We started with 16 muscle cars and today we’re left with one shining star—literally.

After three weeks of head-to-head voting, the Nova still burns brightly above all others in our 2014 Muscle Car Match-Ups competition. You voted the 1969 Chevrolet Yenko Nova as this year’s muscle car champion.

And for some reason, we’re a little surprised by this.

You’d think the Yenko Nova would be a favorite considering it came from the Summit Fans Region, yet no one on our staff picked this highly capable muscle machine to win in our brackets. Still, it navigated arguably the toughest path in the tournament to earn its title.

The Road to Glory

Round 1: The King is Dead

Right out of the gate, the 1969 Chevrolet Yenko Nova found itself locked in a battle with our defending champion: the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427. Once again, there was controversy over the Cobra’s inclusion in the brackets (even though fans voted it the champ last year). However, in the end, the Yenko Nova’s brute power, quickness, and rarity propelled it to a victory.

[pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”100%”]”…the Yenko is more of an all-around hot rod…you can haul a buddy and two cute girls at the same time. I vote Yenko.” —Frank J. via Facebook.[/pullquote]

Round 2: Battle of the Bowties

The 1970 Chevelle 454SS was the de facto #1 seed in the Summit Racing Fans Region, earning the most reader votes to be included in the original field of 16. That makes the Yenko Nova’s win here an upset—if you can ever call a Don Yenko-enhanced Nova an underdog.

Round 3: Who’s the Boss?

After a hard-fought battle for Bowtie supremacy, the Yenko Nova carried the Chevrolet torch in an epic Chevy versus Ford battle. Apparently, Chevy fans united behind the Nova as it knocked out the 2013 runner-up, the 1969 Mustang Boss 429.

The Year of the Horse would have no Mustangs in the finals.

[pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”100%”]”Cute girls + Nova = mathematically impossible.” —Dennis Dwyer via Facebook[/pullquote]

Round 4 (Championship): Gone Fishin’

After conquering the best competition from Chevrolet and Ford, it seemed only fitting the Yenko Nova would have to take down the last Mopar standing to win the title. In the finals, the people’s choice Nova took on the 1970 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda, picked by your humble staff here at OnAllCylinders.

Despite the words of a few conspiracy theorists, the fix was not (and has never been) in. The Nova trounced the HEMI ‘Cuda by a 1,301 to 1,006 margin in final round voting, making it the undeniable champion of this year’s Muscle Car Match-Ups.