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The 1974 Chevrolet Nova was the 12th most popular selling car in 1974 with 22,283 units delivered to Canadians during the calendar year. |
When General Motors of Canada introduced
its rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair for the 1960 season its creators were
surprised that it failed to take sales away from the imported
Volkswagen Beetle or the even the homegrown Rambler.
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Built in Oshawa, Ontario, the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair was designed to compete directly against the Renault Dauphine and the VW Beetle. |
Disappointed
division honchos hurried to bring a more conventional car to market.
The Nova name first appeared in Chevrolet lineup in 1962 as the name
of the top-of-the-line model in the new senior compact series
Chevrolet Chevy II. For good measure, Pontiac-Buick dealers were given a Canada-only badge engineered Acadian that shared the new Chevy II body.
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The 1962 Chevrolet Chevy II was introduced to make sure GM had a popular domestic nameplate in the compact segment of the market. |
By the 1968 model year all Chevy IIs carried the
Nova name and a year later the Chevy II emblem was retired
altogether. The car was not
particularly popular with consumers. With 8,915 sales It ranked 27th
in the 1968 calendar year behind GM’s captive import Vauxhall, well
behind Plymouth Valiant and GM’s homegrown Beaumont built on the Chevrolet Chevelle body.
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The 1968 Acadian shared its shell with the Nova but was sold through GM Canada's Pontiac-Buick dealer body. Ironically, the Canada-only brand was built in Willow Run, Michigan. |
Nova sales
rose to 12,289 units delivered in 1969 to give it the 22nd
spot. Because of AutoPact, GM Canada dropped the popular Beaumont at
the end of the 1969 selling season and that, in part, helped Nova to
capture 18th spot in 1970, even though actual sales were
off to 12,064 units.
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The 1971 Chevrolet Vega turned heads and stole sales from the Nova. |
In 1971 the GM spotlight
shone brightly on the new Chevrolet Vega. No doubt that helped to
steal sales from the compact Nova, which finished in 25th
place with 10,925 units. There is no question that compact cars were
popular; sales figures show that Nova didn’t share in that
popularity. The public bypassed the bowtie for Toyota, the second
best selling car in the country, Datsun skidded into the lot at Number Four and Volkswagen parked at the
Number Five spot. The Plymouth Valiant took 7th and its
Dodge Dart kin held the Number Nine spot.
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The 1972 Toyota family. |
The figures for 1972
place Nova at 18,727 units, moving it up to the 16th place.
It was still a small car world for Canadians. That year Toyota stole the Number One
spot from the full-sized Chevrolet. Datsun moved into the Number
Three position, the Plymouth Valiant took the five spot and VW landed
in the sixth spot. Inching upward to the
15th spot in 1973, the Nova reached 22,493 units.
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The 1974 Chevrolet Nova Custom four-door sedan weighed in at 1529 kilos (3,371 pounds) with the 5.7-litre (350 cubic-inch) V-8 engine. |
Virtually unchanged for
1974, Nova returned for its 13th season. That sameness was
the Chev’s virtue this year. Advertising was blunt. “Experience
is the best teacher. And if you know your Novas, you know we’ve
been building essentially the same car since 1968. We think we’ve
got it down pat.”
The most trouble free car
in its class, there was little to add. “This year we’ve given
nova an improved bumper system, front and rear, to help cushion minor
impacts. There are some new colours, new carpets new trim. And for
the first time ever, you can order steel-belted radial ply tires for
your new Nova.”
Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!
Nova was powered by the
Turbo-Thrift 4-litre (250 cubic-inch) six-cylinder mill. It generated 100
horsepower and was mated to a three-speed manual transmission. Turbo
Hydramatic transmission was optional. The Turbo-Fire 5.7-litre (350 cubic-inch)
V-8 with a two-barrel carb gave the driver 145 horses while the
four-barrel version cranked that right up to 160 horsepower.
Nova Customs came with “a
touch of sportiness.” There were black impact strips on front and
rear bumpers, deep cut-pile carpeting and extra insulation. Special
nameplates let one know you had paid extra for the fancy stuff. There
was a four-door sedan and a hatchback coupe, with .77 cubic metres (27.3 cubic feet) of
space on a nice flat, carpeted floor.
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The 1974 Chevrolet Nova SS was a mean little pocket rocket. |
The Custom SS stood apart
with a blacked out grille with bold SS badges throughout, some
serious striping fore and aft, rally wheels, special centre caps and
bright lug nuts. The car came with beefy suspension, a remote control
mirror on the driver’s side and an ordinary on the passenger side.
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Interior of the 1974 Chevrolet Nova could be upgraded with bucket seats and a centre console. |
Cabins were dressed up in
black or blue cloth and vinyl upholstery or black or neutral
all-vinyl upholstery. Of course there were cloth and vinyl combos in
black with trim or green with black trim. Strato-Bucket seats could
be ordered in black and white sport cloth for the coupes and
hatchbacks. For those who preferred, black, green or neutral vinyl
covering was available. The bucket seats were a natural with the
extra cost sporty centre console.
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Like Nova itself, the instrument panel was the epitome of good taste and ergonomics. |
One was hard pressed to
tell the difference between the Standard Nova and the Custom. There
were fewer trim extras and upholstery choices were less fancy. The
base Nova was no nonsense, for sure.
An Interior Décor/Quiet
Sound Group added lights and insulation. A new feature was the seat
and shoulder belt that was interlocked with the ignition. The car
would not start unless buckled. Drivers hated the feature.
Colours offered were
Antique White, Bright Blue Metallic, midnight Blue Metallic, Aqua
Bleu Metallic, Lime Yellow, Bright Green Metallic, medium Dark Green
metallic, cream Beige, Bright Yellow, Light Gold Metallic, sandstone,
Golden Brown Metallic, Bronze Metallic, Silver Metallic, medium Red
Metallic and Medium Red. Now, one could order two-tone variants with
Antique White over Midnight Blue Metallic, Aqua Blue metallic, medium
dark Green metallic, Light Gold Metallic, Bronze Metallic and Medium
Red Metallic.
Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!
Nova might not have been
the most flashy car on the Number One Highway but the list of options
was as long as the drive from Moose Jaw to Winnipeg. Well, it seems
like that. Chev wasn’t shy to shovel out the extra-cost goodies.
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One of the most unusual options available for the 1974 Chevrolet Nova was this Hatchback Hutch for camping. |
Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!
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2 comments:
My brother had a 1964 Nova SS with a 6 cyl and all the SS emblems and console and also then a 1974 SS with factory bucket seats and center console. BOTH were awesome cars and we both regret ever selling them period
Nice cars.
it would be great if they were available now!!
but so classic in nature they are!!
Great cars
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