Thanks for the great comments!
My little Nova has never left it's sunny dry
rust-free southern California home. It spent
almost all of it's life in the San Diego area
Larry Hoskins was the GM rep in San Diego, CA in 1968.
His brother John asked him to place a factory order
for an SS396 Nova through the Central Order Production Office
(COPO) so that he could drag race it locally.
This was one of the first pics of the Nova taken in Feb, 1969.
On February, 28, 1969 John took delivery of his 1969 Nova
SS396/375HP L78, M22 "Rock-Crusher" 4-speed, 3:55 12-bolt.
This was not a stripped big-block "sleeper". It had all the
deluxe options available Cortez Silver, both exterior trim packages,
deluxe interior with black bucket seats, console w/gauges,
L78 dash tach, all tinted, windows, console gauges, dash tach
and rally wheels with redline wide ovals. He decided against the
FM radio...in 1969 all the cool stations were only on AM.
Here are pics of John Hoskins himself with the Nova,
the 427 he installed and comin' off the line at the Carlsbad Dragstrip. (Ya just can't buy this stuff! :>)
<--- Maybe I should be restoring the Nova to look just like it did here, with the 427, those big Mickey Thompson aluminum valve covers and that great fiberglass hood? That'd be sumthin!
John swapped out the L78 for a 427 engine and drag raced the
Nova on local dragstrips but only for about one year. But he
wasn't able to really compete with the Mopar ramchargers.
Here's the protecto-plate, build sheet and recent letter from the original owner. He now runs the service dept. at a local Chevy dealership.
The car was stored and "non-op" for several years
which is why it has remained in such original condition.
I got lucky when I found the Nova in 2003.
I was able to locate the original owner through the protecto-plate
info and he was very helpful in supplying pics of the car when
it was brand new and several others as well.
Here's a few recent pics of the Nova sporting a set of restored original 1960's American Racing Torq Thrust rims.
Here's a link to a short video of the Nova taken March 7, 2009
http://video.cardomain.com/Clip.aspx?key=149EF8001F9348E8
<---original paint on the floor pan, amazing!)
I like to believe the 15,000 odometer miles to be 115,000.
I've only clocked about 1,200 miles since I purchased her
in November, 2003. The Nova was painted once in the early 70's because John had covered the car in stickers and sponsor branding.
The original carpeting remains with the cutouts in the rear
carpet for the rollbar that John installed in 1969.
All the original date-coded tinted glass remains in almost perfect condition. Original keys and clocks as well. The doors close with a sound that can only come from a survivor. Always a "So Cal" car it retains both it's 1969 California black license plates.
To prove that I drive the Nova on occasion. I recently joined several other "Steve's Nova Site" members, and more, for a sunny Saturday morning cruise down Pacific Coast Highway. It was too fun!
Let's do it again Joe!
Seein' double? Nope, That's me on the left.
The other silver '69 Nova SS belongs to my friend, "Nova Joe".
He's the original owner with original paint...an amazing car!
I hope to bring the Nova back to its orignal "Big Block glory"
and tow it back down to San Diego to get a few pictures of
John and the Nova. He hasn't seen the car since 1970 when he sold it.
Link to a short video of the Nova taken March 7, 2009
http://video.cardomain.com/Clip.aspx?key=149EF8001F9348E8
.........................
Update: August 1st, 2008
The little Nova may be on your local movie screen, I hope.
The Nova was used a movie trailer for "Cruise Night" recently.
I few pics below.
Here are links to a video taken the night of the shooting
and the movie trailer itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31QcfAm3wOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fnOVbzpEhA
.......................................................................
UPDATE: March 14, 2009
I bought the Nova from Jon Allie and we have remained friends.
Jon is well respected in the skateboard industry. He competes all over the world and makes his living doing freestyle exhibitions for manufacturers.... the boy's got skills!
Jon is a real Nova enthusiast and has 3 Novas of his own. Jon has graciously offered to make the 2 hour drive up from San Diego to help me with installing the BIG BLOCK.
I AM STOKED. Jon knows more about the mechanics of my Nova and one of the few I'd trust to take on the task.
The small block is not sitting a stand. I'll spend some time freshening up the engine bay before Jon restores the Nova to it's original Big Block Glory, Thanks Jon!!
Update: March 15, 2009
I'm still collecting a few original parts for the "correct replacement" Sept. '68 L78 Big Block engine and hope to have it installed soon. The Nova has been powered by the June,'69 "CE" 0010 350 engine that the original owner installed before he sold it 1970. STAY TUNED!!
Update: March 26, 2009
Almost there!! Thanks to JON ALLIE for his time and skills! I have a long list of final parts
to buy. In a few weeks it should back on the road.
Check out my 1969 Chevelle SS396/350 M20
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2686891/1
and my 1955 Chevy 3100 pickup -
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2686929
