Ever since his very first Chevy Nova was totaled while he was in high school, Donna Duddleston Gillespie’s husband, Glenn, had wanted to replace it with either another Nova, or a 1969 Chevelle. It would turn out to be a very long search.

Being from a family of car enthusiasts, Glenn was into cars by default. He always hung out in the garage with his brothers, who were all into cars. As the years went by, Glenn met Donna, and the couple got married. Now and then, Glenn would look around to see if he could find something to replace that Nova, but it never seemed to happen.

One day, Glenn’s brother Mark called and told him he found a Nova at Ross Custom Muscle Cars in Flint, Michigan. They anxiously took a road trip to check it out. Glenn liked what he saw, and the deal was made. In 2019, after decades of waiting, he bought a beautiful 1971 Chevy Nova SS.

According to Donna, it was a nice, clean car, although the small block had a flat cam, and Glenn felt it needed more power. That’s how its 468-cubic-inch engine came to be. A big block with 545 horsepower, built by Ramito’s Race Engines in Tinley Park, Illinois, was dropped in.

Originally a 454-cubic-inch Chevy engine, it was bored 0.060″. Low dome pistons were installed, along with billet timing gears, hydraulic roller cam and rocker arms, Brodix aluminum heads, as well as an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold with a Quick Fuel, 850 CFM Double Pumper carburetor.

Behind that powerhouse sits a beefy TH350 transmission with a Cone, 10-inch stall speed torque converter, built by Trans Pro Performance Transmissions, in Lansing, Illinois, and a Ford 9-inch rear end with a 3:23 Posi unit, which gets all of that power to the tires.

To help it breathe, they installed 1-7/8″ tube diameter Hooker Headers out through 3-inch X pipes, and Dynomax Ultra Flo mufflers. The radiator was replaced with an aluminum 3-core unit and still uses the mechanical fan to keep it cool.

Donna says the Nova SS stops just fine with its power disc and drum brakes. The wheels are chrome Torque Thrust rims with B.F. Goodrich 15-inch radial tires. The body is all original and is still the factory color. The only thing Glenn did in the interior was to add some AutoMeter gauges and a tach.

The car doesn’t have a radio, not even from the factory. Donna says Glenn used to say the sound of the engine was his music!

Glenn passed away in 2023. Donna keeps his memory alive by taking the Nova to the car shows they attended all those years. She says that she enjoys going to the shows because of the friends that they made over the years.

Donna says she and Glenn have gone to many local shows and swap meets in Lockport and Orland Park. In 2021, a group of their friends in seven or eight cars did the Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Run. Donna is a member of Rat Racers and The Worth Cruisers.