Oddly enough, I’ve talked to more than a few people who really don’t like Novas, and personally, I don’t get it. Sure, the second-generation bodystyle was never available as a hardtop or a convertible, but it still looks nice in the way almost everything General Motors styled in the 1960s does. And an L78-powered Nova? Forget it, I’m hooked. In fact, I’d say that this is one of my top-five favorite muscle cars, most likely because it doesn’t quite look the part of street sweeper. These days, you’ll pay the price for your subterfuge, because no L78-powered anything will be cheap. Barn Finds reader Curvette found this example on eBay in De Pere, Wisconsin, with an asking price of $69,500, which is a lot of money, but it’s probably in line with the current value of a Chevy with a solid-lifter big block.
I vividly recall reading a Car and Driver road test retrospective of an L78 Nova (and one in Hot Rod as well), and both offered the same conclusion: the Nova was right near the top of the street-racing food chain, especially when properly prepared. Trap speeds easily exceeded 100 miles per hour, even straight off the showroom floor. The 396 was not advertised in Nova brochures, but it was readily available enough that 5,262 of 17,654 Nova SSs sold in 1969 had the L78. The Super Sport package came standard with power front disc brakes, and this car also has optional power steering.
Interestingly, the car was ordered with a tall 3.07:1 axle ratio, in addition to a Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 transmission, and the top speed capability of such a combination is mind-bending. At a reasonable (even for 1969) $316, it’s no wonder so many Nova buyers chose the 375-horsepower L78.
The selling dealer mentions a few caveats about the Nova. First, it was sold new in Oakland, California, but somehow ended up with an Ohio salvage title in 1990 (the dealer doesn’t know why). Currently, the car has a Wisconsin salvage title that matches the car’s VIN (although it incorrectly lists the car’s color as brown). I’m not sure how much a salvage title will affect the value of a car like this, but it’s something that’s worth mentioning.
The blue interior looks nice in contrast to the car’s Dover White paint. The car has been restored, but in my opinion the upholstery doesn’t look as taut as I’d like if I’m paying nearly 70 G’s for a car. Also, the window sticker lists that the interior was originally trimmed in Medium Blue cloth, so a change has been made somewhere along the way.
The car’s block stamping is pictured, and it matches the car’s VIN, but it’s probably a good idea when buying a car of this caliber to do an in-person inspection, maybe even with someone who is a Nova expert.
The undercarriage looks very nice from front to back.
The ad mentions that the car has recently had a “high dollar, spare no expense rotisserie restoration,” and it certainly does look like a very nice example. Anyone have $69,500 lying around? I’d love cruising the streets in one of the quietest-looking hammers of the muscle car era.
Very nice looking Nova SS. I found one of these in a garage that had been forgotten about. SS 396 Nova, black with black interior. 4 speed and 4.11 gears.
Told a friend about it and he scored it for $700. Obviously years ago…
Your friend is a thief with permission! LOL! Geez!
In most states you can’t get license plates on a salvage title. That title needs to be upgraded to an “R” ( reconstructed ) title which requires an enhanced inspection. Hopefully that has already been done as it is expensive and inspectors can pick it apart. Also some states will not accept branded titles from another state, so inspections may be needed anyway. Does that affect the value? I guess that’s up to the buyer. Nice looking Nova though.
All the fuss about a salvage title. Inspect the car thoroughly or engage an expert; KNOW what you’re dealing with. Don’t worry about what’s written on the title. Focus on actual condition and technical discrepancies. You should do that with ANY car you buy. In the 70s/early 80s, these cars weren’t worth anything and could have been totaled for some pretty minor damage or missing parts from a theft.
Apparently you have had no experience with a salvage title..esp one for out of your state…Not only will you have to have your state issue a “Clear” title, you have to find an insurance company to deal with…Good luck with both of those..
I have an older camaro with a salvage title that I’ve tagged and insured in three different states. Never an eyebrow raised. Guess I’ve been lucky.
Salvage title from Ohio and Wisconsin says “red flag” to me. And why would you order an L78 solid lifter 396 with a 3.07 rear end? Aren’t those considered a high revving engine that needs a 3.55 gear to make them come alive?
So salvage titles from two states with the current one matching the VIN but saying it was brown. The build sheet says blue interior. Don’t think any brown car came with a blue interior. Research needed on this one.
The positive, it’s a gorgeous looking car. The bad, it has a replacement engine and salvage title, is the window stick original or reproduction? I’ve had a few cars from that era with their original window stickers, even 40 years ago, after spending their entire life in a file folder with a stack of other receipts, didn’t come close to looking as nice as this one. Then consider the odds of a car needing getting salvaged, where someone would keep a the window stick and it would be pristine. It’s almost too convenient.
For $69,500 that’s a big ask for a car with a salvage title, even if the documentation was iron clad.
Steve R
If they went to so much trouble to keep the window sticker pristine, you would think they would have done the same with the build sheet. The build sheet would answer a lot of questions.
Salvage titles run the course from a vehicle derived from the stolen ranks, to the car value at the time of a given accident or fender bender, with the insurance company really wanting to call it totaled and not wanting to deal with it. I had a convert camaro totaled out by a fender bender, right rear, quarter, they paid me off and I bought it back for pennies. No issues with a salvage title….made repairs..good as new..
The interior is a disappointment. The upholstery installation is sloppy but adequate I guess. The interior’s color matching is something and not a good something. There are at least four shades of blue while the steering column looks purple. RPO Z26 option called for a black steering shroud and column.
The seller’s attention to detail is lacking. The upper radiator hose has gone unnoticed. For $70K I’d expect much better quality and craftsmanship. A job done doesn’t cut it.
That’s the first thing I noticed, looks like a potential problem to me too.
Real nice ground pounder!!!!
This car does NOT have the original engine. It has a “CE” block, which is a replacement engine. “CE” stands for “Chevrolet Engine” and these engines were sent to dealers, for replacements. The number “1” after “CE” decodes to a production year of 1971. There is no mention if this car has the original Trans. The window sticker is a repo and no mention, or picture, of the original. Without the POP, an ORIGINAL window sticker, or a sales receipt, there is NO way to confirm this is a real SS.
Other than that, it is a nice car and hope it sells. Whom ever did the resto, spent a lot of time and money, to get this car to this level.
SS 396 not a sleeper…
With some decent exhaust I bet you could hear it snoring a long ways off.
Is it a “True” SS?
Without a POP, original window sticker, or a build sheet, there is no way to tell. If it had the original L78, that would indicate it’s a real SS, as they only came in an SS.
dealer selling car so to me that’s an issue. this car needs a forensic going over if you were going to buy it. a lot of flags that pop up. for this kind of money, it needs to have a McNish verification done.
Pretty sure a CE (Chevrolet Engine / Chevrolet Exchange) did not have a VIN stamp matching the car’s VIN but rather a random sequence number since they were not assembled for a specific vehicle but for any vehicle needing that specific engine as a warranty replacement. With the salvage title, odd supposed original brown over blue color combo, CE block with a matching VIN stamp I don’t see this car being worth the ask, but someone may ignore all that and buy it just because they like it.
The car is very clean underneath, but it has Chevrolet’s famous ‘mono-leaf’ rear springs and a twelve bolt axle. I thought all Novas with any performance package got multi leaf rear springs.
….don’t know where the ‘ear springs’ came from.
They did , because a 396 will snap a weak mono leaf
I owned a1969 Nova SS. The valid questions here are good. Engine,trans, rear end, emblems, AND an Ohio salvage title ? Buyer beware. Im from Ohio 70 years old and know better ! 18K car at best. Sorry Fellas.
Rackman? Tires or Dagmars? :)
And I was thinkin’ $12k at best….salvage title takes away almost all the value of anything that is of value….nothing matches….I’ve dealt with a salvage title issue with a car from Wisconsin and here in Michigan, they pretty much told me to “avoid at all costs”..seems like that should be the advice here too.
$12k? I’ll take half a dozen right now!
And 3.07 gear and no posi…. Who ordered this thing?
On the salvage title, if it is not tied to a state data base that shows the VIN ID as “Salvage” you could go for a lost title. The state would issue you a new title, but the car would be bonded by the state, and maybe 1-2 years before issue. This happened with my ’62 Impala, owner died, I bought the car, with Bill of Sale, could not get an estate title, so went for the lost title. The state looked up the ’62, said it was a classic, put a value of 30K on it, (car needed everything) paid my bond and I got a title after 1 year. I got a license tag with the bonded title. It was a mess…
Too many ted flags. 40k restore? Maybe. 70k restore? No way. There isn’t a reputable restoration shop in the world that would claim ownership of this car restoration. That’s even before you get to the multiple salvage titles and discrepancies.Listed in the colors and the interior. Bringing in the factor of the motor not even having the original block? I’m not saying it’s not a beautiful car or that I would love to own it.I’m just saying that it is not worth that kind of money
It looks stunning, but the salvage title is problematic. A lot of money for a lot of questions…
Why is the radiator hose collapsed? A LOT of coin for sloppy interior, and NOT original power plant.
I noticed that, too. I think the radiator hose has an aneurysm that needs to be addressed. Lol!
I agree with most everyone here. It’s a lot of money for a car that has so many questionable things going on. Not a proper install of the driver seat covers, not original engine, salvage title, color not the right one, 3:07 rear? Not Posi? I thought that came with the SS package.
The restoration outside looks really nice, but there are way to many questions for a 70K asking price.
Just re-looked at the pictures and it seems to have a 12 bolt rear. I think the 3:07 was a 10 bolt rear, so this may have a posi in it, but I still think this may be a clone. It says Nova on the passenger side of the dash, but no SS tag. Nothing in the interior says SS to me, no SS tags anywhere, the plain jane dash that has no gauges, nor a tach. Aftermarket gauges under the dash. It just looks like a run of the mill Nova with a big block (from 71) installed. And, that window sticker does look like it was made yesterday.
I would say to beware, if you are thinking of buying this (maybe clone) Nova SS
Nova SS did not come with a gauge package, that was an option (RPO U17). The 3.07 gear ratio was the standard ratio with the Turbo-400. 3.55’s came with the manual trans. Posi was an option (RPO G80) on all models, regardless of engine.
I admit I am one of those people who dislike the second gen Nova. Only because I think the body style is one of the ugliest cars ever built by GM. I never cared much for how fast a car went, especially since my first car was a 1971 Pinto and every car I owned since then seemed fast compared to the Pinto. After the Pinto, I only bought cars for how they looked. Oops, I take that back. Much later I did buy a Toyota Yaris and then a Honda Fit.
I noticed that, too. I think the radiator hose has an aneurysm that needs to be addressed. Lol!
Someone already mentioned that a CE engine is a replacement block. So, how would you know it is an L78 engine, other than the listing saying that? Additionally, how do you obtain a CE block that matches the serial number? Not sure on the rear springs, but I think that 396 cars came with multi-leaf springs. The 3.07 rear was a 12 bolt. Obviously, it doesn’t have an SS steering wheel. I would want that for $70K.
The L78 was a 4-bolt main block, the L34 was a 2-bolt main. If my memory serves me correctly, externally, the 4-bolt main blocks had a larger oil gallery plug near the oil filter. No CE block matched the VIN, if it does, it’s restamp and a fake. CE blocks had the “CE” plus a sequence number, that is all.
If you look at the eBay listing, it has a picture of the engine code: CE 11912, which matches the last 5 digits of the serial number of the car. Should be a JL 11912.
I got this from eBay today. “You viewed at $69,500. It’s now $64,900!”
People have been re-stamping blocks for decades. There are countless videos on YouTube and information available with a Google search, you can also find several currently listed for sale on eBay. I have a feeling if whoever built this car had found the correct date coded block and heads there is a good chance it would have matching numbers.
Steve R
And this one. “Your discount on 1969 Chevrolet Nova… has arrived.”
“You viewed at $69,500. It’s now $59,950!”
I was in the car business for 10 years. As the saying goes, “ There’s an ass for every seat ! “