If you grew up in the right time period of the car culture, you know just how important “cruising” was to a gearhead. The local cruising spot was where everyone went to hang out, show off their ride, and maybe engage in a horsepower display on the street. These were magical times and they influenced multiple generations of car enthusiasts.
Drew Fleming grew up in the Houston area and spent a lot of time at local cruising spots. His older brother and father were always into cars and that’s what pushed him into the automotive world.
“My dad and brother were Ford guys. My brother had several Boss 302 Mustangs when I was a kid. When I got my license the first vehicle I owned was a truck. I was able to work out a deal and trade the truck for a 1967 RS Camaro. I started working on that car when I was 16. I started adding bolt-on parts to the car, like headers, to make it go faster,” Drew says.
Kids who are into cars tend to travel in packs in high school. Drew had a core group of friends that also enjoyed hot rodding, so they all worked on their cars together. They all enjoyed turning wrenches and hitting the local cruise spots any chance they got.
“My friends from high school were into cars, as well. Back then, people still went to the local hot spots to cruise. That would always lead to street racing where guys from different parts of town would challenge each other. Sleeper cars back then were a really sought-after thing. You didn’t want your car to look fast, you just wanted it to be really fast and catch others off guard,” Drew states.
Drew went on to start his own business and that allowed him to keep building cars. The projects Drew was building were awesome, but he got the itch to go back to his roots and build a sleeper. Drew wanted to build a car that didn’t look fancy, but would be super-fast, and that’s where the idea for his 1972 Nova project began.
“Finding the Nova was a lucky deal. I always comb through Craigslist looking at different year cars to see what I can find that catches my eye. The Nova got my attention…it was a rust-free North Carolina car that was a one-owner deal. You never know what you’re going to find when you go to look at a Craigslist car. When my friend Jimmy Rinehart and I looked at the car, we realized how clean it really was, so I decided to buy it right then,” Drew explains.
Drew was very happy with his purchase, because the car checked every box and then some. The classic Chevy had solid…
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