*see below

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When I was 12 or 13 I absolutely despised Nova's. My dad was obcessed with them but I thought they were ugly. Luckily my tastes changed and so when it was time for my first car we went looking for a Nova. I based my idea for a Nova on three things: 1) I wanted it to be black, 2) I wanted Cragar SS wheels, and 3) I wanted it to be between a 1969 and a 1972 Nova. Back then I didn't like anything older than '72 (that's changed too).

The first Nova we went to look at was a blue '72 in Logansport. We drove all the way up there to see a car that was too overpriced for the conditon it was in. It also had a shift kit in it that neither dad or I liked. A funny story on the way up there, though. We were going through a litle town called Burlington when we passed a house with an ugly brown '74 Nova in the yard. To make a long story short we bought it on the way back for a total of $75. Pretty good considering it ran (See picture below)

The next car we looked at was a '70 SS. Here's a REAL good tip when shopping for a car. Do NOT go and look at a car that reads the following in the ad: Will trade for guns and cash. We drove clear up to Peru, IN to look at this thing. The guy was drunker than you know what. He kept saying that it had been a real nice car when he had bought it. BIG surprise considering it looked like crap. Not only that but it wouldn't even start! The guy said he'd run from the police in it a few times and gotten away. He even had specialty plates that read WANTED. Whoa! He had definitely tipped back one too many. The next thing that happened with that Nova was that I got in it and it locked me in! That was one wasted trip.

By now I'm about ready to give up on finding a decent Nova for my first car. So the next vehicle we looked at was a 1965 Corvair. We looked at it several times and it needed some brake work but we were close to buying it. Dad talked me into looking at one more Nova. We drove to the Southside of Indianapolis to look at it. Oh man it was perfect! We went over the whole car, took it for a test drive and discussed a deal. We got the guy to knock off $50 for each tire since they were so bald. So that's how I got my first car.

I finished out my spohomore year of high school in the car and loved every minute of it. Early in June of 2000, I noticed a light pinging noise coming from the motor on the way to work. I called up my mechanic and told him he needed to come a pick up the car. Sure enough, I had spun a bearing and there was a rod knocking.

My mechanic had some machine work done to the block. The guys over at NAPA bored the cylinders out another .030. After installing some new parts and reusing some of the old parts, the new motor was finally laid inbetween Christine's fenders in early July 2000. It was just finished just in time for cruising the park on the Fourth of July.

Time goes on, and I graduate high school and begin studies at the Universit of Northwestern Ohio, Lima. I take Christine with me and she enjoys tooling around Lima.

The summer of 2001, my first year of college, I drove her back to Indiana on weekends and ran her at the local dragstrip. It was a blast and she ran a consistent 14.7 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Sometime in late August 2001, I had a rear U-joint fail while cruising around my hometown. After limping the car home and crawling underneath, I discovered that an ear was sheared off the pinion flange. This allowed the U-joint movement and it burnt up and broke apart. So I parke her and started driving the Caprice again. About two months go by before we find a replacement rearend out of a donor '76 Nova.

Finally, in early October 2001 the rearend is in and the car is ready to get back on the road. We wrapped up that project sometime around 10 p.m. and my mechanice requested that I leave the car with him overnight so that he could check out the brakes the next morning before I headed back to Ohio. Being as that I hadn't driven the car since August, I was a little antsy. I told him that I would take the car that night and return in the morning so he could check things out.

So, off I headed to Lebanon excited to be back in my natural habitat, behind the wheel of that sweet, sweet car. Upon arriving in Lebanon, I tooled around down for about a half hour before retiring to my mom's house. I parked Christine in the alley next to her house in front of the garage door and also in front of her boyfriend's marked Indiana Highway Department van. I locked it up and headed for bed. The next morning, I awoke and headed out to "check on the car" just being stupid and making sure it was still there. Little did I know that when I raised the garage door, the parking spot would be found empty. The garage door came up and..no Nova. I stepped out into the alley and looked up and down...still no Nova. Next, I ran out to the street thinking I had parked it there and forgotten.....STILL no Nova. Now it finally starts to settle in, somebody stole the Nova. I run into the house and call the police department.

After the officer left with my filed report, my mom and I hopped in the Camaro and went up and down every street and every alley in Lebanon with no luck. Over the course of the next few days, I could be found checking streets and alleys in Frankfort, Rossville, and Lafayette for any sign of my car. I did find a girl who lived down the street from my mom who says she thinks that my car got off the interstate behind her in Lebanon. She wasn't totally sure but she said the car was dark in color and really loud. Upon later recollection my mom recalled hearing an exhaust tone that matched my car but wasn't as loud. Having been half asleep she never thought anything else about it. So, from piecing together that story, apparently around midnight, someone came down the alley, broke into the Nova, and rolled it down the alley before firing it up (that's why it didn't sound loud enough to mom).

The last time I checked with the Lebanon Police Department the car was still registered to me and still flagged as stolen. There was never any sighting of the car that could be verified and no further information has been discovered. It is now April of 2003 and I have pretty much dismissed the thought of finding Christine. I still have a tiny place in my heart that wants to believe that she is out there somewhere. I have moved on and will be acquiring another Nova sometime in the next year. Up to this point I have enjoyed other folks Novas but was unready to get another for myself. I think I am about ready now.

Another project I hope to be working on soon is placing a big block (possibly a 572 ci/750 hp from GM)inbetween the fenders of an '86-'87 Caprice Classic. You can rest assure that upon completion of this project I shall post the story and pics on the site.

New Motor, July 2000

Early Pic

Early Pic

Inside

Early Pic

Early Pic

1974 Chevrolet Nova Bought For $75!!!!

*the Nova flame logo is an original creation of mine. I made it in a Computer Graphics class in high school. It was created using a variety of filter changes in the Adobe Photoshop program on a MAC.

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