The Chevy II/Nova was born in 1962 but wouldn’t have its best sales year until 1974. It benefitted from the consumer shift to smaller cars in the aftermath of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. This Nova Custom has loads of history and has been treated to a ton of updates and improvements in recent years. Powered by the biggest V8 available in the Nova at the time, this Chevy is in Ormond Beach, Florida, and available here on eBay. The bidding has reached $16,200, the reserve has not been met, and the seller admits he’s in no hurry to sell.
As I mentioned, 1974 was a banner year for the Nova. Chevrolet built more than 390,000 of them for the first time, and 40,000 were the Nova Custom 2-door coupe, like the seller’s car. 14,600 of the L48 350 cubic inch V8 engines found their way into the Nova that year, also like the seller’s car. But unlike other occasions, the biggest powerplant offered wasn’t reserved for the Super Sport. That had been reduced to an appearance item, so you could get the SS with an inline-6, yet you could have the 185 SAE net hp V8 in a Plain Jane Nova.
This Nova’s story goes something like this. The seller has had the car for about a year, having bought it from his best friend whose wife was going to have a baby. Some life changes were needed, so the Chevy had to go. That friend owned it for almost two decades, even driving it to high school in his younger days. He had acquired it from the original owner’s family who lived in Alabama. It has always been garage-kept which has contributed to the car’s condition today, although the paint has been refreshed in recent years.
We’re provided with an extensive list of things that have been done to the car in the past 20 years and the accumulated price tag for everything may be more than the value of the car itself. Some of the key items on that list include rebuilding the 350 engine with several performance upgrades (has 80,000 miles on it now), Hooker Headers, Flowmaster dual exhaust, HEI electronic ignition, Edelbrock carburetor, and intake manifold, various suspension parts, and shock absorbers, new brakes (4-wheel discs), and I could go on and on.
The body and paint look first-rate as does the interior, which is said to be original. The green/purple combination inside the car is interesting but may take getting used to, while the carpeting might need cleaning or replacing. The factory A/C is said to work great and blows cold. A custom stereo has been added so you can groove on some period-correct roll ‘n roll! To help onlookers better appreciate the cars, a separate album of photos is provided along with a video of a walk-around of the Chevrolet.
What’s up with the weird camera lens? You would think in this day and age taking pictures would get easier and better.
I agree Mike looks like he took the pictures with a fish bowl lens!!!
Seat fabric looks black to me, not purple.
That’s faded black, aka purple.
Green and purple? Easy on the magic mushrooms. It’s green and black to my eyes.
A Nova is not too big, not too small and with the 5.7 liter V8, automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning presents the perfect package. I would leave it as is as a slightly modified time machine since the brakes have already been upgraded to discs. I hated the squeak and constant maintenance of the old drum brakes. A car this age would require a lot of upkeep but would make a great collector car to drive to shows and on cruises because of its handy size and equipment attributes. Would like it even more if a condo in Daytona Beach or Ormond Beach was included to keep the RWD Nova near home and safe from snow and ice.
My friend’s ’68 has 4 wheel drum brakes(best on a nova without heavy 5 mph bumpers & with few options & with a 6 cyl) with centric bonded shoes & these brakes make NO noise & the brakes are self adjusting & the wheels stay clean. Always a firm hard pedal too – power assist not needed.
Disc brakes make terrible noise when 1st using after the exposed rotors sit for not that long out in the rain or dampness – rust coating. Disc brake calipers can also seize – drum brakes never do. & plenty of disc brake cars make noise when stopping because some won’t unless you use factory pads. Also, many brake shops don’t replace the antirattle springs, etc.
These weird angled pics of this nova for sale only make the heavy 5 mph bumpers look a lot worse!
IF you like green and the reserve is not more than 20K I can see it. After looking at the wheels, which I like, I think I…..zzzzzzzzzz, oh there I go again, dozing off!
“Seller not in a hurry to sell” translates I believe to “the reserve is WAYYYY TOO HIGH and/or the car is really NOT for sale. Green on green is a tough sell especially on an automatic on the column. I like Kermit but I have no interest in buying him !!
Nice wheels and tint.
Nice interior. I don’t remember that style.
That’s fish “eye” lens Tim… not fish “bowl” and certainly not fish “bowel”
SOLD for $21,900.