1964 Chevrolet Chevy II / Nova: the first V8

Same model year

Also in 1964

• Buick Riviera The 425 became standard, the dual-quad Super Wildcat 360 arrived as an option, and the Super Turbine 400 replaced the twin-turbine automatic.
• Buick Wildcat The best Wildcat year at 84,245, with a 425 in 340- or 360-hp form and an available four-speed.
• Chevrolet Chevelle and Malibu SS The first Chevelle; the Malibu SS was a series, and its strongest released engine was the midyear 300 hp L74 327.
• Chevrolet El Camino SS No factory Super Sport El Camino is documented for this year; the record carries the host El Camino production as context.
• Chevrolet Impala SS Super Sport becomes its own series: 185,325 built.
• Chrysler 300 letter series Cheaper by about $1,000, with a single-four-barrel 360 hp 413 standard, leather made optional and the convertible restored, the 300K became the best-selling letter car: 3,022 hardtops and 625 convertibles.
• Dodge Dart 330/440, Polara and Max Wedge The Max Wedge's last year brought the Ramcharger 426-III, a 365 hp street 426 for Polara buyers, and in midyear a competition-only 426 Hemi in lightened 330/440 bodies; Roger Lindamood's Dodge won Top Stock at the Nationals.
• Ford Fairlane The year of the Thunderbolt: a midsize Fairlane with a 427 installed for NHRA Super Stock, which carried Gas Ronda to the national Stock title.
• Ford Falcon Sprint The restyled Falcon kept the Sprint hardtop and convertible with the 164 hp 260 V8 standard; the club counts 18,108 built, many with a bench seat.
• Ford Galaxie Ford sold its 427 in the restyled full-size range in two advertised versions, 410 hp with one four-barrel and 425 hp with two, and the Galaxie 500 XL hardtop was the bucket-seat flagship.
• Ford Thunderbird The redesigned fourth-generation car offered one drivetrain, a 300-hp 390 with Cruise-O-Matic, and output rose to 92,465.
• Mercury Comet and Cyclone The Cyclone name first appeared on a 1964 Comet hardtop; the only production figure found is a single secondary total.
• Mercury Marauder and S-55 Marauder now meant the fastback roof on any full-size Mercury series, two-door or four-door, with the 390 standard and the 427 optional.
• Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4-4-2 and Hurst/Olds Oldsmobile's first 4-4-2 was a mid-year option package, B09 Police Apprehender Pursuit, with a 310 hp 330, a four-speed and dual exhausts; 2,999 are tabulated.
• Oldsmobile Starfire Production fell to 16,163 as the cheaper Jetstar I took the same body; Motor Trend timed a convertible at 9.7 s to 60.
• Plymouth Barracuda and 'Cuda Plymouth's glassback Valiant-based fastback launched in a short first season and sold 23,443 cars.
• Plymouth Savoy, Fury and Max Wedge Plymouth's last Max Wedge year offered the Super Stock 426-III beside a 365 hp street 426 Commando, while a competition-only 426 Hemi went into lightened Savoy/Belvedere drag cars and swept the Daytona 500.
• Pontiac Catalina 2+2 and Super Duty The 2+2 arrived as a $291 Catalina option and the 370 hp 421 HO replaced the Super Duty at the top.
• Pontiac GTO A $295 option on the Tempest LeMans that put Pontiac's 389 in the intermediate body; 32,450 were built.
• Pontiac Grand Prix A carryover year: 63,810 built, with the 370 hp 421 HO at the top of the option list.
• Pontiac Tempest and LeMans The Tempest becomes a 115-inch intermediate with a 326 V8, and the LeMans carries the new GTO option.
• Studebaker Avanti The last Studebaker Avanti, cut short when South Bend stopped building cars on 20 December 1963. It got rectangular headlamp bezels and a level stance, and 809 were built, including the nine production R3s.
• Studebaker Hawk The final Hawk, with a new deck lid and an optional vinyl 'Sports Roof', ended when South Bend closed on 20 December 1963. 1,767 were built, 1,484 of them domestic.
• Studebaker Lark and Super Lark Brooks Stevens restyled the Lark-type line and the Daytona became its top series. Of the V8 Daytonas, 111 got the R1 and 48 the supercharged R2, and one got the only production R4, before South Bend closed in December 1963.