1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

My Dad recently passed and I ran across old photo's of a car he raced back in the late 1970's at Edgewater and Thorn Hill Drag Strips in the Cincinnati/N. Kentucky area. The Nova was supposedly a burnished brown L78 396 car that went by the name "Shakin Bake". The car had 307 emblems on the fenders but I was told that was to hide the larger engine size when street raced before becoming a strip car but who knows. I would like to know if the car still exists or if anyone has info on its whereabouts. I have no vin info on the car whatsoever.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...1295-image.jpg
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...1297-image.jpg

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Cool car. Good luck with your search.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Sorry to hear about your loss.. But that Nova is certainly awesome..


You might try posting on either

http://forums.502underground.net/forums/index.php

or

http://www.kyhorsepower.com/


Good luck!

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

There's also a Lost Muscle Car page on Facebook you might want to check out.

Facebook is how I found my Camaro that I lost all knowledge of for over 30 years, so best of luck.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

I forgot about Lost Muscle car on FB.. Probably because I deleted my fb acc.. lol

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

AND Cragars !!!

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

I LIKE IT!

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

If it helps the car used to run around the streets of Fort Thomas and Newport Kentucky. I think it was sold to a guy named Donnie Cropenbaker. I have heard two stories: one that it was back halved then destroyed, another that it's still around.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

This is what whitepages found..

http://www.whitepages.com/name/Donald-Cropenbaker

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

The guy was local in Kentucky and would have been in his 20's or 30's making him 50-60 years old today.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Cool Nova.....best of luck with your search.

Dan

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

ive seen pics of that car before...NOT THOSE PICS...seems like 3 or 4 years ago..maybe on barn finds? i'm sure someone found that car and drug it out of a shed...or something..i cant remember exactly where..but i'll think about it

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Wow, a sighting! Called the insurance company that insured my parents but no luck. Mark, if you think of anything please let know.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Very cool. Great stance too!
Good luck with your search.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Waay cool, looks tough also almost as if the WB is 1" forward @ the front?
Do you have any pics showing the plate...worth trying the DMV on to get the Vin?
Good luck!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

These are the only two pics that exist to my knowledge. I am going to call the DMV tomorrow but this car was likely never registered being a drag car.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

its been 9 or so years...i was still based in kentucky for work..it was in the auto trader or shopper or something and listed as a barn find racer..but i think it was in Cincinnati area...i used to go to Cinci all the time to hang out...and there was a ton of car shows..and swap meets..there was a weekly rag that was all cars you could get and it for free out of a box in front of stores etc.. covered 4 or 5 states

i used to live in southern Indiana right by the KY border...and i'm sure i saw it you cant mistake those grahics.

it was a roller...

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

I have kind of hit a dead end unless I can find someone that knows the car or a vin number. Not much to go off of unfortunately.

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

The guy he sold it to was Randy Cropenbaker and I have located and called him. His wife said he is out of town but she will have him call when he gets home so stay tuned...

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Please keep us all in the loop. This is getting very interesting and I hope you manage to drum up some kind of lead. Coming here was a good start. These guys are all eagle eyes

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/burnout.gif[/img]

Re: 1969 Nova L78 Kentucky
 

Very cool and good luck with your search!

shakin bake
 

bringing it back to the top.... any new info? if you didn't know the car in the early 90's, you'd never know what it is now. I almost bought it...but couldn't come up with the cash in time.

I had a thought the other day when I was trying to figure out a way to get the VIN on a car I sold back in 1983.

I got several tickets in that car. I'm going to try the DeKalb County PD & traffic court and see if they have anything on me.

I don't know if it will pan out, but if the OP's dad was a ticket magnet maybe there are some records to be found.

Interesting,

My COPO was once owned by a Randy Cropenbaker from Newport, KY. I called him twice but he didn't want to talk. Two weeks later his wife called me and gave me the info (previous owner) that I was looking for. Has to be the same family. Send me a PM and I will send you his number.

Jason

Funny, I’m going to go look at a “back halved” Nova, in Newport, this coming Saturday. I would like to help the OP, but the last time I tried to help a member on here, in confidentiality, they broke the confidentiality agreement, faster than I could wipe the BBQ sauce off my face.

Pretty sure the car isn't in northern KY... What color is the one you're going to look at , if you don't mind me asking.