Those of you who follow DOTS with any regularity have heard me bemoaning the lack of surviving 60s/70s Japanese vehicles still on the street; we see a disproportionate number of Detroit machines from that era here, due to the higher Perceived Coolness Quotient of those cars providing the motivation for owners to keep them alive. But the 1968-74 Nova, for the most part, has suffered the same fate of all those Coronas and B210s with which it once shared the streets. Countless Novas were stuffed with mighty V8s and hooned to death, while most simply got sent to The Crusher once something expensive broke.
So it was nice to see this well-preserved '70 parked on Alameda's Estuary waterfront, within a block of the 1970 Ford LTD.
You might wonder why GM slapped emblems boasting of lowly six-banger power on this car. Well, the 250 six was an optional engine; a 90-horse pushrod four-cylinder was the base powerplant. Of course, with a 375-horse 396 as an available option on the Nova, why mess around with the 250?
The styling on the '70 was strictly no-frills, but it looked good. Still, maybe the more distinctive look on the competing Mopar A-bodies was the reason we see so many more of them today... or maybe it was just the super-indestructo Slant Six.
Weighing in at about 3,000 pounds, it was easy to make a Nova quicker than its somewhat heavier (yet similar under the skin) Camaro cousin. And when your Nova rusted out or slid into a telephone pole during Grain Belt-fueled burnouts in the 7-11 parking lot, why, you just picked up another one for a few hundred bucks and transplanted the running gear for More Hoonage!