This week’s installment of the American Powertrain Parting Shift brings us to the back seat of a really wicked 1969 Nova that has enough power to destroy tires and a 4-speed Jerico manual transmission in the trans tunnel. While we certainly do not recommend doing something this reckless on the highways and byways of the country, this car is so wickedly bad ass, we’re showing you. The whine from the straight cut gears is one thing but when the whine is combined with the explosive power of the engine, you’ve got some real magic happening there.
While a Jerico like this is not designed to be the smooth shifting, easy to live with option for your daily driver, it is a bad ass transmission that can handle loads of power and can live well behind it. One of the neat things is how many gear ratios are available for these things because they are designed to be used in applications where people will be taking them apart to tweak them for conditions or other performance enhancing reasons.
We say huzzah to the guys who put comfort and “normal” aside to get the parts they want and drive them as they need to be driven. Cars like this are not for everyone and we can romanticize them in these little video clips but we sure hope it is still the same today as it was when this was made!
and the point is????