GUCCI - Chris Michael’s 1969 Twin Turbo Chevrolet Nova

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Story & Photos By Eddie Maloney www.rpmmag.com | april 2022

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When we witnessed the unveiling of Chris Michael’s 1969 Nova, we weren’t sure if we were at a car show or a drag race...

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ver four years in the making, Michael debuted, “Gucci”, at the 2021 PRI show in Indianapolis. And boy was it popular... So, what exactly is the Gucci Nova? The goal, envisioned by the Southern California native, was to build the cleanest and fastest hot rod and campaign it in the No Prep King Series.

Chris grew up in beautiful Orange County, California, a true hot-rodding mecca. As an only child he was very active in numerous sports and while Chris loved all that, there was something else that caught his eye.

His father Ralph was a hot rodder himself, and on occasion would take Chris to the local dragstrips; Lyons, OCIR and Irwindale, to name just a

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few. When he finally reached driving age, he picked up a cool retro 1967 Volkswagen Beetle and immediately modified it. Throughout his younger years, Michael would own everything from fast domestics to rotary powered imports. While he was having a blast and meeting so many people, he knew he had his whole life ahead of him and thanks to his continued networking, Chris started a career in real estate and investing in small businesses. Things were going well and he started getting the need for speed again. At his point, he was tricking out Polaris RZR’s and other atv/utvs, until one day nearly 6 years ago when his life would change forever. He and some friends set out to hop some jumps at Pismo Beach 78

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The body is a legit 1969 Nova

...and was actually a second choice after the first donor was deemed a no-go by Larry Jeffers Race Cars.

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The carbon fiber wheelie bars are a perfect match with the continuing candy red and carbon look throughout the car.

serious, and even gave it a name; “Bad Intentions”. Bad Intentions was the fuel behind the fire to build one badass 1969 Nova named “Gucci”.

To fully understand the scope of this project, you need to follow it from the very beginning. Gucci was not born of Chris’ first Nova. Initially, he had picked up a car that he felt would work for the project however, after a strong recommendation from Patrick Barnhill, he called up Larry Jeffers to discuss his ideas. Larry suggested that he ship the car to Missouri for an in-depth look, just to be sure. Once Larry had the opportunity to see the car, he suggested building a different one starting from the ground

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During the build discussion, Larry asked Chris if he planned to build a race car or a show car. Thus, Larry dubbed Chris as ‘Gucci’. He liked that name so much; he gave it to the Nova.

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Chris mentioned that it took over a month to have the intake and valve covers powder coated.

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The itch for competition never left Chris and he wanted to start building race cars again... when he miscalculated a hill and rolled his RZR and was severely injured. Chris was hospitalized with 9 broken ribs, a crushed scapula, and a punctured lung. Doctors were skeptical on his prognosis; initially they weren’t even sure he would survive.

His wife Srey and their two kids were at Chris’s side every day and he miraculously turned the tides.

Through his strong will and support from friends and family, he is making a solid recovery. It was a slow rehabilitation process, but he had a new perspective on life and what he wanted to do. The itch for competition never left Chris and he wanted to start building race cars again. This time he was

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The Noonan 4.9” bore space Hemi between the rails of Gucci is a special animal. It is a refinement of the 4.8 Hemi with loads of technology built into it to not only increase power and durability, but also make the racer’s life a bit easier.

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The 4.9 bore space Hemi head with the valve cover off offers a glimpse of the Reid dual shaft rocker setup.

up. The original car was sent back to California and subsequently sold shortly after.

A little while later, the Covid-19 Pandemic hit and almost all of society was shut down for a while.

The project was delayed, but not too long after it was back down to business. There are always ups and downs on any project of this magnitude, and Gucci was no different.

Chris has very particular taste, so it took some extra time to get the candy red and black colors to perfectly match throughout the entire car. Larry Jeffers has built plenty of amazing machines over the years, but this Nova is definitely one to remember. Chris is adamant that his builds look as good as they perform.

Once the full tube chassis was finished, Chris, Larry and Patrick sat down and discussed what would be the heart and soul of the Nova and agreed to go with a newly designed

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Noonan 4.9” bore space Hemi engine, and strapped to the Hemi would be twin 98mm Precision turbochargers.

You’ll find many different combinations in the No Prep scene, however Chris wanted to stand out, and we’d say he hit this one out of the park!

Not sure what a Noonan 4.9” bore space Hemi is? It’s basically their existing 4.8 “Fathead” style Hemi, heavily refined. The billet block’s increased bore center allows for an increased bore size (up to 4.600”) which in turn allows for larger valves.

Noonan also changed the valve angle in order to flatten the combustion

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Chris Michael’s 1969 Twin Turbo Chevrolet Nova Grudge Car Chassis:

Brakes:

Full tube chassis certified to 6.0 built by Larry Jeffers Race Cars.

Lamb carbon fiber pads/rotors.

Suspension:

Tires & wheels:

4-link with Marc Smith adjustable coilover shocks. JRI air assist drag shocks. Custom Lamb Components front struts.

RC Component Wheels Hoosier Racing Rear Tires Mickey Thompson Front Runners

Engine:

Interior:

Noonan 4.9” Bore Space Hemi. Bryant racing crankshaft, GRP rods, Trend wristpins, CP pistons. Clevite coated bearings and Total Seal rings. Custom Bullet camshaft and Jesel lifters.

Noonan 4.9 cylinder heads with Reid rockers, Manley valves, PSI springs and Noonan billet valve covers.

Dan Olson Oil Pan and Barnes Oil Pump. Noonan billet manifold, RCD mag drive, Noonan front cover / gear drive assembly and RCD fuel pump extension.

Carbon fiber and candy red to match. Safecraft fire system, RE Racing radio, Braille 16v battery, Speedwire Systems control panel, Racetech seat.

Miscellaneous.

Electronics:

Thanks To:

Haltech Nexus R5 Engine Management System.

Prowire Electronics wiring.

My wife and kids Mark Washington Jay Boddie Paul Summers Larry Jeffers Giuseppe Gentile Eddie Maloney for waiting 9 hours to do the photoshoot!

Power Adder: Twin 98mm Precision turbochargers.

Transmission: Rossler 3 speed Turbo 400, Neal Chance converter, M&M shifter, PST carbon fiber driveshaft.

Voss carbon fiber wheelie bars. Dual parachutes.

ET & MPH: Grudge/no-time car.

Rear: Mark Williams full floater with Mark Williams axles.

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West Coast legend Jay Boddie was tasked to give Gucci the first shakedown passes at Orlando Speedworld Dragway.

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The

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e Gucci Nova’s candy red/carbon interior is a thing of beauty. You almost don’t even want to sit in it.

The center piece of the interior is the Rossler Turbo 400 trans, painted candy red to match.

chamber and they raised the port up an inch on both intake and exhaust. Lifter spacing went from 2 inch to 3.3 inches which also has a ripple effect creating improved valvetrain geometry and allowing for more intake port development.

The engine also boasts a raised cam design and the cylinder head can be removed without removing the intake manifold and associated parts, cutting down maintenance and turnaround times.

After machining, Noonan filled the billet block with a Bryant

crank spinning GRP rods pinned to custom CP piston with Trend wristpins. Clevite coated bearings and a Total Seal ring pack were also used. A custom camshaft with Jesel lifters actuate custom pushrods and the Reid Racing dual shaft rocker setup on the trick Noonan 4.9 billet heads. Being a twin turbo combination, Michael’s Hemi is equipped with the Noonan turbo manifold with Accufab throttle bodies. The twins have been expertly plumbed and receive fresh air via carbon cones

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leading to custom hood cutouts. With only the slight bulge of the Sunoco style hood, they are hardly noticeable.

Adding to the bling factor of “Gucci”, Chris had prominent engine components painted (powder coated) candy red to match the car and interior accents.

Mated to the engine you’ll find a near indestructible Rossler Turbo 400 transmission with Neal Chance converter.

Once again, as a centerpiece inside the Nova, the Rossler is rightfully finished in candy red. Power is routed through a carbon driveshaft back to an equally impressive Mark Williams full floater 96

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West Coast legend Jay e h T k o o t e i d d o B Gucci on an inaugural o d n a l r O t a s s pa Speedway... able to share any n u re e’ w , er ev w ...ho the run, other specific details oyn- “wow!” than to sa

rearend suspended by a 4-link coilover setup, while carbon wheelie bars keep the Nova well grounded.

Once the chassis and power parts of the equation were complete, it was time to focus on the “look” of Gucci, and one thing was sure, it would be an attention grabber.

The paint and body crew at Jeffers went to work spraying the sweet gloss black with candy red accent skin, and once again the results were outstanding.

The car was completed just in time for the 2021 PRI show and immediately broke the internet.

From there, after tying up some odds and ends, car and crew were shipped to Orlando Speedworld in February for testing, where we had the opportunity to not only com-

plete our photoshoot, but also get some insight into plans for 2022. Chris had hired gun Jay Boddie driving at Orlando and plans to have him shoe the Nova for the entire 2022 No Prep King Series. Chris himself is continuing to take things slow due to his healing as a result of the accident. “A build of this magnitude can’t be taken lightly, and I trust Boddie behind the wheel,” he said.

This combination makes roughly…well, a lot of power! And it runs… well, really quick!

After all, this is a grudge car so horsepower and performance numbers are cards best held close to the chest. One thing’s for sure though, if it runs as good as it looks (which we know it does), Gucci will see the Winner’s Circle in no time flat!

misener

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