Build Sheet Included! 1972 Chevrolet Nova SS
The Chevy Nova was one of the best-selling compacts of the 1960s and 1970s. The most popular iteration was those built from 1968-72, including the seller’s ’72 Super Sport. Unlike some of the previous years, the SS was not just a trim option – it was the compact muscle car edition, only offered with a 350 cubic inch V8. The seller’s car is said to be a real deal SS with a build sheet and other documentation, making it one of 12,309 built that year. Not a showroom car but maybe in better than driver-condition, this Chevy is available in Greenfield, Wisconsin, and here on craigslist for $19,500. Kudos to barn finder Pat L. for this great tip!
With a facelift coming for 1973-74, the ’72 Nova was pretty much the same car as the ’71 Nova. If you didn’t want to go the SS route but liked to look the part, you could have ordered the Rally package which saw nearly triple the number of sales with a smaller engine than the L48 350 like in the seller’s machine. The cowl tag confirms this car was painted Pewter Silver with a black vinyl top at the factory and had a bench seat rather than buckets. The seller swapped those out but has the original to go with the car.
This Chevy doesn’t come with a lot of history but does have the appropriate documentation to verify SS authenticity. The odometer reading is 25,000 but it could very well have turned over. The seller says it starts, runs, drives, and stops, but doesn’t provide much description of how well. We assume the engine and Turbo-Hydramatic transmission are original to the car.
From what we can tell, the body and paint are okay with a small oopsie on the passenger side rear quarter panel. The vinyl roof seems okay, and we assume there’s no bubbling underneath. It’s hard to tell about the interior as there are Walmart-type covers over the bucket seats, but the rear seat looks nice and tidy. From the plumbing under the hood, it appears as though this Nova once had factory air conditioning, but no compressor is there now. Overall, this looks like a good Nova to start your weekend adventures at Cars & Coffee.
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Comments
I know it’s sheer coincidence, or at least I hope it is, after the windy Packard story, Russ follows it up nicely with a ’72 Nova, my grandfathers last car. Again briefly,,( taking deep breath),,,,after the Packard, then the ’61 Chevy, then a ’65 Impala, THEN,,,a green ’72 Nova. It was a basic car, poverty caps, no trim, but some shyster at Holz Chevrolet, Milwaukee, ( he bought all his cars there, as most people had “their” dealer they went to), convinced him to go with the 350, but a 2 barrel. No matter, it was a punk HS graduates dream car. Way better than my ’58 Volvo. Grandpa was pretty cool, many say I take after him, but he loved his grandkids, and let us take the car, to um, go to the library,,,but he knew. Whether he knew how cool I looked in a new Nova could be debated. It did nice burnouts, but ran out of steam. Needed more juice, but fine for gramps. What was cool, we’d take off the hubcaps and it fit right in the car scene. Thanks again, Russ.
Someone else that has an otherwise decent car but can’t figure out how to fix and air conditioning system. There’s no excuse for that.
Jeeze …. I am in the middle of putting a 70 Nova back together that now has a new 1 piece trunk floor and still has to be completed with wheel houses, drop offs, full quarters and tail light panel. When I see a Nova this “nice” I sometimes get buyers remorse for not buying one that is in better shape. It kinda explains the “you will be upside down” crowd that we always hear from ; ) BUT, me being very stubborn, I am still glad when I go look at my scrap pile in the back yard, that was once a rusty potato chip of a trunk and see how far its come. I think that’s why I love Barn Finds some much. With all of the other cars out there, good, bad or indifferent, its a good inspiration not to give in to the credit card restoration and stay involved with this wonderful hobby. Thanks Russ and all of the good writers at BF that keep us interested and sometimes agitated! This site keeps me interested and inspired. Now, with that said, I need to get off my duff and buy a lifetime subscription. No more mooching from you guys : ) I owe you!
Before anyone says it, bucket seats, floor shifters, indash tachometers and 12 bolt rear ends were not exclusive to the SS. You could order a Nova SS with a bench seat, column shift and a 10 bolt. But yes this is a true SS as indicated by the K in the fifth digit of the VIN, which is a 1972 thing only.