If you were looking for a smaller car in 1972 and stopped by your neighborhood Chevrolet dealer, you had two choices to go with. One was the Vega, a relatively new subcompact whose many flaws were starting to reveal themselves. And the other was the venerable Nova, which had been around for a dozen years and was a solid performer. The seller’s 1972 Nova is pretty bare bones: a six-cylinder engine, manual transmission, and no radio. It may have been sitting for years in Grand Island, Nebraska and the seller hopes to get a rather lofty $20,000 for it here on Facebook Marketplace. Keep those tips coming, T.J.!
At nearly 350,000 units in 1972, it was the Nova’s fifth-best sales year out of 18 (1962 to 1979). More than 96,000 of them were 2-door sedans with the 250 cubic inch I-6 and a “3-on-the-tree” tranny. So, the seller’s car had plenty of company on the road in 1972 and the Nova outsold everyone else in the field. With rubber floor coverings instead of carpeting, the only option this car may have had was the body side moldings to protect against door dings.
We get the impression the seller bought this Nova years ago for a custom build, perhaps as an SS clone. But instead, it has been hanging around collecting dust. Rust is said to have been held to a minimum, perhaps due to being indoors when not collecting the 65,000 miles on the odometer. The car is blue-on-blue in color and the paint may be okay except for the trunk lid.
It would be cool if this Chevy could stay original rather than finding itself turned into a restomod. But how many folks would buy the machine to restore a basic Nova with zero frills? The seller is eyeing a real estate deal, hence the reason for selling this member of his/her stash. And we’re told the seller has been offered $18,000 but is holding out for a little more. I’d take the 18 grand and be happy about it.
What a dreamer…..$20 grand? No way Jose..
at 18k he’s in the winner’s circle. Simple cars are awesome and this one qualifies but holding for 20 sounds a little greedy.
He should have taken the offer of $18,000, if it was real. He’s going to be sitting on this car for a long time. Next time it’s featured on this site it will be one of those Facebook ads that shows “listed 37 weeks ago”.
Steve R
Let’s hope whoever ends up with this doesn’t rip the engine out and hot rod it. Love these old compacts with 6 cylinders. They were the life blood of the country back in the 60s and 70s.
Well $20k is a lot rich for what this is but I like it because it’s a 6CYL with factory anti theft you put a decent exhaust on it and it still sounds better than those Honda and Subaru import things. Seller claims to have been offered $18k but just from the pictures and Description in the add best I can do is $8k and other than exhaust, new fuel system and refresh of the interior I would keep it stock.
When did an $8K project car become worth $18K?
This isn’t anything new, there are always people that have grossly overvalued their cars. In the early-80’s when me and my friends would go to the local 7-11 after school on Friday to pick up the new issue of Auto Trader, laughing at the overpriced cars was one of the highlights. The main difference is everything is now online, instead of a viewing audience of 3 or 4, it’s now thousands.
Steve R
Yep, it started in high school for me too. Every Friday my friends and I would stop by the local liquor store to grab a copy of the Diablo Dealer and Auto Trader. One picture, a few words, and that’s all you got. My buddies and I drove all over the damn Bay Area chasing cars that were promised to be something other than they were. A lot of good times with friends though and memories of “the ones that got away.”
I miss those days. I lived in Phoenix, so there were A Lot of cheap, rust-free project vehicles in Auto Trader.
Whoever it eventually buys it, I hope they keep it near original, or at least as much as they can with a sbc, rather than turn it into an SS clone or ridiculous tubbed dragster. However, that is probably too much to hope for.
I just sold on here a couple months ago for a very low price, an unrestored C3 with a new 350 crate engine and rebuilt transmission. I have already restored one C3 and it’s a very expensive thing to do. Always told my wife I’d like to find an old Nova for that setup and then sold the car. That drivetrain would’ve sat in this vehicle perfectly.
The Novas are selling for more than the C3! What happened!
Maybe part of the reason is because the difference in parts prices is so large? C3 parts are MUCH more expensive than either Nova or Mustang parts. If you want to buy a car to drive, and can find a good one, a C3 is hard to beat. Good performance, PS/PB/AC, tilt, cruise power windows and locks all for around $8-10K if you look carefully. But $500 for one door panel, $1000 for a carpet set, $1700 for seat covers is double or triple what same parts cost for a Nova.
Seller has a strong case of Barrett-Jacksonitis.
$18k???? Must be some good dope in his neighborhood.
Can’t recall the year, but I’ve seen one of these at a couple of car shows. It had the 6cyl, PG, window frame molding pkg., full wheel covers, rubber floor covering, and add-on a/c underdash which had the period correct look of a Mark 4 unit. Radio, too.
Nice
I’m not buying the car (or his story!).
$18k? Ridiculous. Who would offer that and on the flip side, who would turn it down?
But, as PT Barnum said . . .
So maybe the seller purchased this Nova for $17 and thinks he can unload without taking a loss?
I’ve been working on a 74SS for a couple of years. Bought a 73 to get a few parts including the trunk floor. Had a guy working on the gate that leads to our hangar, asked me if I wanted to sell the 73. I told him “No, but I’ll give it to you”. Even loaned him my car trailer to haul it off. Maybe I shoulda put a $5k price tag on it and put it on Facebook!
Sorry folks but I’d have a 427 4 speed with a 9″ w/390 gears in it faster than a Jack Rabbit on a date! Paint back to original color, Black interior w/swivel buckets, maybe some Centerline wheels, and tie the frame up. Put a nice quiet exhaust on it w/cutouts and put 307 badges on the fenders and keep till I die! But I still wouldn’t pay no $20k for a bare bones Nova that didn’t cost much over $2k BRAND NEW!!! Since I’d modify the entire powertrain there’s plenty of perfect body rollers out there for a fraction of what he wants for this one!
I like straight 6, 3 on the tree but would be embarrassed to admit that I paid as much as 10 grand for this car. If it sells then I was wrong.
a bird in the hand worth 2 in the bush. if they were offed 18k and turned it down then they are really stupid. neat car and clean but not 20 or even 18k. they might be wearing this for a hat.
I just bought the exact same car a couple years ago for $2000. Haven’t decided what engine to swap in but thinking one of my 400 small blocks and a turbo 350. I never liked the Chevy 6 and I’ve had a couple. I recently built a 62 Impala wagon for a customer who wanted the original 283 rebuilt and put back in. What a gutless wonder that was. It should have got a 350, no one would know the difference.
I’ve owned all the 3rd gens except for a 71. 20k is nuts.Bought a 72 6-cyl./powerglide in butternut yellow in the mid 80’s, in a lot
better condition, for $750. Built that 250 up & got some pretty good performance out of it for not a lot of money. Have owned a 69 for over 30 years. I love these cars! I guess something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay. Good luck.
I had a 72 Nova SS, Blue, Black interior…it also had a Skyroof!! At the time I was 15 years old, needed a car and this one had a timing chain issue…being so young had no idea how to fix it and sold it. I’ve looked up numbers about this car..350S/B auto, Skyroof, blue..turns out it was a 1 of 8 or 10!! Sold it and bought a 1975 Olds Cutlass…sorry, no pics and now I wish I kept it!!!
Re-looked at numbers…1 of 163, SS Blue 350 S/B Skyroof. Wish I had pics!!!
I have always like the nova’s easy to work on parts are available
the price is a little high 15k is more like it.
I am definitely skeptical that the seller received an offer for 18k for this car. Rationally, if someone really needs 2k more than that, they probably need the 18k even all the more so. The story doesn’t add up. Of course, rationality is not everyone’s thing though…
Judging the car on its merits however, I would leave the 6, clean it up a bit, maybe some clear over the patina and just drive it. 6 cyl, three on the tree cars are a rarity these days.
I’m thinking we have a typo-$1800-2000.
Yeah, that’s probably what he paid for it. ($1800-2000)
I would give one thousand dollars for it because that is all it is worth
I agree. $1,000 – $2,000 MAYBE. Since I’m more of a purist, to find an all-original “plain Jane” like this is I’d spend what’s necessary to make this road-worthy again!
I wouldn’t pay 18k for it and sorry to some of you folks but I have a 600 HP 377 that needs a home and this is where that would go. There would be a 5 speed Tremec with a 12 bolt posi rear end, thinking a 4 link would be nice also. Lots of nice potential here!
Wow…Times change. Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, my buddy had a plane Jane nova he was street and racing with a built 350. he rolled the car and I found a nice roller that he transplanted his motor and trans into. The one i found was an early 70’s big block SS car with AC and gauges on the console. Car was beginning to show rust in the 1/4’s…typical back then on northeast cars. i told him to get the rust fixed and he’ have a nice car. my friends back then were only worried about going faster at the track, so never did anything about the rust. Fast forward a couple years, rust got to the point it wouldn’t pass state inspection anymore and then the car sat. He ended up selling the car…probably cheap. Man to have that car today…Oh yeah, the roller was bought for like $2000. Red with the white stripes (Hockey stripes maybe). Big block Nova SS AC gauges car. The only thing it didn’t have was the 4 speed. I shoulda bought it from him. $20000 for this car…seems a bit beyond optimistic. Saying is to buy the nicest car you can afford. For 20 large, I save up a little more money or take a loan for the rest and buy something a lot better.
Factory didn’t build ANY big block A/C Novas. If his had that equipment big block musta been swapped in…much easier than adding factory A/C.
Very few 69 & 70 SS came with A.C.
Only on the L-34 350 hp versions.
Wasn’t available on the L-78’s though.
I’d like to see a picture. I’ve only seen one, and it was a Yenko 427 that had engine transplant.
Factory order sheet says A/C not available.
Definitley an AC car. Definitly set up for a big block. Had the stiffer springs he had to cut or replace to get the front end down with the small block. Another frustration that kinda griped me was he removed the AC duct work. I said why? He said every 100 lbs he removes from ther car gains a tenth in the 1/4 mile. I said you’d never feel a tenth in the seat of your pant. He said he could always reinstall it. He knew how it went back together as he removed it…doubt he did that. Looking back, I shoulda bought the car and never told him about it. All my friends were more worried about drag racing and street racing than fixing their cars up (body work). I am the only one out of the bunch that still has the car from back then (I’m second owner of my 1969 Firebird). I got my body work done. They kept breaking parts on their cars (trans and motors) and then they couldn’t pass state inspection due to rust issues.
I talked to Douglas Brunt, the GM X body HVAC project engineer several years ago. He said his team built two suitcase prototypes for AC/Big Block Nova. Said the offset of the big block to the passenger side to give room for clearance between steering box and exhaust put the passenger side exhaust too close to existing evaporator enclosures. Decision was made that it wasn’t cost effective to make a special suitcase for the big block, since few people who wanted big block also wanted A/C. I’ve got one of the prototypes, he didn’t know what happened to the other one.