It’s actually a bit surprising how seldom Chevrolet Novas like the one seen here on eBay turn up on Barn Finds. This 1970 model is just plain good-looking, especially since it’s listed at $15,000 on one bid. If you’re trying to figure out how far to go from there, you have a clue in the fact that the buy-it-now price is a buck under 24 thousand. Does this tempt you to get to Warner Robins, GA to check it out, or pick it up? It’s being sold by a dealer, who can arrange shipping, a point he makes more of a fuss over in the ad than he does about the car’s condition or details. Odd.
If the ad is correct, buy this and you’ll have survivor on your hands, “almost completely original,” as the seller says. Then he shuts up completely. Really—aside from the boast that there are 100+ pictures to look at, there’s almost no word to substantiate the condition of this car. That should make you wonder: Is this Nova in the original paint? What’s been done under the hood? Have routine maintenance items been taken care of so that it can be driven back to your neck of the woods? Looking at the photos, you can see some faded glory under the hood, but that just gives you room to make improvements via detailing. Further, the front seat has some wear, dirt, and staining. Maybe the car is all original. You’ll need to redo the package shelf, btw.
This Nova is powered by a 307-CID V8 engine, small for its day but double the displacement of most of what people are driving nowadays. Could you open it up a little bit to increase the horsepower? As long as you could do it with no insult to the originality of the intake, fuel system, and exhaust, assuming you’re after keeping the originality intact. The car reads just past 72,000 miles, so it should be serviceable for a long time to come.
The spectacular full wheel covers on this little coupe make it feel like a grandma car, until you see the “SS” emblazoned there. How can they be original? If the grandma theory is correct, those 72,485 miles could thus equal that many trips to the grocery store and church, but we’ll never know. There’s no paperwork offered with the car. And there aren’t, that I can find, 100+ pictures. Or maybe there are, but those that do accompany the ad are the same shot over and over—all top side. Nothing in the door jambs (to check the paint) and nothing underneath (to look for rust). The dealer’s website is not much better. So in the end, this might be a good car, but whether it’s a good buy is another question, and one that you can’t answer based on the information provided.
I really don’t have anything to say about the car. But I’ll take the bait Brian—
One would think that dealers selling on ebay would realize the value of quality ads. Some do provide lots of high-quality pics, some do provide good verbiage on the history and condition of the car, but it seems few do a good job at both. With online-driven sales being a big part of the classic car market, one would think they would be incentivized to do a better job. Maybe they just aren’t capable (or don’t see the need to improve). Anyhow,…. off my soapbox.
And here’s an illustration proving the point you two made:
https://www.hemstreetmotors.com/details/used-1970-chevrolet-nova/114909997
I have seen other dedicated dealer sites as bad as this one, zero real info on the car but they give you their entire business history.
Aren’t those ’64 Impala hubcaps?
Not sure about ’64, but its what my Grandpa had on his ’66 from when it was new.
Yes, 66 Impala SS
Well. I’m not 100 percent sure how “original” it is. There used to be a vinyl top, the chrome trim is still there. Its a nice paint job but not 100 percent sure GM had anything quite that bright. But I could be wrong ( I’m usually wrong about a lot of things). But it does look like it would be a nice driver.
The misleading wheel covers are only thing which suggest this is an Nova SS. As others have they are from an earlier model year.
If this vehicle was a Z26 optioned Nova the engine would be the L65 350 and not the base V8. It’s also missing all various the SS callouts.
I agree Drives, this color was not offered by GM back then. And yes this was a vinyl top car. The color reminds me of my 79 Restomod. After stripping it to the fiberglass, we went down with a coat of silver. Then finished it in the late model Chrysler blue. It almost glows and gets many compliments.
Nice Vette Cooter 👍
Beautiful Vette Cooter, love that shade of blue on it too.
And those hubcaps on the Nova came on 65 and 66 Impala Super Sports. Not SS—but spelled out on each front fender—“Super Sport” A 66 was my first car.
I painted cars back when this woukd have bren new. I really dont remember this color. There were a lot of silver blue chevys in the period but i just cannot remember this one. I wanted to dig out my old color charts to look. we did not blend colors back then. We had to match the paint would have had to tint. I rember the reds greens silvers whutes and worst of all yellow.
Sorry, there was no paint code 26 for 1970 Novas. 25 was Astro Blue, 28 Fathom Blue and 34 Misty Turquoise. Code 26 Mulsanne Blue was a 1971 Nova color. Because the color existed in 1970 for other GM cars, I suppose it could have been special ordered for a 1970 Nova, although I’ve never heard of it being done.
Might just be the canera. It looks like the code 26 used on other gm cars. Not the astro blue i think ive seen more on thevnova.
A friend has a couple of Camaros with special order paint, they have two dashes on the trim tag instead of the typical numbers.
Steve R
Nice looker, but just can’t get past the anemic 307/auto. As a (suspicious) survivor, it is cool. Still trying to figure out what the “package shelf” is. We never had those at the time, but we did have a rear shelf/deck (for speakers no less) but the only “packages” on it once in a while, might have been a small kid laying up there (the horror, LOL). Besides, if you stopped real quick, any packages up there would fly all over the car, LOL. ;-) Still, it looks to be in great, even drivable condition.!
Original does not mean survivor. Both of those words are ill defined, with no other description provided by the seller potential buyers fill in the blanks based on their preconceived notions. I wouldn’t pay anywhere close to the asking price without a thorough in person inspection, there are enough visual clues to suggest this car has potential issues and was dolled up for resale.
Steve R
I changed my 74 Nova SS paint from Lime Yellow (Yuck!!!) to Marina Blue, which was available on 68 Chevy II. Looks almost like the color on this one…I like it!
If this qualifies as a survivor then every car on earth is. Even those weird ass ones that have been put on lifted s-10 frames with 4 wheel drive.
I agree that this was a vinyl top car since the chrome is still there. And the hub caps don’t belong for sure. My 67 SS Nova had them. No other SS badging on this car not to mention an SS would’ve come with a 350 or more likely a 396 (402 in 1970). I had a 1971 SS Nova a similar color but can’t swear it’s the same either. Decent car here but definitely not a survivor. I really doubt it’ll go as high as the bin price.
ok. the ebay listing is not for this car as far as i can tell. the listing is for a 4dr with a 502 shoved down its throat. not sure what’s going on here. the car here looks good. original maybe but not the spinners
I had to scroll down to the last comment to find someone else who saw what I did. Maybe the others didn’t click to see it. So, which car is it that’s for sale? 🤔
My brother was working on his Chevy Nova when he passed away in a car accident back in 1975. It was black in color and I don’t remember the year of the car. My brother was so excited about getting this car and fixing it up, he was only 23.
Those wheel covers are from 65-66 Impala