It’s always refreshing to find a great ad with even some humor in the sea of under-representing and minimalist classic car listings that we frequently see. The auction listing here on eBay for this 1972 Chevrolet Nova tells you exactly what to expect from this car; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Should you decide that it’s worth following up on, the Nova is located in Akron, Ohio. The buy it now is set at $5,400 — but offers are being considered, and the seller seems like a reasonable person.
At first glance, this Nova looks pretty solid for an Ohio car, and there are certainly parts that are better than you’d think. For example, the trunk floor looks great. And of course it’s a two door, which most of you folks prefer, and it has a nice set of original Rally wheels. I can even stand the paint color, although the seller calls it a “butterscotch nursing home” exterior. I told you there was some humor in their ad listing.
The primer kind of gives away that there’s some body work that has been done, and more is required. Let’s take a closer look
The rocker panels will need help. The seller goes into quite a bit of detail on the body, and I appreciate both the thoroughness and apparent honesty in the ad listing. The one place I disagree is the rockers; while we both think it’s the worst part of the car, the seller thinks repairing them is the best option. I think I’d be inclined to replace them; ultimately it might be easier. The floor has also been patched — effectively but not originally. I’m okay with that as I wouldn’t be using this car for a concours restoration anyway.
The seller has some humorous remarks about why they are leaving the aftermarket seat covers on: “…the only reason I’m leaving the covers on at all are:
1. They go perfectly well with the butterscotch nursing home exterior color…
2. The original foam is a little “powdery” and it keeps that powder off your body…which is a huge plus if you wear anything other than mustard colored pants.” You’ll also want to read his opinion of the aftermarket steering wheel — it’s a hoot!
The 307 V8 works fairly well, and the car starts, stops and drives pretty well. If you want to know more, read the entertaining listing. And if one of you buys this Nova, be sure to let us know!
its been sold
I hope the buyer pulls that ridiculous looking steering wheel off first.
Thank you for highlighting this we.
This is a perfect example of someone that has reasonable expectations as to the value of the car. Take decent pictures and give a thorough description. He knew he could play around because the car would sell itself at that price level.
Steve R
I bought a new 1972 Nova, white with a tan vinyl roof and it had one of the fairly rare sliding fabric sunroofs, which I really liked except that it rattled when closed and most of the time I had to put some paper folded up so it wouldn’t. But it was still great fun to drive when opened.
I drove it for 5 years or so, got married, we had a baby so it had to go since there wasn’t enough room. So what did she want? A 1978 T-Bird, truly one of the worst cars I ever owned. Wish I’d kept the Nova.
So far, I’ve found just one picture, you can see the sunroof line in a snowstorm and my great 70’s hair.
Hey Mikestuff, if you’re like most of us guys you probably wish you still had that hair like in your picture. Lol
I still have a good portion of my hair, but now have gone back to buzz cuts with a little on top..too old and lazy to do much with my hair.
One of my grandkids saw some pictures taken at my dad’s 80th birthday party, (8/8/88)..he was gone long before any of them came around. They thought my hair then was just “so cool”.
Another future SS clone. Price seems reasonable though.
Unfortunately, the 307 was probably the WORST version of the small block Chevy engine – just the opposite of the 302, which was a 327 with a shorter stroke ( basically using a beefed up 283 crank ) which allowed high RPM and top end horsepower, the 307 was a 283 with a longer stroke , which creates higher piston speeds, and with the smaller bore, the rod angles create problems, resulting in more heat, and faster wear. The 307 would last , on average, about 2/3 as long as a 283, at best. ( The longer the stroke, the faster the piston must move at the same RPM, because it is moving farther in the same amount of time than a piston in an engine with a shorter stroke. )
Bore size has nothing to do with rod angle. Rod length and stroke determines rod angle.
Nah, I would give the WORST title to the 1979 to 1982 267 small block. Some v6s of that era were more powerful.