69 Nova L78 TH400

[Belair62]

Probably price points....325 horse Nova may have detracted from a Chevelle or something..no need to cut off their nose to spite their face...who knows

[JoeC]

could have been the cost of emission certification. Say they estimated selling 2000 325hp Novas and 2000 350hp Novas, They would have to do the emission certification twice for only 4000 units. It may have been more cost effictive to just do one emission certification where the cost can be spread over 4000 350hp Novas.

[@wot]

I worked at a chevy dealership (United Cherolet) outside of Worcester, MA in 1970. I moved cars in the lots and drove "car swaps" around the state. It was a very prominent, high volume dealership that always maintained a large assortment of corvettes. We did get an occassional high performnace car, but in general, the LS6's, L78's, Z28's etc were rare. My point: I dealt with hundreds of new '70 chevys, and only a very small percentage were true muscle cars. I believe this was true with most dealers of the period.

[Kurt S]

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could have been the cost of emission certification.

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Probably not. They were allowed to certify an engine/trans combo that could then be used in any platform as long as the components were the same. So the L35 would already have been cert'd under the Camaro drivetrain.

[JoeC]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably not. They were allowed to certify an engine/trans combo that could then be used in any platform as long as the components were the same. So the L35 would already have been cert'd under the Camaro drivetrain.


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According to JohnZ (Chevy engineer) the complete car had to be submitted for emission certification.
Here is a quote from a JohnZ thread on Team Camaro "EPA emission certification was done not only by powertrain, but by carline application, vehicle weight, aero drag, and coast-down horsepower testing, which created many variables. Every different situation required full EPA certification"
I also know that Yenko had to get EPA certification on the 1968 427 Camaro. He could not use the 427 Impala certification.

[camarojoe]

[ QUOTE ]
According to JohnZ (Chevy engineer) the complete car had to be submitted for emission certification.
Here is a quote from a JohnZ thread on Team Camaro "EPA emission certification was done not only by powertrain, but by carline application, vehicle weight, aero drag, and coast-down horsepower testing, which created many variables. Every different situation required full EPA certification"
I also know that Yenko had to get EPA certification on the 1968 427 Camaro. He could not use the 427 Impala certification.

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I have the actual EPA Certificate for the Yenko Deuce. It was issued to Yenko Sportscars Inc. in March 1971 for the 1970 cars. Do you think Yenko was trying to get them certified for some sort of NHRA class?