This all original grocery getter is a much more appealing grocery getter than current ones. Who wouldn’t want this 1969 Chevy Nova sedan with 46,941 miles, owned by only 3 people? It is located in Southwick, Massachusetts and is at a current bid price of $4,550 with no reserve. This car is a true survivor, with very minor rust spots in common areas for these cars, like the rear fenders. You can find it here on eBay.
Under the hood sits nothing special. Just a straight 6 connected to an automatic transmission. The seller claims that the only things that have been changed are four new tires, a new battery, and new brake master cylinder. The car does run and drive, which the seller states that it rides just like it did new, and it has recently passed a state inspection. It does not get much more simple, plain, and reliable than that.
Inside is just as normal as the outside. Having all original, rubber floor mats, the original owner spared all thrills by having a radio delete. Despite having no tunes, the interior is in amazing condition. The black shines deep and rich, and there seems to be not cracks or fading. The bench seat allows seating for six. A feature that has long gone out of style and safety in modern, boring, grocery getting sedans.
The seller states that the paint is all original and has never been touched up. They also note that it has been garage kept, which would explain the amazing condition this car is in, especially for the New England weather. A recent ad for the Honda Insight shows cars in a state of BLAH or UGH or MEH in their design. This car is not that. It is a tribute to past ever-day life, and if you buy it, appreciate the present.
I want to know who is doing all of these backwards custom jobs, adding doors and taking truck motors and putting them into these stretched cars. Everybody knows that all Novas, Impalas and Chevelles were 2-doors with a big block, 4-speed and A/C. Craig Jackson would not lie to us.
Seriously, though. No stoplight screamer but certainly a unique nice-weather small city commuter. Wonder who saves something like this , a car few saved back then.
No radio, standard configuration? I am guessing originally an elderly person, after that though, not sure. Maybe inherited by a wealthy person that had ample room in a garage and didn’t have the heart to sell it. A truly wonderful piece of history. I would be proud to use this for a weekend grocery getter, at least in good weather. And unlike some exotic big block screamer, this will sell for a reasonable price that makes that practical above a modern day car for the same purpose.
My friend’s ’74 t/a has no radio, a/c, p/w, or cruise ctl. A radio was NOT std equipment even on that car back then, tho the antenna was still installed in the windshield. $4300 stripper new. A std f/b formula would be even less $ with no std power assist for the steering or brakes, & no std positraction or rear spoiler either. Radial tires were optional, i believe.
In high school I worked with a girl who inherited the exact same car in great condition, except it had the 307 and a radio. She absolutely hated that car as it was old and ugly in her opinion. She agreed to trade me straight up for my 1981 Regal Limited which was still very contemporary at that time, but we were both underage and her parents would not agree to the trade.
Most of these got used up as winter beaters. Nice find and good buy for the current price. Would daily drive this to work spring, summer and fall.
I think it might have been a fleet car maybe for some business!🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🕘🕔
Wow… I had one almost identical to this in high school. Mine was a ’68, but other than the steering wheel it was the same car. Compared to my best friend’s ’67 Cougar, my Nova (also still called “Chevy II” in 68) was a stodgy little granny car. Still, she was cheap to run, cheap to fix, and seemingly bulletproof. I wrecked her twice and my father and I replaced the bent stuff and put it back on the road. It was the perfect car for a 16 year old lead foot. The 250 cubic inch engine was no rocket, but it got me a ticket for 85 in a 45. I sold it in 1977 for $600. Good times.
Way better than any honda….ever
Ever is a pretty strong word. Honda makes some fine equipment, esp these days, I should know I just bought a new one with a turbo in it a few months back. 5 decades of tech and refinement means a lot. I have said it before, but I will say it again…..when this was new in comparison you would match it up against a Model T, so saying it is better then a 2019 Civic Si or Type R makes you look foolish at best and down right ignorant if truth be told.
If you think that be so, then what in the world are you doing reading about these old cars? There are lots of sites for lovers of rice rockets. Ah, feeling superior, perhaps? It all depends on what you enjoy and how you compare things. Calling people on this website foolish and ignorant because we like old cars is well… you said it.
Dave – I’d take the Honda… for the couple weeks or so it’d take to put it on eBay with no reserve, buy the Nova & pocket the difference.
I changed spark plugs for the first time in a Nova just like that one, 42 years ago.
The engine bay picture brings back a lot of memories.
Awesome looking Chevy Nova sedan. You see lots of Nova 2 doors and Nova SS, but not many 4 door sedans.
Just adding a radio (Syrius XM) would
make me happy. The rest of the car is
great! No having to buy special tools
just to change the plugs, or taking it
in when a sensor goes bad. My sister
got socked over $800 just to change
the plugs in her Mitsubishi Gallant–
that was in 2004. Who knows how
much it costs today.
To the new buyer Please keep everything Original as its a crime to molest or mod this original piece of auto history !!
We ve come a long way in time and as a hobby when a plain jane 4 door six cylinder STRIPPER…………..(are there any other adjectives I can use to describe this Grandpamobile)…….is on a 4500.00 ask. Crazy baby…………
I love this, was my first car in 1978. Mine was blue, with a radio.
Those 6 cyl. are tough, my sister ran it out of oil. I thought it was done she drove it home and parked it. Added oil and it was driven from Wisconsin to Texas!
Mike
Too many doors. Not interested at any price. Would take up too much valuable shop space.
Just pick any 2 doors, have them welded shut and fill the door handles.
The editor for Accepted Classics Quarterly, ladies and gentlemen.
Darn good thing no one is forcing you to buy it. Whew, dodged a bullet there!
My Grandmother Gaimari had this exact car!
Wow..what a shock! I had just gotten word that a childhood friend had passed and this showed up. This car is IDENTICAL to the one he’d gotten from his parents right after high school. Wheels, back then, were the THING. Oh sure, we KNEW about “cool cars” but having a Nova with a 6 and an automatic was not a bad thing. 4 doors? Double dating was possible! Show up in a big block SS with loud pipes? Her daddy is going to say “no way” . Show up in this? Well HE looks like a nice guy..have a good time honey….Damn how times flies.. Enjoy the good times even if you only have a 6 cylinder Nova…
A mild 350 4 speed add 3:43 gears, 15″ wheels with those dog dish caps you have sweet little car once you clean up the rest. That stovebolt and tranny won’t take up much room stored on a rolling stand all cleaned up with fresh paint right over there in that corner.
Please, please , please, stop using the term -Radio Delete. The radio was not deleted,it was never ordered, because it was an option, not standard equipment. Rant over.
When I was kid, my mom’s best friend had been driving a ’53 Olds w/ a dented side for as long as I could remember, but when I got to junior high in ’69 her friend got a brand new ’69 Nova 2 dr stripper, same gold color and same radio delete, I mean it was a ringer for today’s BF car, but it had a 4 cylinder 3-on-the-tree. Since I was already a car freak back then and lusted after anything with a big motor, I couldn’t understand why anyone would get a new car with a small engine like that on purpose, because gas was still around 30 cents a gallon in those days. Anyhow, last I knew she was still driving that Nova well into the ’90s.
My mom owned a 68 nova sedan in high school. I need to convince my grandpa to buy it for her!
T-Man is correct. No such thing as radio delete in those days. Everything was optional. It was the way to increase profits per unit sold.
This will be your basic driver forever. They are modest cars, meant to do exactly as described, they will keep up in traffic but don’t expect any grunt off the line. It will also start and run every time you turn the key. Is it sexy? No. It doesn’t matter.
Nice. What a statement of mimimalism.
Cars today come standard with lush carpet and then we cover it all up with all weather rubber mats to protect it.
This is an honest car. I hope the next buyer keeps it that way.
What are those boom boom big speakers in the rear floor wells ?
And it has an antenna on the right front fender .
And it has an antenna on the right front fender .
It’s nice, but I wouldn’t want it with those red hoses.
It’s nice, but I wouldn’t want it with the red hoses
Ever have that one relative that told the same jokes over and over at every gathering? Thats how I feel about the red hose joke!
Red hoses have a long way to go before they catch, “It’ll buff out!”
Sorry folks, if I had the cash, it would be
on its way to my home in Florida. Once
here, I’d add a decent radio, hand my SIL
the keys, and tell her to drive it until she
found something she really wants. Why
would I do this you ask? Okay, here’s why.
This car is the best thing I could put her
into. It’s big, safe, and simple for me to
fix! Used to love those old 235s. They
were bulletproof engines that were woefully underrated. Sure, they weren’t
the fastest things on the road, but they
were real torque monsters that lasted
for years. Face it, I’m 64 and this would
be the last new (to me) car I’d ever have
to buy.
Safe? Hardly.
The old “big” cars crumpled and crushed their human occupants much worse than today’s vehicles.
1962 was the last year of the 235. This would be a 153 or 250 CI eng.
Let me think about it; a “cheaply built” transport, that today cost damn near 3x as when new.
That when in heavy rains would make you wish it had a 3000 watt stereo to drown out the noise.
Cornered even on dry pavement like on ice, with shocks and springs that made Dad holler “you kids sit still or I’ll wail on your Ass” because their shifting weight in back raised front end and, rolled car side to side.
Seats so lightly cusioned after 300 mile ride that night you noticed your wife had a “waffel butt.
Plastic seat covers that sunburned you butt in summer, froze it in winter and its a good thing they could not corner otherwise you could end up steering from pasanger side on the twisties.
Yes I would just love to have a torture turtle, my father in laws twice ended upside down in one of these.
I can still remember the glee I felt as I cut the seatbelt and his vile obscenities as he hit roof.
The rubber mats were not removable and after 12,000 miles you had heel holes by gas pedal, and the sound deadening was cardboard thin on floor and none elsewhere.
Buy it, tune it, and drive it they way it was meant for, cheap transport for work, and as a utility family cargo hauler for slower than … trip to Grandmas house.
Fair price in todays world, and an attention getter by todays electric scooter and wheeled walking chair geriatrics.
gotta nice rear gear (3.08) but I’d replace the rochester 1v w/a H/W 32/36, most would ‘can’ the transmis, but I wanna auto (this could have a 2 or 3 speed right now) for DD (is the 700R4 non-computer controlled? might swap that too if not 4da OD), the optional 279 discs up frnt & drive it. At that point assess if modern cam is needed/can B slipped in w/o engine removal.
Just wish it wuz the hatch like the Ventura I had.
It’s right dwn the st frm me, can check it out for outta staters. I seek the ’83/6 foxbodied LTD/Marquis wagon so am not interested.
Could be the only original one left, and in nice shape, too. I hope it’s buyer appreciates it for what it is, and preserves it as original.
I’d buy it if I hadn’t already bought a car. I love original survivors. I’d keep it as original as possible.
Pretty darn cool!
But I don’t understand the fawning over the “all original” baloney. Look at the paint. It is apparent to me that the front clip has at least been repainted, if not replaced.
The rest of it is apparently original, and that is as close to original as you’re likely to find anywhere, due to every Nova coupe being turned into some ridiculous, tubbed hot rod. Those of us into originality appreciate these old cars for what they are. If you want excessive speed, you can buy a brand new rice rocket and not have to do anything to it. I see those who modify everything on an old car as the silly girls who approach relationships with the “I love you, now change” mentality. I only modify what I absolutely have to on any car. Originalists can be as passionate as anyone else.
I’d keep the six in it, you could drop a 396 in but it’s still a four door. As to perfect originality, who cares? It’s a basic transportation car and should be treated as such! If a heater hose got old you bought whatever was cheap to keep it on the road back in the day, therefore red hoses would in fact be a “period correct modification” This one certainly presents well and although it’s not one I would want personally I’d still give the owner a thumbs up at the Thursday night cruise-in.
@ LAB3 – I agree. I’d keep the six in the car. If it works, and it provides reliable service, why change it?
This car is from Mass., so look under it @ the frame & uni_body. I bought a 63 Impala in Quincey, Mass. It was straight and shiny black. Ran like a puff… I went over a dip in the road one day and heard a weird noise… when I got home, the doors didn’t close right. On further inspection, I realized the frame was so badly rusted out that the car was unsafe to drive! I learned that this is not uncommon in the area! So if it’s solid underneath, this would be a fun daily driver.
The perfect example to convert to a 9C1 Nova!