World of Wheels opens
Hotrods and show cars, pin-up girls and V-8 engine-building contests.
All have taken over the BMO Centre at Stampede Park as the 48th annual World of Wheels rolls into town.
And long-haul trucker Jim Lippert of Green, Kansas, has rolled nearly 2,400 kilometres to display his 1967 Chevy Nova at the event.
That kind of haul makes his entry the furthest distance travelled, but Lippert is acclimatized to the road. He’s been trucking his entire life, and maintains a customized car hauler pulled by a fully equipped Freightliner semi tractor.
Lippert has been a Chevy Nova man since 1966, when he bought a brand new L79 Nova. The car was a lightweight two-door sedan equipped with a 327 small block V-8 engine and Muncie fourspeed that made it a formidable presence at the drag strip.
“I couldn’t make it go fast enough and it got expensive real quick,” Lippert said. “I was making $50 a week and every pay cheque was spent before I got it.”
Lippert sold that car, but ever since he’s been crazy about Novas. He’s bought and sold them, and currently has five in his collection.
The show car he’s built came about by accident — literally.
He’d owned the car some 30 years, and it was a daily driver with a modified engine under the hood. One evening, while out for a cruise in the 1967 Nova, he unavoidably hit a deer, and both suffered some consequences.
Lippert was upset about the deer, but even though the Nova received damage to the hood, grille, radiator and fenders, he wasn’t as upset about the car.
“I was thinking this might not be all bad,” Lippert said. “I’d always wanted to do up a full car, but hadn’t ever wanted to tear apart a good one to do that. So, this was opportunity knocking.”
Lippert had the Nova delivered to Bright Built Hot Rods in Salina, Kansas, where they took the car down to a bare shell, and started the build process.
Under the hood went a 638-horsepower Corvette LS9 engine, mated to a six-speed Tremec manual transmission. Power is delivered to a brand new 9-inch Ford rear end, with new suspension front and rear, all capped off with disc brakes and Billet Specialties alloy wheels.
“I didn’t do the work, but I was involved in the planning and paid the bills,” Lippert laughed. “When a car is built at this level, the guys working on the car feel it’s a part of them and many of the ideas incorporated in the build were theirs.”
The Nova was treated to a full leather interior, including the trunk. When it came time for paint, Jim said, “When you live in Green, Kansas, what other colour could it be?”
Several green sample colours were sprayed, and Lippert settled on what is essentially a 1995 Jaguar hue, brightened up with some pearl in the mix.
“It’s a brand-new car with old-car style,” Lippert said. “We preserved every Nova body line, and didn’t chop or alter anything — that was important to me.”
For now the Lipperts are happy to have the Nova on the show circuit, but eventually the car will be put on the road.
Lippert’s Nova is only one of more than 250 cars, trucks and motorcycles on display this weekend, today through Sunday at the World of Wheels. Celebrities attending include WWE superstars Sheamus and Chris Jericho, as well as Danielle Colby Cushman from American Pickers.