Misty Turquoise is a great color for this mind-blowing 1970 Chevrolet Nova sedan, said to be all original. The seller lists the mileage as being 45,541 miles for this incredible survivor sedan and this is one I hope is preserved rather than modified in any way. The painted steel rims are great as are the blackwall tires, in my opinion. They have it listed here on eBay in Newfield, New Jersey and have a $12,900 buy-it-now price listed, or you can make an offer.
Believe it or not, this is only the second 1970 Nova with – gasp – four doors ever shown here on Barn Finds. I love it as most people had four-door versions. We think that people only want to see or own two-door Novas and then modify them into some sort of TV reality show-type of monster car. Some of us like four-door sedans as they bring back more memories than a restomod two-door Nova with a 454 and four-speed would. Make mine a four-door with a straight six every time.
If this is really all original paint, that’s incredible. Parts of it look shinier, but maybe that’s due to the sun not beating on it, as on the top surfaces. How the rear wheel arches and other rust-prone areas survived while looking almost like new is a mystery. Was this car never driven in the winter? The seller says it’s wearing every bit of its factory-applied paint, so there ya go.
Chevrolet offered the third-generation Nova from 1967 for the 1968 model year until the end of 1974 in the everyone-wants-one two-door body style, a four-door sedan, and also an unusual two-door hatchback version. Our neighbor in the 1970s had a car similar to this, but it was a Pontiac Ventura version in a weird pea soup green color. It was a similar base-spec sedan, and he drove it to his job as a welder for Reserve Mining Company 56 miles each way – it never let him down.
The interior also looks fantastic in this car. Some serious light usage had to have been the ticket in order to have these vinyl seats looking like new 55 years after having been fitted at the factory. I don’t really see a flaw inside. The seller has included many great photos, including the perfect headliner, and a few of the trunk, which shows two snow tires. I cringe thinking of this car being driven in salty snow, packing up under those perfect wheel arches. It looks like the rear package shelf may be curling a bit, but there isn’t a specific photo of that area.
The engine bay shows some surface rust – would you restore it or leave it as is? This is Chevy’s 250-cu.in. OHV inline-six, which was factory-rated at 155 horsepower and 235 lb-ft of torque when new. It gets pushed through a three-speed TurboHydramatic transmission to the rear wheels. You can see the power steering pump in the engine bay photos, so it keeps getting better. They say it runs and drives great, and it was around $2,200 new. So for the “IT DIDN’T COST $12,900 NEW!!!!” crowd, that $2,200 relates to around $18,000 today, which is much less than the seller’s asking price. Would any of you have any interest in an incredible survivor even with four doors and a straight-six?
I don’t know. I enjoyed looking at the pics and reading the write-up but what would I do with it? I do not miss 1970 drum brakes in any way whatsoever and that straight 6 might merge on to I95 but it would be a process. However, I agree that modding the car would be a shame and it would not be cost effective either.
Thanks, Walter! The beauty of the vintage vehicle hobby is not using these vehicles as daily drivers on the freeway. We use our modern vehicles for that, the ones with heated and cooled cupholders and all kinds of modern features, and too much power for modern inattentive drivers who often think they’re invincible due to so many airbags and sensors so it’s safe to text while going 81 in the left lane. I’d use this one for around-town weekend fun, driving it for a coffee chat with someone, heading to church, or just a Sunday drive on a two-lane road somewhere away from modern life and modern drivers
Yep, it would be a weekend cruiser but probably not for me. Pretty hot in SoFla. Those two Oldsmobiles a few spots down for similar money are a different story though.
Church! GREAT idea! I gotta start driving to ALL the churches around here on Sunday mornings & scan the parking lots for the rare classics that only may see daylight once a week that the lil ol lady drives & have a handful of cash on me lol!
I think you WOULD miss the MANUAL drum brakes in a light car like this – if you were driving a big block impala instead with POWER DISC brakes & the car was full of people & it stalled out going down a mountain & would not restart. & then you tried to stop it. lol
My friend has no problem getting on highways with a ’68 nova with powerglide & turbo muffler under the back seat floor pan – but his has an optional 3:07 rear. This Nova tho may have a 2:73 or 2:56 rear.
& it has a taxi-cab-ready interior!
When you see an ad from a dealer for a car in a rust prone area that is in front of a row of lifts, yet there are no pictures of the undercarriage it’s not an accidental omission. You’d probably have trouble getting close to the asking price of $12,900 for a 2dr 6 cylinder with paint issues if it was otherwise as nice as they want you to believe, that not going to happen anytime soon with a 4dr. There are too many other cars in that segment if the market in better condition with asking prices for less than half to be seriously considered.
I can’t believe the seller thinks the inclusion of the cars old snow tires is a selling point, the mere mention of them is a red flag of potential undercarriage issues.
Steve R
I would rather have either of the Ninety Eights featured.
Yup, although I’ll take the Garnet Red ( I believe Olds referred to the red as such) for the leather, full vinyl roof, & no sun roof to leak or not operate.
The only thing that would make this sedan better, is the inclusion of the anti theft 3 speed manual on the column.
I like this Nova. Its one of my favorite colors from GM from that time. Our ’70 Olds Ninety Eight was the same color as this called reef turquoise. It looks great on a Nova too. It looks like theres a couple options on this one. I think i see a power steering reservoir, and instead of a Powerglide they went with the THM 350 which is a step up. It has carpets and no vinyl floor covering too ( I think, its a little grainy on my phone. I totally agree with Tony Primo, needs a 3 speed stick on the column anti theft device for sure. I always thought they were fun to drive. I would keep this exactly as is, just polish up the original lacquer paint keep rhe steelies and dog dish hubcaps and blackwalls and enjoy. Really nice find and great write up too Scotty.
Floor mats look like rubber, quite consistent with this basic interior.
I actually think the four door model of this Era Nova look good. Something about the proportions of the hood and deck lid works.
Nice car to tune up, drive and enjoy.
No I like it because there is a 50/50 chance someone will have this crazy idea & make it happen! Time will only tell
Fun write-up Scotty. I’m with you, a plain jane four door Nova will get my attention faster than a muscled-up version. I would want to know how it survived— was it owned by a car guy who babied it, was it a grandma car that somehow got maintained, where and how was it stored for all these years, etc. And yes, it would be perfect if it was a three-on-the-tree.
Misty Turquoise, sounds like would have been a country singer from the 70’s.
Ha, see Misty Turquoise singing your country favorites at The Last Roundup in Nashville on Tuesday nights! Don’t forget to tip your server.
Bob and Scotty, I’ve heard the name Misty Turquoise before. But never ever in that way. Thanks for the laugh guys!!!
I like Misty Rowe from Hee-Haw myself.
You can see the pavement.
If i had time and space this would be a sleeper! Install power disc brakes. 383 with Turbo 350 done over to handle the engine. 10 bolt posi with 3:73 gears . Nice exhaust not too loud exit the quarter panels. Install electric dumps to wake up the neighborhood!😂 and go from there. Detail the whole car. Keep the 250 nameplate. Wider rims but keep the hub caps with better tires. And have fun driving it on weekends. Oh install AC! 🐻🇺🇸
A hundred times, NO! To do that to this car would be criminal!
Make that unlimited times NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
The only exception would be converting to disc brakes for safety sake. I’m an a/c fan but can’t do the convert with this one.
I was watching “Severance” not long ago, and one of the characters hops into a plain-jane-looking ’77(ish) Nova sedan. When he fires it up, it’s got a barely-muffled V8, and suddenly, 4-door Novas seemed kinda cool to me.
That said, I’m with the mob on this one, this Nova is better with the poverty-pak trim.
Lose two doors and this is identical to my first car. Color, interior, drivetrain. Love it.
6-cyl with a Turbo Hydramatic? That’s a rare one. Most of them would have had the Powerglide. Just a couple of “dings” in the front, and possible corrosion around the rear window. $12.5K? Maybe.
Sometimes old cars are just… old cars. You can’t even say buy it as a cheap here to there car with that ridiculous price.
Boy, these used to be everywhere once upon a time. That rear seat armrest tells you this is the deluxe interior. I like seeing the driveway under the car in the underhood pic. This could be a fine fair weather ride.
An elderly neighbor died and his widow, who didn’t drive, sold my dad their 1970 Nova. It was 9 years old, had 9000 miles on it and the price was $900. It had the straight six and a three-on-the-tree transmission. Dad added power steering. It was bronze in color.
It was fun to drive.
Well, if it had three pedals instead of two and Mk I, Model 1 Armstrong power steering, best take a close look at the underside of the hood to see if there might just be a trace of a former military serial number. This one, on a quick glance, looks for all the world like an ex-military spookmobile.
Lovely car. Although not as sought after as the 2 door Nova Stuper Sport model, I’ve always loved the 4 door model. If I were to buy a Nova 4 door sedan, I’d keep it as original as possible, while also upgrading what needs to be upgraded. Among the upgrades would be disc brakes instead of the original drum brakes.
Bought one nearly identical to this in 1983. It was my work car, wife got the new ’84 Cavalier. Great car, easy to work on, easy on gas, did it’s job for me!
Hey Scotty, your mention of Reserve Mining Company tells me you must’ve grown up in N. Mn. I’m a Range Rat myself from between Grand Rapids & Hibbing where the Greyhound Museum is. Y’know, anybody north of Bigfork is a Jackpine Savage! LOL!
Is that just surface rust at the left rear dog leg & the right front wheel opening? Guess it doesn’t matter now, listing has ended.
Yes, sir: Duluth! I guess that’s technically northern MN but not really…
My hometown is Marble, y’know, between Grand Rapids & Hibbing. Hibbing was the hometown of Bob Dylan and Gary Puckett spent the first 2 years of his life there, too. Yeah, sure, you betcha! Lol!
Auction update: this one is no longer available, did one of you grab it?