All of the manufacturers tried the “junior musclecar” trick in the early 1970s as a way of skirting insurance companies who had decided to punish lovers of performance. Cars like the Demon 340, Maverick Grabber, Comet GT and Hornet SC/360 all walked the walk, but how many were as successful, or as ingrained in car culture, as the 1968-74 Chevrolet Nova? Car geeks know the others in the list, but any and everybody knows that a Chevrolet Nova thumping around town with even a warmed up small block is something to behold. The X-body…er, the rear-drive X-body…is part Camaro, part economy car and somehow, combines to make a tasty alternative to a Chevelle, a Camaro or whatever else you’re considering. They are versatile…go as mild or as wild as your heart desires.

Roads Untraveled has tended to stay on the JDM side of the house for their features (mainly because they don’t have to wait as long in Canada to get the really good Japanese cars), but Marcus and his crew provide some of the most honest assessments of any car that we’ve seen. For this episode, instead of a psychotic Supra or a built Mitsubishi GTO, this time the car in question is a 1972 Chevrolet Rally Nova that’s been worked up to be a stout street car with a strong “Day Two” vibe. We dig the car, we dig the noise, we dig the scenery of what looks like British Columbia. How about you?