The Chevy II was the base of the Nova. The Chevy II Nova was the top of the line on the Chevy II seires. Production started in 1962. In 1963 the Chevy II Nova got the SS treatment though an appeance only one. In 1964 the first V8, a 283, for the Chevy Nova II SS was put into production to give it true performance instead of pure appearance. In 1969 the Chevy II name was dropped and replaced simply by Nova. By this time the SS package came with a variety of high horse motors and many options. I have a 1970 Chevy Nova 307 and my dad had two SS's in his day. Obviously an SS would be the car of choice when looking for performance but there are many straight Nova's out there that can easily be cloned into SS's or even have crates or preowned motors dropped in relatively cheap. In my opinion the '68 through '72 are the sleeker more aggresive designs and had many more engine options in those years but it comes down to a matter of personal preference. I do grant that I am only 16 so some of my information may be slightly off, if so corrections are welcome by any and I hope I was somewhat helpful.
~RJ
