1962 Chevrolet Chevy II / Nova: the debut year

This record's own dek describes 1962 as the first Chevy II model year, with the source engine table listing only the 153 four and 194 six, and an enthusiast-compiled production total of 326,607 cars. This record's own production notes state plainly that every count in this record comes from a single enthusiast compilation, NovaResource.org, which itself says its numbers were compiled from many sources and carry no guarantee, since the underlying Chevrolet production documents were not seen directly in this research.¹

Five body styles are documented: 59,586 two-door coupes, 23,741 two-door convertibles, 44,390 cars in a column the source itself labels "2 Door Sedan" despite the separate coupe body already accounting for the pillarless two-door, 139,004 four-door sedans, and 59,886 four-door wagons. This record's own production notes state that these body rows, along with the separately scoped cylinder and engine rows, each describe the whole model line from a different angle and must not be summed across groups.¹

Only two engines are documented for the year: the 153 four-cylinder at 90 hp and 152 lb-ft, and the 194 six at 120 hp and 177 lb-ft, both at 8.5:1 compression. This record's own engine notes state that the SAE gross rating standard is inferred rather than printed outright, based on the same source's own separate statement that net figures do not begin until 1972, so gross is treated as the applicable basis for every earlier year including 1962. The cylinder-count production rows and the engine-specific installation rows report identical figures, since these two engines were the only ones offered that year.¹

This record documents an extensive Regular Production Option list from Chevrolet's own 1962 information kit, running from a heavy-duty battery and clutch through three separate Delcotron generator options, six tire specifications, three rear-axle ratios, metallic and power brakes, air conditioning and full police and taxicab equipment packages, though none of these carries a price in this record. This record's own transmissions section is empty for the year despite RPO 314, the Powerglide transmission, being documented among those same options.

Fifteen solid exterior colors are documented alongside three convertible-top colors and nine two-tone combinations, all drawn from either the enthusiast reference's own cowl-tag paint codes or the factory information kit's own color-and-trim pages. This record's own interiors section carries an extensive trim matrix across five colors, Fawn, Aqua, Red, Blue and Gold, each split further by body style, by whether the convertible or sedan/wagon/coupe body applied, and by whether bucket seats were fitted in place of the standard bench.¹

This record's own specifications and performance sections are both empty for 1962, a documented gap rather than an assumption that no dimensional or measured data exists for the car, and its identification section is limited to four assembly-plant codes, Framingham, Norwood, Oakland and Willow Run, with no body-plate decoding detail beyond those plant abbreviations. No conflict or unpublished lead is logged for the year, leaving production, engines, options, paint and interior trim as the whole of this record's coverage for Chevy II's debut model year.¹