1969 Chevrolet Nova Comes out of Long-Term Storage With Rare, Special-Order Features

But while we usually associate rare pony cars with high-performance big-block V8 engines, some are actually mundane A-to-B vehicles. For instance, some four-cylinder Novas are pretty hard to find. While Chevrolet sold about 24,000 of them in 1962, demand dwindled toward the mid-1960s. Only 367 customers got the engine in 1965, and just 480 were ordered in 1967. Granted, these low-production vehicles are far from desirable, but they're incredibly rare nonetheless.

But I'm not here to talk about the entry-level four-banger Nova. The 1969 example you see here is a six-cylinder car. This engine was by far the most common that year, finding its way in a whopping 157,353 units. That's about 62% of the total Nova production for the year. For reference, only 35% of 1969 Novas were specified with V8 engines.

So what makes this derelict and very common two-door Nova rare? Well, it was equipped with a number of unusual features for a six-cylinder and two-speed Powerglide setup. The first thing that stands out is the console floor shifter option, something you don't see every day on entry-level Novas.

Second, despite being a rather mundane compact with no performance credentials, it was ordered with the optional bucket seats, no power features, and a radio delete. It's like the original owner wanted a lightweight Nova but without go-fast bits under the hood. And interestingly enough, it wasn't purchased like that to get a big-block swap. The Nova was driven just like that for decades and survived with most of its factory bits intact.

How rare is it? Unfortunately, that's a question I cannot answer, but this Nova could be a one-of-one Chevy due to its unusual setup.

A one-owner car until it was dragged out of storage by YouTube's "3:23 Fabrication," the Nova is in surprisingly good shape for a Chevy that was parked for decades. Moreover, it still rocks its original paint job. And by the way, this Nova is an authentic triple-black car without a vinyl top.

So what's on the table for the two-door now that it's been rescued? Is it getting a much-deserved restoration? Well, while our host is indeed planning to get the six-cylinder engine running, the Nova will become a restomod. Unsurprisingly, an LS-type crate engine will replace the original mill.

Until that happens, see it getting its first wash in many years in the video below. This old Chevy already has "sleeper" written all over it.