The electrifying interior of this purported Nova Rally really stands out!
"ALL ORIGINAL NEVER
TOUCHED with the exception of a repainted or replaced hood. I'm told that a
bird hit it, and the insurance took care of it. Some scratches, some small
dings but from 5 feet away this car looks like it just drove off the show
floor. Runs and drives like brand new, still wearing 2 of its original
tires. The trunk has never been used, still having its original plastic ties
holding the jack in and original untouched spare tire. One small tear in
driver's seat cushion (the owner's keys). Original AM radio is included, but
has an after-market circa 1977 AM/FM cassette installed in dash, which has
not been cut for installation. Spotless body, PERFECT dashpad. All in all,
just like new.
"Showing South Dakota State Park stickers to 1984, the car was rarely driven
after the mid-80's and was put into climate-controlled storage in 1992. The
original owner willed it to his father, whose estate it was purchased from.
See the pictures showing its return to sunlight. It was then shipped to our
restoration shop where it received all maintenance required to return a
vehicle to the road from long-term storage before the engine was started.
After a thorough investigation, we stand by the current odometer reading of
15,750 miles." See, miracles are still
happening :-)
Comfy interior, nice view of the stripe treatment, and all
shined up. (2005)
Hmm, could we be looking at a clone?
(R) Rob ( manofangles@msn.com ) is based in Ontario, Canada and informs us of 2 x-body cars in the family..."Here are a few pictures...this is my dad's 79 Nova Rally..." He also has a '76 Ventura. I'm hoping to see more photos of this Nova, since the '79 is so rare and this one is particularly attractive.
The motor has gotten some attention, but the exterior has weathered just a tad. Looks like the hatch leaks, too. Probably a small lake in the spare tire recess (just like my old car used to have!)
Hey, what happened to the gauges
in the console?
Gaylon was kind enough to donate
this great scan of the '72 Rally Nova ad. Enjoy!
This car originally came from Arizona. There were only 14,000 made in 1974. Chevrolet also made Spirit of Americas for Impalas and Vegas in 1974. With the influx of Japanese cars in 1974, Chevrolet wanted to bring the car buyers back to American made vehicles.
I'll be reinstalling the original red carpeting and have all the new striping to go back on her and many other NOS parts. She's a 350, 2 barrel with only 78,000 original miles. I'm gonna keep her original - she's in such perfect condition to start with - considering she's 30 years old.
If anyone knows of a Spirit of America Car-club, please let us know..
Here's the link to my other 1974 Novas - thought you might like to see them and maybe post on your website.....http://www.nationalnova.com/ then go to 'See also Joe, Joe 2, and Lucille's other 74 Novas' at the top of the page.
I also have a 74 Ventura with only 21, 000 original miles, bucket seats, with floor shifter console, 350, automatic, great interior and exterior. Will send you pictures very soon. A Canadian survivor!"
The special steering wheel treatment really leaps out at you! And you'll notice that the car is equipped with the floor console shift, in this case without the gauge package. But that package is sold as a new reproduction these days, so it could be fitted in to make it look really sharp.
Note the unique gauge cluster and
the third taillight, not a decal in this case! What, did they have a
spare Concours body and make it into a Rally?
(L) So here's a pic of some of Joe & Lucille's collection:
Back row -
left to right:-
- 74 GTO (purchased from Woodstock,
Ontario)
- 74 Pontiac Ventura (featured elsewhere on this website)
- 74 Nova
SS (4 speed, 350 V8, bucket seats, center gauge package - "way too fast!!!")
- 74 Spirit of America Nova (sister car to her V8 S.O.A.- this one is a six cylinder, bucket seats, automatic, floor shift). Just brought home from
Ohio.
Front row -
left to right:
- 74 GTO (purchased as a package with above car from Woodstock,Ontario)
- 74 Nova SS Clone (4 speed, 350 V8, bucket seats, fully restored interior, center gauge package -
"almost way too fast!!!" she says.)
(R) After a long wait, this '74 Spirit of America Nova
changed hands and awaits restoration by (
bluesbrowneyes@yahoo.com )
"I
got it right after Christmas
of 2005. A guy had it tucked away in his barn for the last 8 years.
I talked him into selling it to me for 1200 dollars.
I have got it running already and will start the tear down and restore when
it gets a little warmer."
"BTW the way my name is Travis Youngs ... and not Travis Smith even though my e-mails show up that way... sorry. So this is my new 74SOA, cost me 4,500.. it was probably the best day ever when I got it. The problems that I have found later on down the road. is the person that sold me this car either didn't tell me that the engine was bad or didn't know!
"When it got rebuilt, where one of the bearings went for the cam, it was chipped away so that the bearing wouldn't fall out. Well that caused a major pressure drop in the oil ( always thought it was just a bad gauge ) and before I could do anything I heard a knocking. Found out I slipped a crank bearing. Nonetheless got a new engine, and bought a new cam and aluminum intake from www.jegs.com (name drop)! The paint on the interior panels (white) is peeling/flaking off and is showing black interior panels. But even with these small things wrong I love this/these car(s), and I'll never get rid of my new 74SOA."