The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a compact

Compact car

A compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size car...

 automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 division of General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 produced in four generations for the 1962 through 1979 model year

Model year

The model year of a product is a number used worldwide, but with a high level of prominence in North America, to describe approximately when a product was produced, and indicates the coinciding base specification of that product....

s. Nova was the top model

Car model

An automobile model is a particular brand of vehicle sold under a marque by a manufacturer, usually within a range of models, usually of different sizes or capabilities...

 in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped, Nova becoming the nameplate for the 1969 through 1979 models. Built on the X-body platform

GM X platform

There have been two X-body automobile platforms from General Motors. All X-bodies were small entry-level models.-Rear wheel drive:The rear-wheel drive X-body underpinned the Chevrolet Nova and similar cars of the late 1960s and 1970s. It was also the basis for the Cadillac Seville's K platform...

, the Nova was replaced by the 1980 Chevrolet Citation

Chevrolet Citation

The Chevrolet Citation was a compact car sold by the Chevrolet brand of American automaker General Motors for model years 1980-1985. The Citation and its X-body siblings were among GM's first front wheel drive compact cars, following the trend of front drive compacts such as the Honda Accord...

 introduced in the spring of 1979.