Hey Guys...I'm new on here, but not new to classic musclecars. I'm 57, retired from the Navy, and have a 2 yr-old son (no, he wasn't planned, but I figure I might keep him anyway) who will be a classic car nut just like his Old Man. I have a '68 RS Camaro coupe that is slowly being restored with its original 230 six and a 3-on-the-tree shifter (rare, no?). I also have a '77 Nova 9C1 4-door sedan, and that's the main reason I joined your forum (I've lurked on here for many years).
I found my 9C1 last Nov. on CL-Phoenix and bought it for $400. It is complete, but had been in a crash 11 years ago that wrecked the front end and put it on a downward spiral that resulted in its sale to me for unbelievably cheap money. I recently purchased a '76 Nova 4-door parts car with a good front end, so my car should be running around capturing criminals again very soon.
I joined Steve's Nova Site in Dec. and started a 9C1 Nova Registry because guys were saying how rare these cars were, but no one sat down and documented each currently known survivor until I did. That list has only 15 verifiable 9C1 Novas out of approx. 14,000 built between '75-78 (basically only 1 in 1,000 survived), 2 coupes and 13 sedans. The car up in Canada should be saved no matter what, as it will be only the 2nd Canadian 9C1 known to exist. Currently on the registry there is one Canadian 9C1, a blue and white '78 4-door that is owned by Bruce Hamilton of Surrey, BC, a car that served duty at the RCMP outpost in tiny Grimshaw, AB.
Although the 9C1 COPO Novas are rather plain appearing cars, they possess a lot of interesting standard equipment that makes them special: a 350 4-barrel Z28 LM1 engine with hardened valve stems and a few other HD mods, a specially prepared TH-350 transmission with HD parts, a 4-core radiator and HD cooling fan from a 454 pickup, HD 61 amp alternator, a special reinforced front subframe, Z28 front and rear sway bars, Z28 front brakes, rear drums from a full-size Chevy station wagon, HD rear springs, HD police car seats (including an unusual smaller back seat that only came on 9C1s), a 4-spoke Z28 steering wheel, a 120 mph certified speedometer, 14x7 inch plain steel wheels with dog-dish hubcaps, and special high performance tires. The 9C1 Nova was basically a 4-door Z28 and was actually faster than the Corvette from that time period. The 9C1 Nova is rumored to have a top speed of around 130 mph (I'll let you know once I get mine going...shhh, don't tell the cops).
I really hope that the 9C1 Nova in Canada hasn't yet been crushed and can be saved. I have a feeling that these Novas will be worth a good sum of money one day, and will continue to increase in popularity in the future. I have attached a link to the registry to bring you up to speed on the 9C1s known to exist. If anyone on here knows of another one, please feel free to contact me. Thanks, Alex Manz
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums...d.php?t=404777
PS...I would like to get "L89DRMR's" 9C1 info for the registry. I need the VIN (or a good portion of it...I know how some guys are about releasing their VINs) and the cowl tag data. A photo would also be nice.