Rare 4-Cylinder 1970 Chevrolet Postal Nova
Having owned a ’70s Nova as a daily driver in the past and being a fan of these cars even before then, I thought my mental Rolodex was chocked full of information about most things Chevy II. But I’m going to have to turn to our readers for some help here, as the owner is calling this one a 1970 Postal Nova, a term I’ve definitely not heard before. Maybe some of you have, at least that’s what I’m hoping, and under any circumstances, it’s a cool example with plenty of possibilities too. The Chevrolet is located in Holbrook, New York, and can be found here on eBay, where the seller has set a buy-it-now price of $15,900.
From what the owner understands, he believes the postal Nova is a very rare offering and perhaps one of only a handful remaining, although he doesn’t cite his source of information regarding this. A search of good old Google doesn’t provide many additional details either, so readers, please chime in if you can shed any light on the subject.
One of my first thoughts is if this creation was made for use by the USPS, which I doubt it was, I’d anticipate finding the steering column on the right, since last time I checked that would be the correct side for placing items in mailboxes in the United States, but this one doesn’t have that feature nor do things appear that it ever did. This is the best interior photo provided, and it’s fairly plain-jane inside with a basic bench seat up front plus I’m not finding much optional equipment either, although it does have a CB radio that somebody added at some point. Maybe the postal name is just used to refer to a very base-style model, and snail-mail delivery isn’t part of the equation.
The no-frills theme continues under the hood, where we find a 153 CI 4-cylinder that the seller says is the original motor. Another possibility regarding the namesake is this engine was also used in some postal Jeeps around this period, so if I had to venture a guess I’d speculate that’s probably why the four-banger Novas are sometimes called postal, though I’m really not sure. I actually think the small powerplant is pretty cool, and with the claim that it runs great I’d likely leave it right there and anticipate plenty of stares and questions each time I drove it to a car show. Another fun feature is the transmission, a 3-speed manual with a column shifter. The seller is also confident in his car’s roadworthiness, as he says you can drive this one home.
Outside, the body is stated as all original, with one repaint quite a number of years ago. Some damage is mentioned on the passenger side quarter panel, even though it appears repairable, and there’s also rust developing in the lower extremities, but I’d be tempted to leave the exterior just like it is for a while and just continue driving it.
Fortunately, the south side is stated to be clean and the photos seem to show a reasonably solid foundation down below the surface rust, and check out those single-leaf springs on each side. With all the modified Novas running around, it’s nice to see one that hasn’t had a beefier drivetrain added and isn’t pretending to be something it’s not. What would you do here? Preserve, restore, SS clone, restomod, or something else?
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now1 days$15,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now4 days$100
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now4 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now4 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now6 days$7,500
Comments
This has got to be the most bare bones ’70 Nova I’ve ever seen though the fake SS hood louvres are a nice touch. Like the author, I doubt this was a postal car but may have been called that by some in reference to the 4-cylinder engine. The interior needs work and there is a good bit of rust to take care of so IMO this Nova is way overpriced. I think the seller is trying to push the notion that this is a rare car because of his claim it is a postal car. He’d be better off calling it what it is, a rare stripper 4-banger with three-on-the-tree. Somebody will probably build this Nova into an SS clone, but the seller is shooting for the moon with a $16K asking price.
I’m not a municipal government vehicle expert, but in my humble opinion, a postal vehicle is typically a right hand drive vehicle.
Seems like a solid car….might make a good “LS Sleeper Swap”!?
👍🤓
I like this idea. LS with stock fuel injection intact and leave the three on the tree shifter. I have to think that the novelty of the 4 cylinder would wear off after you drove this thing for a bit. There’s probably a reason the 4 cylinder is rare in this car…not many wanted one equipped that way.
I’d restore it and drive as is, V8 Nova’s are everywhere, it would be a blast at car shows. I get a kick out of the radiator shrouding. Everyone has a V8, dare to be different!
19sixty5… how about a swap to the Camaro 2.0 4cyl turbo mill 🤔 😲🏁
Rural carriers in Wisconsin provided their own cars for deliveries. Mostly they used mid sized or bigger sedans. They would sit in the middle of the bench seat using the left foot to brake and accelerate and the right hand would deposit mail thru the right side window. Automatic transmission s were almost a requirement. One I remember was a 1973 Impala, he later went with a AMC Eagle which he thought was the best car for the purpose.
The only specific postal car I know was the Saturn RHD wagons. They were basically right hand drive vehicles Saturn shipped to their dealers in Japan.
Just last month I saw one “out in the wild”. I had no idea they existed. AMC also did a RHD Ambassador
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/vintage-ads-and-brochures/vintage-ad-1967-amc-ambassador-rhd-postal-delivery-sedan/
Jeep made ‘em too for the US.
Jeep still does. Subaru used to make a Legacy rhd wagon for US rural letter carriers.
Because it has door posts/window frames, instead of being a hardtop? That’s the only thing I see being postal about this one.
All Novas of this body style had door frames and posts.There were no hardtops.
This bodystyle of Novs didn’t come in hardtop form. Just sedans.
All the 2 door Nova’s of this edition were “post” cars; no Hardtop converts.
Stuff a 427 in it and get a personalized plate with GNE PSTL.
Price must be $2900. for the car & $13K for the “story”.
A skilled mailman can drive a left-hand car from the right passenger side (ours did), but not with a clutch and manual shift…
I’d change out the non-original parts and drive it as a bare bones survivor, though with the 4 cylinder, I’d avoid hills.
Having lived in the North East, and having seen a lot of mail carriers in the great white north, there were a lot of bench sliders who drove a LHD car and straddled the tunnel to drop mail out the RH WINDOW
I agree with most of you here. You can’t swing a cat without hitting a V-8
Nova at a car show. This, on the other hand, is a rare bear that could’ve been used for rural mail delivery. I’m sure that GM offered an
economy package for fleet use and a
myriad of other uses as well. So to
me, the postal claim could indeed be
valid– even though the rural delivery
folks had to pay for them with their
own funds. That missing back seat
would suggest either mail or newspaper use. Nice basic beauty.
who needs ’em all dolled up anyway.
Great car for Door Dash too.
Wonder what the gas mileage was,50 miles a gallon?
The car has a backseat… and you could not deliver mail out the right side of the car with a manual trans unless you pull up to the mailbox, put it in neutral, set the parking brake, slide over to the right side to load mail into the box,, slide back over to the left side, release the brake, put it in gear drive to the next stop and repeat. The mail delivery would take literally all day.
The Chevettes weren’t used for that kind of route. The were used for park and loop routes. The carrier would park it and deliver that street, then go to the next street and park it there.
Having said that, rural route carriers drove left hand drive cars. They sat on the right side, and used their left foot to work the accelerator and brake. I never understood how someone could sit/lay like that all day long or how the post office would go along with someone driving like that.
I didn’t realize a 4 cylinder engine was still an option past the Chevy II era during the production time of the Chevy II/Nova!
That being said, the asking price seems a bit steep.
I am with you. 58 and I’m still learning.
The 4-cylinder wasn’t an option, it’s what you got if you didn’t pay for an optional engine.
I had a 1970 nova came with the 250 6 cylinder bone stoke , never heard of a 4 cylinder nova
Postal service with three pedals hardly. Engine also saw duty in boats as well as postal vehicles. Don’t think it’s capable of interstate travel. It’s about as bare bones as you could get from your Chevrolet dealer, economy and local travel mostly, will probably run 55 mph ok but don’t think it would be happy any faster. Leave it alone if you’re not going to far!
Post Nova going postal..
Very nice but I agree on the to high of a price without actual paperwork proving the postal claim. Still would be cool. Restore as is. How many of these have you seen? This is my first one. Do like the added touches even though we all know the wheels and the hood did not come with this one. I say no harm no foul. You can always find the original parts if you so choose.
No such thing as a “postal” Nova. There were supposedly “fleet Novas” made that would have came with the 4 cylinder, 3 on the tree and no radio. But this one has a radio. Also the 4 cylinder was the base engine for the Chevy II/Nova from 1962 until 1970.
People whining about how rusty it is .it’s looks fine maybe a little high on the price.
Meter reader car driven by electric, gas, water meter readers. They don’t leave town, and only pass 30 mph when being returned after service driven by the high school kid working weekends at the Exxon. Been there, done that, fired for hooking the rear bumper on a telephone pole guide wire.
Believe it or not, this four-cylinder engine design is still being produced today. The rights are owned by a company called PSI and they mfg. and sell this engine for use in industrial applications. Has modern fuel injection and engine management. Std. Engine in a Vermeer BC1000 tree chipper for the last 7 years or so……
Factory rating on the “Super Thrift” 153 I-4 was 90 gross HP. I’m guessing that equated to 55HP at the wheels… *before* the engine was old and worn out.
Yeah, the V-8 swap has been done to death. I’d stick with the 4-cylinder theme and fit the 290hp turbo I-4 engine from a Saturn Sky. But I’m insane that way.
Meh automotive sanity is overrated anyway
Sure, like there’s tons of those around the salvage yards!
I’ve never heard of a 153 CID 90 HP Chevy referred to as ‘postal.’ I believe USPS had a contract with Jeep back then although rural route carriers could/would use their own vehicles. In any case if this were a USPS vehicle the color scheme would be quite different.
Other than two extra cylinders and an additional 50 HP the 230 CID L6 had the same bore, stroke, Rochester MonoJet, compression ratio, etc. as the 153 CID L4. I may be incorrect but ISTR the 230 CID as the base engine with the 4 banger being a less expensive dealer order.
The Rally Wheels and SS-like hood are later additions. My only question is how did the fuel filler get twisted and dented.
always thought how cool would it be to show up and enter 1 of these at a 4 cyl class circle track race of course painted black number 3 goodwrench colors !!!!!
Deathproof.
This car is only 15 minutes from me. I’ve never heard of a 4 cyl Nova, but I guess it’s true. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with a column stick, either. I’d keep it original, of course, but it must be a boring car, and terribly slow. The 6 cyl was barely adequate, and the small 8, the 307, was pretty peppy. The 350 would be really nice.
I w p uld put a 290 six either a turbocharger, split exhaust headers. So much torque and would be an ooh and aah st the local cruise ins because, as so.many have commented, the V8 thing has been over done.
If you mean the 292 straight 6, that’s a taller engine(used only in trucks) than the 194/230/250 & you would need a heck of a hood scoop to clear the 292.
The sheer rareity of this Nova should mean leave it the heck alone & just maintain it. Guaranteed to draw a crowd when the hood goes up! More than a Yenko, i bet!
I had a ’69 Nova with the 4 cyl. Traded my ’57 Ranchero for it (mentioned in “comments” 2 days ago under the black ’57 Ford ad on BF). Finished the column-to-floor conversion, new heater core, but that little engine kicked butt. If I remember correctly, it was called an “Iron Duke”. Fast little car on the low end, single glasspak sounded like, at least, a 6 cyl. Wouldn’t have known unless you raised the hood.
The iron duke was actually a pontiac product
Ordinarily, I’d be torn between keeping it original and doing a restomod, but I’m increasingly leaning towards a restomod on this one. It could be a postal car, but not a delivery vehicle, more likely a car used by management, like the local postmaster or Postal Inspection Service, but if so, I’d have expected an automatic transmission instead of the “three-on-the-tree”, but I suppose anything is possible. That shade of green isn’t my favorite, but at least it doesn’t have a vinyl roof, befitting its “bottom feeder” status.
That’s what I wanted to put my built 460 in but could not find one, I was going to be that ONE person to put a ford motor in a chevy.
The four banger was available in Novas from 1962 to 1970. My step-grandfather had one and the same pale green color. However I don’t know if it was a’68, ‘69, or a ‘70. His had the two speed, torque drive semi automatic transmission. He was a frugal man, as he had an early model Corvair before the Nova, then after that a Chevette, lastly a Cavalier. Back when one could order what they wanted for a car, I think many people ordered bare bones models just to say they had a brand new car. Keep it as is. Car buffs need to know that cars of the past were very basic as to what most people have to buy these days. Standard equipment today, in the past would be considered quite extravagant. Power brakes, power steering, automatic transmission and air conditioning were expensive options.
Had a 68 Chevy II. 4cyl engine & a “Torque Drive” ( Powerglide with a manual valve body) Had to manually shift from 1st to drive. Slower than molasses in January. Only rarity I see here is it survived with the original drive line intact.
Was a rural letter carrier for 35 years and never saw this as an official Postal vehicle. We had jeeps and pintos and LLV’s but never a Nova. I don’t believe anyone would use a manual transmission to do a route in that time frame although before automatic transmissions they did deliver mail with a manual
I have heard the term ‘postal’ refer to post coupes in the past.
My girlfriend’s dad was a National Business agent for the USPS back in the 60’s and 70’s. He drove all across the country in a plain jane 1970 white Nova. From what I remember, he got a new car every 2 years because he put so many miles on it. I’m pretty sure it was a gov car due to the plates that were on it. It too was a 3 on the tree. I don’t think we ever talked about it and I never drove it. It might have been one of these???
So, my theory is at least possible! Thanks for the backup.
Knew of two like this in the 70s. One auto, the
other nearly identical. Worked on both but was
shocked when opening the hood for the first
time. Could be a blast at the car shows…
For this one, quite pricey!
‘postal nova’ quite simply meant it was a fleet car’ standard with radio delete. Postal is likely a misnomer but according to my nosing around on the internet thats what it refers to, as do a few others commenting on this ‘fleet’ status.
How many of these could be left? Restoration costs the same for a 8, 6 or 4 but I think having something unique has merit. This is the right car for a few people and a novelty for others but the wrong one for many.
They used these motors in boats for years. Also I sold auto parts in Atlanta area for years. One day in the early 80s one of these came to my store and wanted to know what he needed as he could not figure out his heater. I went out and looked and it didn’t come with a heater. Never saw a heater delete on a newer model. It was 4 cylinder automatic with air. Said he found traces of telephone company stickers on the side he had bought it at a fleet auction in south Florida where he was living at the time..
4-cylinder, auto and air? Oof. What a sled. Probably aftermarket a/c. GM didn’t equip their 6-cly cars with air until ’75. Vegas and H-body siblings excepted.
I think someone told him he had a “post” Nova, meaning not a hardtop, and he misunderstood the meaning.
The Postal Nova term comes from people going postal when they realize the classic Nova they just bought has a 4-cylinder engine.
You might go Postal trying to get up to freeway speed. It is rather rare, only 2247 were built with the four banger, you could have driven this off the lot for $2176
Call me dumb. I don’t think that the wheel rims are original.
Nooo! Get outta town! (He said sarcastically)
I bought a 4 cylinder Chevy Nova in the spring of 70 ,Murdock Chevy Norman Oklahoma ,1995 dollars ,4 cylinder 153 cubic inches ,90 HP ,3 on the tree ,had a heater ,AM radio ,black interior ,single left outside rear view mirror .everyone talking it must been a slug but it ran with the 6 cylinder nova I know I street raced a lot of them. 70 mile an hour Interstate no problem it was hard to start on a cold foggy mornings, couldn’t keep motor mounts in it .mine was turquoise ,14 inch steel wheels with the little small Chrome Chevrolet hubcaps I wished I had it today I would definitely leave it stock
Was that four cylinder shaky and buzzy compared to the six cylinder version? I ask that as it seems always a problem for four-cylinder engines of the era, because they had no balance shafts or modern engine management.
1970 was the last year for the 4 cyl in the Nova. This is simply a very base model car.
An error of terminology. It’s a “POST”, or two-door sedan. All third generation Novas were.
Vehicles for “mounted routes” where one drives to mailboxes along the road are right hand drive, but when I started in 1980, “park and loop” routes, which all of the city routes used leased Chevettes and we had one Gremlin, which everyone hated. The right hand drives were 2WD Jeeps (Dispatchers) with sliding doors. All of these were phased out when the USPS adopted the LLV (Long Life Vehicle) which are the trucks still being used today. There were built to last 20 years and are still being used 40+ years later.
I have a 1969 4 door 4 Cylinder 3 on the tree Nova . I picked up a couple years back. what a cool project car but I don’t know if I will ever get to it.
My uncle had a ’63 Chevy II four banger. He bought it from Ma Bell for cheap. Had that olive green paint and was a stripper, for sure.
The Ford Pintos built for USPS were left hand drive but had automatics. They were used in cities where the postal worker had to get out to load multiple mailboxes at the same time anyway.
I’m pretty sure by this time there were no right-hand drive Novas and I’m absolutely certain there were never any RHD Pintos. Those markets got Holdens and Cortinas instead.
Is that a front disc brake master cylinder? Maybe not.
Taxi ready interior – if it were a 4 door, tho the 3 speed manual would be a pain in a congested big city.
4 cyl in heavier ’68-70 Nova makes no sense – would be working too hard to get much better mpg, IMO. One would be flooring the thing too often, especially in hilly terrain(forget the mountains with 4 adults & luggage aboard lol), getting on expressways, etc.
I wonder if a/c was available with this motor!! & did anyone order both?
Imagine how rare that spacer is in front of the radiator!
Would have been a good motor for the Vega! Did Chevy forget about this durable motor for ’71? No timing belt or chain – like its strait 6, i believe.
I don’t think that the Iron Duke four would have fit, as I recall, the Vega engine was a “slant” design, to fit under the Vega’s low hood line. The Iron Duke was a vertical block, so it would have been too tall to fit without either cutting a hole in the hood or building a new hood with a serious bulge in it. The extra weight of the iron block in the nose wouldn’t have done good things to the handling either. Without significant upgrades to the front suspension and engine cradle, I don’t think the Vega’s unibody could stand up to the extra weight, either, IMHO.
This motor in this Nova is not the 151 cube inch iron duke – it’s a sawed off chevy straight 6!. The iron duke came later.
Google –> Chevrolet 153 4-cylinder engine.
True it’s 65 lbs heavier than the alum block Vega motor.
But chevy should have done real world testing on the latter fiasco, or designed the Vega chassis for the 153.