch, especially when you consider that minus the 2 cars that went to Canada Yenko had the market to himself. Hindsight tells us that the looming EPA & insurance crack down really curbed sales, and some Novas sat in showrooms until '72 or '73...! But that's another story for another day...

I'm curious, if I looked at the 1970 AMA specifications for the Nova / Chevy II, does it have the LT-1 listed as an option? Because as far as I can tell, back in the day, if an item wasn't listed in the AMA specifications, it just didn't exist as far as NHRA was concerned. Likewise, if an item was listed, it should be as good as gold to NHRA.

Can't remember...I'll have to dig 'em up & check. But, the AMA specs shouldn't be the catch all...iirc, the AMA published specs for an LS7 Corvette (454/465hp), as well as another fictional model as well.

BTW: from looking at some handwritten notes from Yenko, it looks like they were shooting for SS/F for the LT-1 Nova? Sound about right??