John Parson's '67 Nova Project - Too Much To Do

When John Parsons started his '67 Nova project in the spring of 2000, he didn't really expect the car to evolve into what it is today. He just wanted a cool ride, and knew that to get there he would have to do it himself, or do without. Over the years, he learned to do a few things quite well, like welding; but he also learned that he had no future as a paint and body guy. He tried, though, and that's the most fascinating aspect of this build. It's about how one guy managed to build a car of this caliber in his garage through sheer force of will. We asked John what sparked his desire for this project, and he says, "I've owned a lot of cars, and while I can forgive a lack of horsepower, I despise poor road manners in my vehicles. It's always the first thing I change. I've tinkered with springs, shocks, and sway bars, but for this car I wanted to really get into it and build something more challenging. I read various catalogs that sold complete replacement clips for Novas, but thought that would be too easy. I wanted to bend, grind, cut, machine, sand, and weld metal-especially weld. I can't explain why, but welding has always been magical to me. It isn't a huge exaggeration to say that II Much was just a reason to learn to weld."

Cars like II Much don't just pop into existence. The path from brainwaves to pavement is riddled with mistakes, triumphs, and surprises. Anyone who has built a car like this can relate to the experience, and those who have feared to dive into a project of this degree can learn that it's not impossible, it's just hard. Follow along as we touch some of the high (and low) points of John's journey.