1970 L89 NOVA

[427king]

Did any Novas get converted to L89 at your dealership for customers or for stock after you found out you couldnt get one direct from GM?

[SuperNovaSS]

Well, if you went into most dealers in 1969 they would also tell you it was not possible to order a 427 in a Camaro or Chevelle also. I guess they did not make any.

[HiPerf]

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Well, if you went into most dealers in 1969 they would also tell you it was not possible to order a 427 in a Camaro or Chevelle also. I guess they did not make any.

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I was the one trying to buy the cars from Chevrolet,not the dealership. I could get you as many 427 Camaro's or Chevelle's you wanted in 69,those cars were easy to come by,Chevrolet made lots of them.

[ORIGLS6]

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Well, if you went into most dealers in 1969 they would also tell you it was not possible to order a 427 in a Camaro or Chevelle also. I guess they did not make any.

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When I was shopping for my Chevelle, four of the six dealers I talked to told me there was no such thing as a 450 HP 454 in a Chevelle. That was in late April/early May of 1970! (They also told me I couldn't get an LT-1 in a Nova!)

Like I said earlier in this thread, I have little knowledge of Novas, but I DO know this may well be another of those deals where you avoid those two dreaded words............. - ALWAYS and NEVER!

[PLATINUM6BBL]

and there was only 2 ZL-1 Corvette's built for public consumption! Is the orange ZL-1 automatic convertible, that is still in the hands of the original owner, a red-headed step-child? A friend of mine is coming over today (who mounted up the first set of slicks for the orange ZL-1) and I'm going to ask him if he has ever come across a L-89 Nova in all his years of travels to shows and appraisal work.

[427king]

dont know whether an L89 Nova was available nor do I know Bob Johnson personally. I will say that if Don Yenko was posting on this board right now and said there were no L89 novas available to him in 1969 youd certainly take that as fact,and Bob is the best person probably left to make these statements . Not saying anything that Bob says should be taken as fact, but i think based on his past at Scuncio and Bob Johnson Racing he may be one of the most knowledgable on this based on experience. In the day when most of us were riding our bikes to school, you should give him the benefit of the doubt especially when no certain proof of a real car has surfaced yet . He didnt work at "Mom and Pops" Chevrolet after all, and if it was available at the time HE probably would have gotten one if for nothing else the fact he ordered EVERYTHING else. He may be the best person to speak to regarding what was and how things got done back then.Just my opinion of course.

[ORIGLS6]

Good points.

[442w30]

I've never lent much credence to the anti-"never say never" crowd. Examples being used here are COPOs and Z/28 ragtops. A clueless dealership does not constitute evidence for "never say never", especially considering Yenko had a whole buttload of COPOs and magazines were testing them. And the Z ragtop was built for a GM official, so it's more of an anomoly than evidence of (once again) "never say never".

Then there's COPO Pete's Nova. Back in the mid-80s, these cars were 15 years old. They were just becoming something beyond a used car. These cars didn't have the benefit of research and preservation like we do now. It's no wonder people said he was full of it back then, but even today there'll always be a segment that'll be clueless one way or another, just like the guy who'll tell ya his dad used to own a factory 427 Nova with an L88 - they're everywhere.

People here are much stronger on Chevys than I am, but logic dictates that an L89 Nova would make sense for a '69, but for a '70? I'm skeptical. It would be mighty strange to find a '70 when evidence even for '70 Chevelles is hard to come by. It just defies logic, but at this point in the game I've resigned logic from the musclecar era as there are many things that don't add up but just are.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

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.... I will say that if Don Yenko was posting on this board right now and said there were no L89 novas available to him in 1969 youd certainly take that as fact.....

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Nope!! I have seen enough of Don's tall tales in print, and the claims of productions figures.... (there were 500 Yenko Camaros remember? He also claims to have sold a few hundred Deuces!) I wouldn't believe a L89 Nova statement like that from him.

[Charley Lillard]

Most still say there was never a 70 L78 Turbo 400 Camaro built also.... :-)