I think we’ve only seen one NUMMI-built (a GM/Toyota partnership) Chevrolet “Nova” from this era here on Barn Finds. Yes, Barn Finds. The place where you typically see American muscle cars in various states of repair, including the original Nova models, comes this 1988 Chevrolet Nova. It’s posted here on craigslist in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and the seller is asking $4,500. Here is the original listing.
NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) was a joint partnership between General Motors and Toyota, and it was based in a former GM factory in Fremont, California. The cars were designed and built with very high quality and as a fifth-generation Nova, they were offered from the spring of 1984 for the 1985 model year, up until the end of the 1988 model year. Despite basically being a rebadged Toyota, they kept the Nova name alive, even though a good percentage of the enthusiast community would have rather have seen it be retired at the end of 1979 when the last of the rear-drive Novas ended production. Maybe a bit like the often-contentious Mustang II or even more so, the Mustang Mach-E.
The seller is very light on photos here, unfortunately. We don’t see big chunks of this small car, including taking the time to pop the hood to show us what should be a Toyota-based 4A 1.6-liter SOHC inline-four, which was factory-rated at 74 horsepower and 85 lb-ft of torque. The seller says that this car is a “barn find” with 8,000 miles, and it went into storage shortly after it was purchased new. Everything reportedly works and this car has a five-speed manual, which is nice. A couple of automatic transmissions would have been options. The other Toyonova/Novayota that we saw here on Barn Finds was back in 2020. The price was great on that one, and it had an automatic.
The seller does show a couple of underside photos rather than any engine or additional interior or exterior photos, and those are important, especially since it’s located in Wisconsin, a state that’s known for using its fair share of road salt. The NUMMI plant closed in 2010 and it’s been a Tesla factory since then. Plan on giving this car the ol’ once-over: adding new tires, and regular age-related wear items, and you should be able to put 200,000+ miles on this car without blinking. Have any of you owned a “Nova” from this GM/Toyota partnership?
That would make a sweet addition to your collection Scotty! Happy Father’s Day to all of the staff and readers of BarnFinds.
Ha, I don’t have any more room because of you and your tip-sending-in skills… Thanks, Pat!
Well at least it’s a stick-shift
Wow what a great find. Toyota Corolla/Chevy Nova 1.6 5 speed for$4,500! If I leave near there it would be mine. Why? We have toys or toy and projects. We run around getting stuff. Why use a car that get bad gas mileage you have this. And if it missing AC it can be installed by a professional at reasonable price. 8,000 miles and these can go up 300,000 with maintenance and we know how to take care of it. To me it’s a win win. I just wish again on Craigslist more pictures! This will go fast. Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
That thing will run forever!
Mid 80s Japanese cars were steller reliable.
Worked on a few back in the late 80’s early 90’s at our shop.Not bad cars but were rot buckets and they were carbureted at least the few I worked on and finicky due to emmisions controls ie lean carb settings and about 10 miles of vacume lines going to all the junk temp sensors just like american cars of that era.I think they used Mikunis .4500 nahh not for me.More like a 1000 beater work car imo.This isn’t your Grandmas Nova was Chevrolets pitch…..wish it was.
Nice job, Scotty. I am more familiar with the later Geo / Chevy Prizm, but I’d wager this FWD Nova would be super-reliable. Wikipedia may have not meant this to be funny, but said the FWD Nova, “reached an unusually high level of quality and production speed at NUMMI, compared to other US factories…” Hmm; I wonder why? When gas prices spiked following Katrina / Rita I looked at the 2000-2002 Prizm because a same year, same engine, same-equipment, same mileage Corolla was generally at least $1000 more expensive, and they were among a small number of cars getting nearly 40 MPG highway and 0-60 under 9 seconds. Thanks for a great write-up and history lesson! And don’t get me started on the “Mustang” Mach-E. My wife has to keep me from carrying fishing line to remove the word “Mustang” from them, not because they are electric, but simply because they are so hideous.
Thanks, Todd! As a few folks have said, they were great, regular ol’ commuter cars, nothing fancy, but reliable for the most part, and cheap to operate. If this was a twin cam version in this condition for $4,500, it may be on its way to my “Pat L wing” of the storage facility.
I was thinking the same thing,but you beat me to it.
The twin cam was faster than an FX16.
That thing will run forever!
Mid 80s Japanese cars were steller reliable.
Sign me up ! I’ll take it right now! You need a “ driver car “ like this so you can preserve your Classic! This is a TOYOTA and you can call it anything you want to but in the end – you have to have Reliable AND Efficient transportation. We are all looking at “one of the best cars made “. I would definitely buy this car if the mileage is true and it runs as good as it looks. Great article!
This is perfect for your “I’m so cool” teen aged son when he begs you for a car after getting his license…
It has the right number of pedals and looks like it could be one of the best ones left. Fridge white isn’t the best color and it has an early style grille so I’d want to check the paperwork that it’s not actually an ’85 or ’86, and from there check the inner unibody structure back to the firewall.
These were very much in the sprit of the original Chevy II/Nova before GM started to put V8s in those and let mission creep set in.
Wisconsin is in the rust belt. I would need to check this up on a hoist before I bought it. 8K or 108K? Could be a well preserved garage kept car. These were great cars, though. I am pretty happy with fuel injection, so a carb on a commuter car just doesn’t cut it with me anymore.
Cars peaked in 89-95 one could argue. Honda Accord for example. Great reliability, good comfort and economy w decent performance.
I’ve owned 3 Accords from the 2003-07 model years. 2.4, 4 cylinders.
All manuals. Had overv200,000 miles on the 1st two, No major issues.
Have 310,000 miles on my current one, STILL original clutch and using No oil between 5,000 mile changes.
I agree, though I would say peaked for Japanese cars. The big Japanese three built some amazing stuff, and this Corolla/Nova was the precursor to what we’d get in the future.
Back in the day (1987) we called this the “Toynova”.
This was legit the best car you could get at a Chevy dealer for the entire decade of the 80s, and they were even better deals 10+ years later. I bought an ’86 sometime around 1999 for $500, drove it for a year, and sold it for $500 because the tinworm was starting to do its thing.
After briefly sharing my mother’s 1982 Caprice (wish I had that – silver two door with every option available), I got an 86 red Nova that had been a rental car in its previous life. Drove that car for about five years through the rest of high school and college and I can’t remember ever having one single issue. Perfect first car. That one brings back some memories!
We used to call these “Toy-lets”
Lovely looking car. I remember when it was first intro’d. I found it more attractive at the time than the Toyota Corolla around the same time. If only the seller posted more pics of the car. Seven pics is fine if you’re selling a motorcycle or a bicycle. But when you’re selling a car or truck, the more the merrier. Given the original condition, I’d pay between the asking price of $4500 and $5000.
I’d be looking it over if it was closer . . . picked-up an 87 Camry at the end of March with 38k documented miles on it (I know, that’s a lot more than 8k). Anyhow, I’m hoping to put 2-300k on it . . . 46k now with no issues.
My only concern with the Toyovas was their carburetors vs. Toyota fuel injection . . .
Chevrolota…
Toylet 😜
Bought one with a stick for the Grandkids to learn to drive,Uber dependable 👍👍
Very reliable! Go through it well and drive it. Do a few timing belts over time, frequent oil changes, and you will get 300,000 miles out of it easy. Lots of new cars today would not even come close to its reliability.
I worked at Oursman Chevrolet when these came out in 85! I these solid like hotcakes! I rust proof and undercoat! I had fun ,good times!
Buy it! I owned one – loved it. Connected with it almost immediately for its simplicity. Basically drove it to the end of it’s life without any drama. Bullet proof, flies under the radar. Gets speeding tickets as needed. Nova in Spanish translates to NoGo I think.