“Nuttin’ Fancy” would be one way to describe this 1975 Chevrolet Nova. OK, so it’s a Nova “Custom” but it was still a pretty basic, compact ride back in its day. But as with anything, what’s really common can become interesting once again when the commonality becomes fleeting and is mostly forgotten. Always a big seller, the Chevy Nova, in its day, was a continual and important component of America’s automotive landscape. We have Pat L. to thank for finding this example. It’s located in Indio, California and is available, here on craigslist for $5,000.

Styling is always subject and the ’75 Nova was a notable restyle from its ’74 predecessor. I always thought that Chevy did a decent job on their new X-body design – it looked more balanced from front to back. So did prospective buyers as 262K came off of the assembly line at Willow Run that year. That said, the redesign generated a sharp drop from 1974’s high point of 390K copies. Three models were the order of the day with the “LN” (Luxury Nova) at the top of the heap, Nova Custom (our subject car) in the rocking chair, and the plain old Nova setting up as the foundation. There was a Nova Super Sport (SS) but it was just an option package for the Custom and plain old Nova – not a separate model.

I’ll cut to the chase and state that this car is poorly photographed so It’s hard to say what’s up and what’s not. It’s a California resident now, though the front license plate appears to be from Colorado. Anyway, it looks to be west-coast typically free of rust and there’s no indication of any crash damage either – it’s a complete-looking car. The faded finish appears to be Medium Orange Metallic capped with an Antique White roof. One of the biggest throwaway lines is, “It’ll buff out” but in this case, that might be all the finish needs to get some rejuvenation going on. Round II of Chevrolet’s everywhere rally wheels are holding up all four corners.

Under the hood is a 145 net HP, 350 CI V8 engine that is, “not running but was before it sat” – of course it did. There are a total of 80K recorded miles on the odometer which is mere peanuts for a 350 if it has been maintained and not overly abused. This Nova is equipped with a three-speed manual transmission which was activated by a column shift, or for a few extra $$$, could be floor-shifted and I think that’s what’s going on here. The interior images aren’t revealing but the seller claims, “V8 350, stick shift” which makes me think floor shift. BTW, Chevrolet marketing material from ’75 states that this version of the 350 CI engine was not available for sale in California (those pesky CARB rules again!) so this Nova is a definite California import.

The bench seat interior doesn’t look too hot. The front seat backrest has a chunk nibbled out of it and the top of the rear seat backrest looks to have deteriorated. There is an image of the instrument panel but it’s obscured by heavy dust so it’s hard to say exactly what’s going on there.

A 1975 Chevy Nova was really a disposable commodity car – buy it, drive it, wear it out, and dump it. That’s not a criticism, it’s just the intended life span and the ultimate destination for cars like a Falcon, Maverick, Dart, Valiant, etc. This one has defied time and purpose and looks to be pretty useable still, after a bit of work, of course. It’s not exciting but stands out because there’s not much like it around anymore. I’m on the fence with the price, what’s your thought, priced right or not quite?