On July 16th, 1985 I got my license at the age of 25 and didn't know anything about cars. On July 19th I went to a dealership and saw the "85" Chevy Nova. I bought it July 20th. It was a 4 door stick shift and my first car. I didn't even know how to drive it. That car never gave me any trouble. I drove it all over the US. It wasn't anything for me to call my sister to say I was on my way and proceed drive 960 miles. Many a mechanic tried to buy that car from me. I had it until 1999 when a mechanic destoryed(killed) my Nova's engine. There were over 290,000 miles on that wonderful blue car. I have such fond memories of that car. Chevy nailed it when they teamed with Toyota. Oh, the memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sleeper with a 4AG. I used to own an '87 FX16 and it was a fun car. Also got to tour NUMMI during it's last few years when they were still giving tours. That was fun.
The 'Chevy/Geo Prism' was basically a Corolla with GM buttons and trims. But it was built on the same line,that 'Nummi' plant, as the Corolla, out one door it was a Toyota,out the other it was a Prism, a few thousand less than a Corolla,nearly the same car for a lot less money. Wish I had kept my Prism!
Now, THIS is a car I would LOVE to find!!!!!!!!! Using the same 108-horsepower 4A-GE 1.6-liter 4-cylinder from the Corolla FX-16, Corolla GT-S & MR-2, it had electronic fuel injection in place of the standard Nova's 2-barrel carburetor, a variable induction system to boost high-end performance and a stratospheric 7,500 RPM redline. Also, four-wheel independent sport suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Transmission choices were the same 5-speed manual & 3-speed automatic found in the more basic Nova & Nova CL models.
@@DStabs720 Get the **** outta here -- 108 horsepower is laughable by today's standards. This car would get spanked by a base Dodge Neon..... and those are also complete pieces of crap. Modern 4 cylinders make triple that horsepower.
With two NUMMI vechicles in the family, I was surprised to learn this specific model ever existed . The Twin Cam Nova must have sold in very small numbers.
It seemed to be much rarer than the FX16 Corolla even though it was faster. I recall FX16's running 10.1 or so to 60 in those days and a class mate bragging about it after he bought one. He still rode the bus to school to keep the miles low. They had one of the best looking l4 engines ever with the dual cams and red wires. We often admired his FX16 from the relative safety of the Bluebird school bus. It was in pristine condition when he took it to college at Ohio State where it proceeded to get destroyed on the mean streets of Columbus by road salt and drunken, imbecilic students. Haven't seen him or the car in years. Rumor has it, he is still riding the bus.....somewhere.
@@tmmurphy A fellow on UA-cam posted a couple of videos about his recently acquired Nova Twin Cam and said only 3,300 were made. Just type "Nova Twin Cam" into the search box and you can get the story from the horse's mouth. As a matter of fact, I see the link in the sidebar right now. BTW many NUMMI products never made it up to Canada where I live. They were frequently competing against made in Canada Corollas so the low value of the Canadian dollar made it unprofitable for GM to ship them here.
I purchased a 1986 Nova 5 Speed as a birthday present to myself. The car was super reliable, fun to drive, very easy on fuel (compared to my previous vehicle which averaged 10 mpg), and quite economical (car "paid for itself twice over). Lots of wonderful driving memories and adventures in that car. I sold the car with over 225,000 miles. The person I sold it to tacked on another 80,000 miles.(put a big smile on my face. Simply put, it was the best car I ever owned. One of GM's best products made in the '80's - thanks Toyota.
Buddy had an 86 base model Nova when we were in HS in the early 2000s. He was flabbergasted when our Spanish teacher made fun of it saying, no va. “No go” lol
@@39Hundred That was just a bunch of hype from purists that hated the "Toyota Nova" the damn thing sold very well in just about every market. The base model was cheap, efficient and damn near bulletproof. My ex gf had one and it just refused to die.
Same story for me, my buddy had a silver 85 base model. Rusty as shit but really reliable. It broke two timing belts and just retired it after 4 years because the fender was coming off and the mounts were gone.
I have this exact model: 1988 Chevy Nova Twin-Cam 5-speed stick. Original condition with just one rust hole by the driver side wheel well. (I've been oiling the underbody since getting it 10 years ago). 150,000 original miles. Burns no oil. Runs great and very fun to drive. Paid $250 for it from my sister's friend. Went over to look at his motorcycle and when going into his garage he said: "Want to buy a car?" It was small, ran okay and the price was right so I did. I use it as my backup car. Only about 3300 were made.
Had the ‘88 Grey regular cheaper version in ‘96 senior year of high school. Ended up selling it with 88k miles as I was convinced it was not cool enough. Kept randomly seeing the guy I sold it too every few years who eventually told me it was the best car he’d ever owned. Put 100k before he sold it. Said all it ever needed was a brake job.
Kind of like slapping the blazer name on a shitty crossover. Or slapping the corvette name on a parts bin car full of autozone vents. Or slapping the malibu name on a massive pile of shit. Or slapping the hummer brand onto a waste of sheet metal with a battery in it.
Another offender: 1980-82 Ford Thunderbird. The reason is Ford just simply put a legendary name on a Ford Fairmont with an ugly vinyl top with slow power.
Had new in 1987. I believe it was called a hatchback. More Toyota Corolla then anything else. For the time, it was a okay car. I had the real Chevrolet Nova in 1978. 👍
@@303nitzubishi4 they were pretty reliable. about a year ago my friend found a 86? nova at the junkyard that made it to 477,000 miles before being junked.
Was alot of this junk in the 80's ie: Chyysler LeBaron GTS Turbo, Chevy Sprint Turbo etc. etc. ...they were only a few good 4 cylinder American Turbos SVO Mustang and Shelby Dodge Omni Turbo and one or two others were the only decent ones.
@@economynotstable ...regardless, then name me one decent 4 cylinder non turbo American car. Only one I can think of was Cosworth Vega and I think that was 70's car and Cosworth was British made motor.
I drove a maroon one in the winter of my Junior year of high school 96/97. It was a hand me down from my Aunt. It was sitting for 3 years. I changed the oil. Bought 2 new cheap 13" Firestones and 2 used Firestones. The mechanic also did me a favor and changed the transmission fluid and coolant. I think the bill was like 125 bucks. Man I drove the shit out of that little car. Yeah Mustang and Camaro guys laughed at me. But no worries. It got me where I needed to go.
It is Toyota Corolla AE82 Liftback with extra butt. I had that car, but with ordinary 1.3 8V motor, still very quick 0-60. Very light weight, economical and spacious. No swaybars were attached, it was more of a cruising cheap family car. Top speed 110mph.
I still own one. Not a Twin Cam but a base 1.6 carb model. Its 32 years old and I drive it at least once a week. Its faded and beat but only has just shy of 80k original miles. People stop me all the time to ask what it is or to say they had one which reached unbelievable numbers on the odometer. The highest I've heard 397,000 miles. It was a HS car for my son, hes moved on to a few Jettas now. The Nova needs alot of brake line and body maintenance in the northeast but the Toyota 4A-LC engine is apparently limitless. Whenever another car in our household is down, we say just take the Nova... it's just reliable in its simplicity. Pure driver and machine with a radio and heater to make it bearable.
I rented one in 1987 and years later bought my Pontiac Vibe made in the same factory. If only GM had learned the lessons this partnership was supposed to produce.
My buddy had one in high school. We loved that 7500 rpm redline. I drained the trans fluid by accident doing an oil change lol. I never saw a drain plug on a transmission until that little car.
In 1985 my mom was new car shopping and she was looking at the new "Chevy" Nova and the Mazda 626. I pushed her big time to get that 626 and she listened.
1988 model year only before being replaced by the Geo Prizm - the Nova Twin Cam and its' Prizm GSi successor (available in as many as four colors, and as a hatchback which the Nova Twin Cam wasn't) were Americans' only opportunity to buy a 4A-GE in a four door, Toyota didn't offer a Corolla sport sedan themselves. Maybe it wouldn't have the image problems it does if they had back in the '80s.
Nice job noticing that...many Toyotas of the 80s/90s had those, my old Corolla did, every car should have that it makes such a difference in hot weather.
Thank you for posting this video. I remember this car. It was based on a Toyota Corolla which is still with us today. The Geo Prism replaced this car. It was an improvement. It too was still based on Corolla, but had unique sheet metal.
It was a Corolla. NUMMI was created to calm down Congress, who were threatening Japanese manufacturers with import limits. So they teamed up with GM to build Corollas here in the US. Other than trim and some cosmetics, they are almost completely interchangeable. The one advantage Nova's had was that dealers would discount them with rebates. Sometimes fairly large ones. Despite coming from the same factory, people vastly preferred Toyota over GM.
I had an 87 Nova. It wasn't fast, but that thing lasted forever. It had 213,000 miles before I got rid of it. It was still running when I traded it in, and I saw it out in town at a store parking lot not too long after.
I had an 87 Corolla and an 86 Nova. The Nova was considerably cheaper feeling than the Corolla even though they were basically the same car. Smelled different, fabrics were much more coarse, thinner carpet, less sound deadening etc. The Nova felt slapped together. Little things make a BIG difference.
@Allen Edwards I think there may have been something wrong with the mix they used with red. My Mom also had a base model in red. It kind of turned pink, with a powdery looking coat developing over time. I tried giving it a proper wash and wax and all the towels turned red. I didn't use anything harsh, the top layer of paint just came off. I carefully waxed it, let it sit, then waxed it again. I told her to keep up the washing and reapply wax each time because I was pretty sure I'd taken off at least the clear coat and probably some paint. Outside of that it was very reliable and cheap to drive, if embarrassingly slow.
@@SportsMusicCars no rust all original old man owned. I've replaced the valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket , the Ac fan went out, I replaced a bunch of 1/8 vacuum line as well. I also set the valves.
@@SportsMusicCars I agree 10k in 4 months is hard to believe. I probably got a # wrong . She has been working 2.5 hours away for a couple months so she has definitely put some miles on it. But it has almost 350k now and unless you run it out of oil or coolant I doubt it will stop. The 4a-c / 3 speed auto is good for about 70mph cruising speed. It's cold blooded but when it's warmed up it is a really smooth running motor. I redid the front end and new struts. It steers really well. No shakes, very firm brakes that stop straight. A quality of build and material that you dont get any more. All the knobs are still there. Everything works. Only option is a rear window defrost. It doesn't even have a passenger mirror from the factory! Cracks me up.
In the early 90's I was a Co-Manager with a guy that drove a Geo Prizm. We had to alternate all day Sunday shifts. The shift was 8:30am to 10 pm. Not once but twice the guy left his car running accidentally the whole entire shift! Almost 14 hours!
Had 2 of the base version NUMMI Novas--a 5spd + an auto. Drove each of them 200k. Boring, but durable and useful design. Good build quality + easy to work on. The twincam would have been almost perfect.
YES! I had one of these (not the twin cam) but an 87 Nova! It was basically a Corolla with some Geo Prizm/Spectrum thrown in, so damn reliable! Slow as a dead dog tho
I had an 87 as well. I was a teenager, and was not easy on it, but it was an absolute workhorse, and wouldn't die. It was still running at 213,000 miles when I got rid of it.
I wonder if the Twin-Cam Nova was available with an automatic? If it was, I want one. That same engine was available in the Corolla FX16 and it did have an available automatic.
I passed my driver's test in a white 1987 Nova (obviously not a Twin Cam). This car was plain and very basic, even for that era, and the hard plastic dashboard was slightly dated. John Davis wouldn't have liked the lack of gauges - in fact, our car didn't even have a tachometer! It was also not a fast car, the 3-speed auto was a dog especially on highway entrance ramps or up any sort of hills. It wouldn't be acceptable in a new car today, but driving was different back then! With that, there was still quite a bit of upside to the old Corolla/Nova ("Cornova"?) The seats were firm but supportive, the car returned very good fuel economy and it had a poised, comfortable ride. What it lacked in acceleration and excitement it made up for with predictable dynamics in most other areas. Most importantly, this car was very reliable (not much to go wrong, really) - which is not something you could always say about period Cavaliers, Chevettes and other small GM cars. I don't remember anything ever going wrong with the car other than some carburettor issues (as it didn't have fuel injection) later in its life and some early rust/rot forming in the usual places around the door sills and wheel arches. Still, this car was a good car in that it did what it set out to do. It was never going to be the type of car that set hearts on fire but if you wanted budget transportation that actually worked when it was supposed to, the Corolla/Nova of this period was a solid choice.
We rented one in January 1987 in Vancouver, BC and drove it through Washington State . I don't think I had even heard of the new Chevy Nova. It was the first time I had driven a 'Japanese' car and I could not believe how quiet/smooth the overhead cam engine was compared to the pushrod engines I had experienced before. The Nova was also the most fuel efficient car I had ever driven. Eventually GM stopped selling NUMMI vehicles in Canada because they could not compete in price with Canadian-built Corollas. Finally, the NUMMI-built Pontiac Vibe came along and as soon as I heard GM was bringing them to Canada I decided it would be my next car. 15 years later and it is easily the most reliable, economical and practical car I have ever owned.
my mom had the identical corolla of this in 2000 btw 1.6 4cyl with110hp was BIG BUSINESS Back in the 80s especially considering the power to weight ratio.... Competition was barely cracking out 90 HP
I actuall see more than a little resemblence to our Vauxhall Nova here in Britain from 1983-1993 before the Corsa cma eout. Made as a rebadged Opel Corsa A nd built in Zaragossa Spain, it came in a 4 door saloon version too, one of the last GM/Vauxhall's to have that. Makes sense even thought these 2 cars I don't think are related in any way both companies are owned by GM and maybe there is some similarities here and there.
I remember when I first saw one of these and thought the rims were ugly and bland. I was surprised it had 4 wheel disc brakes though , small cars back then always had rear drum brakes as well as many mid sized and large cars. Now just about all cars have 4 wheel disc brakes.
There is a very interesting NPR podcast on the history of NUMMI. Every gearhead should listen to it. If you don't have time, I'll give you the short version: GM didn't learn anything from Toyota.
You are correct. GM admitted they had fallen behind Toyota by seeking a joint venture in the first place. In the longer term GM was too arrogant to commit to making reliable cars. The rest is history.
theres a small channel on here called Hello Road, the guy has one of these and a geo prizm gsi (basically the successor car), if anyones interested he has a few videos on them!
34 more horses than my 1986 Nova. Was a great car, and I needed the power of this car, but not at $4,000 more than my standard Nova! $13,000 sticker was Buick Regal money 😉
The Chevrolet Nova that was made by a joint venture between GM and Toyota for Chevrolet was a wise move. It is NOT a sacrilege to Chevrolet fans, for this version of Nova actually helped Chevrolet. Nova was twice the car Cavalier ever was, and unlike Cavalier, Nova was a very reliable car. Prizm was twice the car Cavalier ever was..
Looks like it had the same interior as the other models. Maybe GTI like seats and a trunk spoiler would have set it apart from the other Novas on the lot. At a $2500 premium it still looked like a base model from a distance.
A real piece of crap car! These particular Nova's didn't last more than a few years after production, then people just started junking them because of how badly built they were.
@@thunderray1987 I had a 72' Nova. It was a beast! ie: .5inch lift cam, 4 speed Muncie, 750 4b Holley, 12 Bolt rear ....looking back Motoweek "should" be embarrased to say this 80's Jap Nova was the legacy of the legendary 60's-70's beast ....its downright shameful 🤭
What's funny is that this car outperformed both the 250 and 307 equipped '72 Novas and was only 0.3 seconds behind the 350 automatic. Only the 350 manual (barely) and the SS were faster. It also got twice the mileage of the 350 manual.
110 hp and badged a SS. I thought giving the SS badge to the early 2000's 200 hp Monte Carlo's was a stretch. Still, 200 hp was more than the 80's SS Monte's I guess. In summary, for a long time, the SS badge was little more than an appearance package. I guess it's all relative to the times.
x1WARRIOR1x I believe I remember seeing it on here maybe a few months ago, and when it originally aired. So, your best bet is to look through the listings of videos.
Really wish Motor Trend had done a comparison test of this and the V6 powered Cavalier Z24, which was restyled for 1988 and IMO kind of a hot car for the time. Shows what a hot mess GM was in the 80's/90's, I mean you had how many different small car platforms??? Saturn, the J-car Cavalier(with Buick, Pontiac and Olds variants), and this Toyota Corolla with a bowtie. Then with the real shitboxes, you had sold at the same time the Chevette, Suzuki built Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro and the Daewoo based Pontiac Lemans.
@@YaBoiZackbannedmefordissent As a Cadillac fanboy, I somehow forgot about that abomination. Kind of like how they say childhood trauma can be repressed and forgotten in your subconscious lol. BTW you don't happen to be from the Franklin TN area???
This was the car Romy and Michelle referred to before they borrowed the Jaguar. Michelle: “Wait, if the people at the reunion see us pulling up in a Nova, won’t they know that we’re not really businesswomen?”
One of those oddball cars that time has forgot. There were a lot of neat 80’s and early 90’s cars. Now everything is just bland and manufacturers are afraid to be different.
No offense but this isn't the best example of "diverse" car desogns, its just a rebadged Toyota, on top of being another boxy GTA San Andreas reject car, like almost every sedan in the 80s. This wasn't even minimum effort, this car was made with no effort whatsoever, " make it shaped like a car, and throw a Toyota Drivetrain in it"
BigWheel none taken but I didn’t say it was a best effort. The Toyota FX16 that used this same motor was also an oddball car in my opinion. Isuzu Impulse, Oldsmobile Calais quad 442, Omni glh, Nissan Pulsar, etc. are all quirky interesting cars to me along with a lot of others.
@@black98rt I suppose but there's still oddball regular cars out there The honda HRV is just a bland crossover, but its got an interesting interior in my opinion and some had 6 speed manuals for example, there's also the scion box cars and the old pontiac GTPs were somewhat quirky but also bland. There's some out there still but they'll likely not find an audience before they all rust and fall apart.
BigWheel yeah oddball can be applied to a lot of cars and it’s definition is going to be different between people. The Grand Prix you mentioned had an oddball variant too. They were offered turbocharged in the early 90’s and McLaren actually helped with the development on them. My last car was an 05 maxima 6 speed manual which apparently only about 1% produced came with that transmission so it’s kind of an oddball. I also had an 04 Passat diesel 2.0 which was only available for a year and a half. Also still have a 98 dodge neon r/t which is kind of an oddball. I guess I’m an oddball too.
@@black98rtI really liked the first gens of those neon R/Ts and the GP you're thinking of is the ASC McLaren which are quite rare and can fetch a decent price in good shape my current car is a 03 bonneville which I like for the weird interior design with it's over abundance of vents and dials and buttons (which are actually pretty decent once you get used to the ergonomic layout) I want to eventually buy an SSEI supercharged but the problem is finding one worth buying.
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On July 16th, 1985 I got my license at the age of 25 and didn't know anything about cars. On July 19th I went to a dealership and saw the "85" Chevy Nova. I bought it July 20th. It was a 4 door stick shift and my first car. I didn't even know how to drive it. That car never gave me any trouble. I drove it all over the US. It wasn't anything for me to call my sister to say I was on my way and proceed drive 960 miles. Many a mechanic tried to buy that car from me. I had it until 1999 when a mechanic destoryed(killed) my Nova's engine. There were over 290,000 miles on that wonderful blue car. I have such fond memories of that car. Chevy nailed it when they teamed with Toyota. Oh, the memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sleeper with a 4AG. I used to own an '87 FX16 and it was a fun car. Also got to tour NUMMI during it's last few years when they were still giving tours. That was fun.
Chevy Nova 88 is small car
I used to love this car when I was in college. Ended up getting a Geo Prizm Gsi. Loved it
Ironically, the Geo Prizm actually replaced the Nova when Geo arrived in 1989. Both were good cars, mostly due to the Toyota DNA.
The 'Chevy/Geo Prism' was basically a Corolla with GM buttons and trims. But it was built on the same line,that 'Nummi' plant, as the Corolla, out one door it was a Toyota,out the other it was a Prism, a few thousand less than a Corolla,nearly the same car for a lot less money. Wish I had kept my Prism!
Now, THIS is a car I would LOVE to find!!!!!!!!! Using the same 108-horsepower 4A-GE 1.6-liter 4-cylinder from the Corolla FX-16, Corolla GT-S & MR-2, it had electronic fuel injection in place of the standard Nova's 2-barrel carburetor, a variable induction system to boost high-end performance and a stratospheric 7,500 RPM redline. Also, four-wheel independent sport suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Transmission choices were the same 5-speed manual & 3-speed automatic found in the more basic Nova & Nova CL models.
4-speed auto for the Twin Cam ;)
Why would you want this f****** piece of s***
the 4A-GE engine sounds great! And if that thing handles as good as my 92 corolla that thing has to be a beast!
billy heaton the 4age is one of the best 4cyl motors ever made. You have no idea what you are talking about
@@DStabs720 Get the **** outta here -- 108 horsepower is laughable by today's standards. This car would get spanked by a base Dodge Neon..... and those are also complete pieces of crap. Modern 4 cylinders make triple that horsepower.
With two NUMMI vechicles in the family, I was surprised to learn this specific model ever existed . The Twin Cam Nova must have sold in very small numbers.
It seemed to be much rarer than the FX16 Corolla even though it was faster. I recall FX16's running 10.1 or so to 60 in those days and a class mate bragging about it after he bought one. He still rode the bus to school to keep the miles low. They had one of the best looking l4 engines ever with the dual cams and red wires. We often admired his FX16 from the relative safety of the Bluebird school bus. It was in pristine condition when he took it to college at Ohio State where it proceeded to get destroyed on the mean streets of Columbus by road salt and drunken, imbecilic students. Haven't seen him or the car in years. Rumor has it, he is still riding the bus.....somewhere.
@@tmmurphy A fellow on UA-cam posted a couple of videos about his recently acquired Nova Twin Cam and said only 3,300 were made. Just type "Nova Twin Cam" into the search box and you can get the story from the horse's mouth. As a matter of fact, I see the link in the sidebar right now. BTW many NUMMI products never made it up to Canada where I live. They were frequently competing against made in Canada Corollas so the low value of the Canadian dollar made it unprofitable for GM to ship them here.
I purchased a 1986 Nova 5 Speed as a birthday present to myself. The car was super reliable, fun to drive, very easy on fuel (compared to my previous vehicle which averaged 10 mpg), and quite economical (car "paid for itself twice over).
Lots of wonderful driving memories and adventures in that car. I sold the car with over 225,000 miles. The person I sold it to tacked on another 80,000 miles.(put a big smile on my face.
Simply put, it was the best car I ever owned. One of GM's best products made in the '80's - thanks Toyota.
I love Chevy Nova, great little car
Buddy had an 86 base model Nova when we were in HS in the early 2000s. He was flabbergasted when our Spanish teacher made fun of it saying, no va. “No go” lol
XUgrad I heard about that. The Nova didn’t sell well in Spanish speaking countries because of the name lol
@@39Hundred actually they sold pretty well south of the border
@@39Hundred
That was just a bunch of hype from purists that hated the "Toyota Nova" the damn thing sold very well in just about every market. The base model was cheap, efficient and damn near bulletproof. My ex gf had one and it just refused to die.
Same story for me, my buddy had a silver 85 base model. Rusty as shit but really reliable. It broke two timing belts and just retired it after 4 years because the fender was coming off and the mounts were gone.
I have this exact model: 1988 Chevy Nova Twin-Cam 5-speed stick. Original condition with just one rust hole by the driver side wheel well. (I've been oiling the underbody since getting it 10 years ago). 150,000 original miles. Burns no oil. Runs great and very fun to drive. Paid $250 for it from my sister's friend. Went over to look at his motorcycle and when going into his garage he said: "Want to buy a car?" It was small, ran okay and the price was right so I did. I use it as my backup car. Only about 3300 were made.
Consider me mildly envious.
You ever have it just die out on you?? Then turn but not start? Timing chain distributor fuel pump all new
When you're willing to sell I'm all ears
$250.00 American?? What was wrong with it when you bought it?? This seems too good to be true!
Had the ‘88 Grey regular cheaper version in ‘96 senior year of high school. Ended up selling it with 88k miles as I was convinced it was not cool enough. Kept randomly seeing the guy I sold it too every few years who eventually told me it was the best car he’d ever owned. Put 100k before he sold it. Said all it ever needed was a brake job.
Typical Toyota. Maybe someday reliability will become cool.
For some reason I do not think we will ever see a YT video that starts, "THIS IS A 1988 CHEVY NOVA TWIN CAM........................................."
At least "Hello Road" has made several videos on his Nova Twin Cam. Such a neat little car. Pretty much a Chevota like the Prism that replaced it.
Doug, where ARE you....................
Hello Road /Ethan Tufts channel. He drives one!
..and now, let's go over the quirks and features...of the NO-va.
THISSSS
These might have sold better with a different name. Slapping a "Nova" badge on a Corolla in 1985 was sacrilege to Chevy fans.
Kind of like slapping the blazer name on a shitty crossover. Or slapping the corvette name on a parts bin car full of autozone vents. Or slapping the malibu name on a massive pile of shit. Or slapping the hummer brand onto a waste of sheet metal with a battery in it.
Who can forget the Daewoo built Pontiac Lemans hatchback? Ugh.
@Snake1989 - very similar to the Ford Eggspire.
Another offender: 1980-82 Ford Thunderbird. The reason is Ford just simply put a legendary name on a Ford Fairmont with an ugly vinyl top with slow power.
@@donaldwilson2620 at least it was based on another Ford.
So weird to see a gm/delco stereo head unit in an 80s Toyota interior.
Omg my grandmother had one of these. Never took care of it, never died. Good thing it was based on a Toyota Corolla
Had one in college in the early 1990's. I put alot of miles on it i loved it.
Had new in 1987. I believe it was called a hatchback.
More Toyota Corolla then anything else. For the time, it was a okay car. I had the real Chevrolet Nova in 1978. 👍
Agreed. I had a 79 Nova for many years and it was the last of the TRUE Novas.
Ahh I thought this car looked familiar as my mom drove an '86 Corolla. Was the Chevy still as reliable as the Toyotas?
The car here is a 4-door sedan. A 5-door liftback model was also available.
philberto78 Yup.
No 5 door twin cam model.
Probably the most reliable Chevy ever.
Definitely not this generation 85-88 but the next two gens 89 and later would go well over 200k with minimal issue. Just like most other Toyotas
@@303nitzubishi4 they were pretty reliable. about a year ago my friend found a 86? nova at the junkyard that made it to 477,000 miles before being junked.
Trouble is most were carburetors.89 plus were all EFI
The Nova and Prizm were excellent, while Cavalier was a piece of crap.
The timing belts were kind of an issue. Very reliable and fun car though.
Did not know this thing existed.
@Steve Silvas i know the corolla based nova existed. Just not this trim level. Its basically a corolla fx in sedan form.
Because it was short lived junk brother.
Was alot of this junk in the 80's ie: Chyysler LeBaron GTS Turbo, Chevy Sprint Turbo etc. etc. ...they were only a few good 4 cylinder American Turbos SVO Mustang and Shelby Dodge Omni Turbo and one or two others were the only decent ones.
@@economynotstable ...regardless, then name me one decent 4 cylinder non turbo American car. Only one I can think of was Cosworth Vega and I think that was 70's car and Cosworth was British made motor.
And dont say the 155 or 150 something 4 cylinder Chevy from the 60's (Iron Duke) you had to do shit tons work to that thing to make any kind of power.
Someone on my block had one in the early 90s. Didn't give it a second look back then, but I would absolutely drive one today if I could find one.
I drove a maroon one in the winter of my Junior year of high school 96/97. It was a hand me down from my Aunt. It was sitting for 3 years. I changed the oil. Bought 2 new cheap 13" Firestones and 2 used Firestones. The mechanic also did me a favor and changed the transmission fluid and coolant. I think the bill was like 125 bucks. Man I drove the shit out of that little car. Yeah Mustang and Camaro guys laughed at me. But no worries. It got me where I needed to go.
You got the last laugh when maintenance and insurance bills came around!!🤣🤣I'm Proud of you, Son!!😎😎
Most underrated series of cars to ever exist, I own 7 5th generation novarollas.
Sell me one please?
I had one in high school and college 1992 to 1996 it was great had over 200k when i traded it.
This would be a fun little city car even today. Would be great for my 15 minute commute to work and the grocery store.
skorpiius You should get work in the grocery store and simplify your life.
It is Toyota Corolla AE82 Liftback with extra butt. I had that car, but with ordinary 1.3 8V motor, still very quick 0-60. Very light weight, economical and spacious. No swaybars were attached, it was more of a cruising cheap family car. Top speed 110mph.
The Nova name also appeared on the Toyota Corolla in Australia, where it was also sold there as the Holden Nova.
My parents had the hatchback, and I remember it fondly.
He hit the nail on the head by saying that’s the most trouble free car in the GM showroom
This is wild. GM was doing it's Quad-4 thing, and then sold this badge engineered Toyota. This twin-cam was an impressive engine for its time!
I still own one. Not a Twin Cam but a base 1.6 carb model. Its 32 years old and I drive it at least once a week. Its faded and beat but only has just shy of 80k original miles. People stop me all the time to ask what it is or to say they had one which reached unbelievable numbers on the odometer. The highest I've heard 397,000 miles. It was a HS car for my son, hes moved on to a few Jettas now. The Nova needs alot of brake line and body maintenance in the northeast but the Toyota 4A-LC engine is apparently limitless. Whenever another car in our household is down, we say just take the Nova... it's just reliable in its simplicity. Pure driver and machine with a radio and heater to make it bearable.
I rented one in 1987 and years later bought my Pontiac Vibe made in the same factory. If only GM had learned the lessons this partnership was supposed to produce.
You ever have it just die out on you?? Then turn but not start? Timing chain distributor fuel pump all new
My buddy had one in high school. We loved that 7500 rpm redline. I drained the trans fluid by accident doing an oil change lol. I never saw a drain plug on a transmission until that little car.
The most reliable GM of the 80s lol. Or possibly ever. Oh yea there was the Pontic vibe too. That was a good car lol
One of the best "Chevys" ever built!
In 1985 my mom was new car shopping and she was looking at the new "Chevy" Nova and the Mazda 626. I pushed her big time to get that 626 and she listened.
1988 model year only before being replaced by the Geo Prizm - the Nova Twin Cam and its' Prizm GSi successor (available in as many as four colors, and as a hatchback which the Nova Twin Cam wasn't) were Americans' only opportunity to buy a 4A-GE in a four door, Toyota didn't offer a Corolla sport sedan themselves. Maybe it wouldn't have the image problems it does if they had back in the '80s.
Fun fact, the NUMMI plant in Fremont California is where Tesla's are being built today.
At 3:30 below the steering column - sure miss that crotch vent!! Wish they would be that feature back in newer vehicles!
Nice job noticing that...many Toyotas of the 80s/90s had those, my old Corolla did, every car should have that it makes such a difference in hot weather.
Meh. Just buy some gold bond powder. Sprinkle that on your crotch, feels like a blizzard in your pants. You can do that in any car without that vent.
An old friend of mine had an 86 Nova base model. Slowest car on the road, but Toyota reliability.
Yugo was slower most likely.
"The driver gets most of what HE needs", couldn't say that 32 yrs later🤔😋
I noticed that too. But considering that the Chevy/Toyota Nova had absolutely no testosterone it is still emasculating enough for modern times.
I got one she still got the juice lol
Imma slip a r.s in there eventually then it'll be a sleeper
Thank you for posting this video. I remember this car. It was based on a Toyota Corolla which is still with us today. The Geo Prism replaced this car. It was an improvement. It too was still based on Corolla, but had unique sheet metal.
I have read the NUMMI Nova was based on the JDM-only Toyota Sprinter.
It was a Corolla. NUMMI was created to calm down Congress, who were threatening Japanese manufacturers with import limits. So they teamed up with GM to build Corollas here in the US. Other than trim and some cosmetics, they are almost completely interchangeable.
The one advantage Nova's had was that dealers would discount them with rebates. Sometimes fairly large ones. Despite coming from the same factory, people vastly preferred Toyota over GM.
Had an 89 Corolla GTS. Bulletproof and a lot more fun for less money
Those were sharp little cars.
I didn’t even know this thing existed. I’d love to have one though I don’t have a use for it lol
My first car in 1992 , I loved it.
Never saw 1 of these Novas before. I wonder what the production numbers were.
They only made this style of Nova based on the Toyota Corolla from 1985-1989, then it became the Geo Prizm for 1990.
I had an 87 Nova. It wasn't fast, but that thing lasted forever. It had 213,000 miles before I got rid of it. It was still running when I traded it in, and I saw it out in town at a store parking lot not too long after.
Roughly 4 times the lifespan of a Chevy Cavalier from that era.
You ever have it just die out on you?? Then turn but not start? Timing chain distributor fuel pump all new
@@mamtam6219 Only once, but in my case, it was indeed a broken timing belt.
It's like putting a spiked collar on your chihuahua. lol
lol
I had an 87 Corolla and an 86 Nova. The Nova was considerably cheaper feeling than the Corolla even though they were basically the same car. Smelled different, fabrics were much more coarse, thinner carpet, less sound deadening etc. The Nova felt slapped together. Little things make a BIG difference.
@Allen Edwards I think there may have been something wrong with the mix they used with red. My Mom also had a base model in red. It kind of turned pink, with a powdery looking coat developing over time. I tried giving it a proper wash and wax and all the towels turned red. I didn't use anything harsh, the top layer of paint just came off.
I carefully waxed it, let it sit, then waxed it again. I told her to keep up the washing and reapply wax each time because I was pretty sure I'd taken off at least the clear coat and probably some paint.
Outside of that it was very reliable and cheap to drive, if embarrassingly slow.
i found a cherry 87 Nova. My wife drives it. 338k miles and going strong.
wow
@@SportsMusicCars what's crazy is since I posted that 4 months ago she has put a hair under 10k more on it so it's at almost 348k.
@@pauliecopez2683 wow. that is hard to believe, quite frankly. no rust? what has been replaced?
@@SportsMusicCars no rust all original old man owned. I've replaced the valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket , the Ac fan went out, I replaced a bunch of 1/8 vacuum line as well. I also set the valves.
@@SportsMusicCars I agree 10k in 4 months is hard to believe. I probably got a # wrong . She has been working 2.5 hours away for a couple months so she has definitely put some miles on it. But it has almost 350k now and unless you run it out of oil or coolant I doubt it will stop. The 4a-c / 3 speed auto is good for about 70mph cruising speed. It's cold blooded but when it's warmed up it is a really smooth running motor. I redid the front end and new struts. It steers really well. No shakes, very firm brakes that stop straight. A quality of build and material that you dont get any more. All the knobs are still there. Everything works. Only option is a rear window defrost. It doesn't even have a passenger mirror from the factory! Cracks me up.
In the early 90's I was a Co-Manager with a guy that drove a Geo Prizm. We had to alternate all day Sunday shifts. The shift was 8:30am to 10 pm. Not once but twice the guy left his car running accidentally the whole entire shift! Almost 14 hours!
Had 2 of the base version NUMMI Novas--a 5spd + an auto. Drove each of them 200k. Boring, but durable and useful design. Good build quality + easy to work on. The twincam would have been almost perfect.
I wish I had picked up a hatchback back in the day but I did eventually get a Pontiac Vibe from the same plant.
Yes!!! Been dying to see a Nova review!
So have I.
Aah the good old days.
This is the best looking AE82 Corolla in my opinion. I'm left to dream how awesome an AE86 version would have looked.
Nothing more than a Toyota with a Chevy emblem on it.
Better a Toyota than a chevy
alphatrion100 they had those too. In Japan Toyota sold the Chevy Cavalier as the Toyota Cavalier.
@@bikingD They also sold the Pontiac Vibe as the Toyota Voltz.
Hey MotorWeek, do you have a retro review of the 1986 Yugo GV, and Alfa Romeo Milano, where Joyce Braga had white pants on?
Sounds like an old fantasy lol
YES! I had one of these (not the twin cam) but an 87 Nova! It was basically a Corolla with some Geo Prizm/Spectrum thrown in, so damn reliable! Slow as a dead dog tho
I had an 87 as well. I was a teenager, and was not easy on it, but it was an absolute workhorse, and wouldn't die. It was still running at 213,000 miles when I got rid of it.
Imagine if we got a USDM Levin AE86 (AE88 for us North Americans) as the Nova SS. That would've been amazing!
The NUMMI plant in Fremont now makes Teslas.
Would have loved to see an AE86 based Nova SS
Never seen one, I'm sure at that price it wasn't a very popular option. As funny as it may sound, future collectible?
Wow this made my day
I wonder if the Twin-Cam Nova was available with an automatic? If it was, I want one. That same engine was available in the Corolla FX16 and it did have an available automatic.
I've seen 1
I passed my driver's test in a white 1987 Nova (obviously not a Twin Cam). This car was plain and very basic, even for that era, and the hard plastic dashboard was slightly dated. John Davis wouldn't have liked the lack of gauges - in fact, our car didn't even have a tachometer! It was also not a fast car, the 3-speed auto was a dog especially on highway entrance ramps or up any sort of hills. It wouldn't be acceptable in a new car today, but driving was different back then!
With that, there was still quite a bit of upside to the old Corolla/Nova ("Cornova"?) The seats were firm but supportive, the car returned very good fuel economy and it had a poised, comfortable ride. What it lacked in acceleration and excitement it made up for with predictable dynamics in most other areas. Most importantly, this car was very reliable (not much to go wrong, really) - which is not something you could always say about period Cavaliers, Chevettes and other small GM cars. I don't remember anything ever going wrong with the car other than some carburettor issues (as it didn't have fuel injection) later in its life and some early rust/rot forming in the usual places around the door sills and wheel arches. Still, this car was a good car in that it did what it set out to do. It was never going to be the type of car that set hearts on fire but if you wanted budget transportation that actually worked when it was supposed to, the Corolla/Nova of this period was a solid choice.
We rented one in January 1987 in Vancouver, BC and drove it through Washington State . I don't think I had even heard of the new Chevy Nova. It was the first time I had driven a 'Japanese' car and I could not believe how quiet/smooth the overhead cam engine was compared to the pushrod engines I had experienced before. The Nova was also the most fuel efficient car I had ever driven. Eventually GM stopped selling NUMMI vehicles in Canada because they could not compete in price with Canadian-built Corollas. Finally, the NUMMI-built Pontiac Vibe came along and as soon as I heard GM was bringing them to Canada I decided it would be my next car. 15 years later and it is easily the most reliable, economical and practical car I have ever owned.
Now they're building Teslas in that plant in Fremont
my mom had the identical corolla of this in 2000 btw 1.6 4cyl with110hp was BIG BUSINESS Back in the 80s especially considering the power to weight ratio.... Competition was barely cracking out 90 HP
For comparison sake, the 1.6 in my 1988 Mercury Tracer/Mazda 323 produced only 84 HP.
Right Lane Hog EXACTLY!!
@@JDMHaze Precisely!!!
Right Lane Hog the Yaris today gets the same HP as this nova lol
This was probably faster than many of the Novas of the 60s and 70s
Most reliable car that ever wore a Chevy badge
I'm here before the "BRO ITS A CHEVY AE86" comments
What you spec for that model year it's 1988 the only the V8 option is the 1988 Monte Carlo SS
I actuall see more than a little resemblence to our Vauxhall Nova here in Britain from 1983-1993 before the Corsa cma eout. Made as a rebadged Opel Corsa A nd built in Zaragossa Spain, it came in a 4 door saloon version too, one of the last GM/Vauxhall's to have that.
Makes sense even thought these 2 cars I don't think are related in any way both companies are owned by GM and maybe there is some similarities here and there.
I remember when I first saw one of these and thought the rims were ugly and bland. I was surprised it had 4 wheel disc brakes though , small cars back then always had rear drum brakes as well as many mid sized and large cars. Now just about all cars have 4 wheel disc brakes.
There is a very interesting NPR podcast on the history of NUMMI. Every gearhead should listen to it. If you don't have time, I'll give you the short version: GM didn't learn anything from Toyota.
You are correct. GM admitted they had fallen behind Toyota by seeking a joint venture in the first place. In the longer term GM was too arrogant to commit to making reliable cars. The rest is history.
JJ yes this is the fastest car Chevy has ever produced
My mom had a 86 Nova base.
3:38 John: IF YOU WANT ALL THE TWIN-CAM HARDWARE, YOU’D BETTER LIKE THE COLOR BLACK! LOL
He sounds like rhe flex tape guy i forgot his name
Phil Swift
I had one had the corolla engine I loved....that car then they made the Geo prism
who else is wondering if there is one of these still registered and on the road......lol
I bet there is somewhere...
Some old lady is driving to her local bake sale right now in one.
@@DefWun Yes, an old lady that knows how to drive a manual.
Based on a Toyota Corolla? I'm sure there's quite a few out there sleeping in some old lady's garage.
@@DefWun Yes, at 7500 rpm because she forgot to shift.
Now I wish I had one. Not bad
My 5th grade teacher had one with a hatchback.
Been waiting for the retro review on the 92 Ford escort GT
Still the Loud and Proud owner of a 1991 Escort Pony. The 1.9 SEFI with 4 speed overdrive just won't die. I've tried.
theres a small channel on here called Hello Road, the guy has one of these and a geo prizm gsi (basically the successor car), if anyones interested he has a few videos on them!
I love black actually so this car would be just fine for me
34 more horses than my 1986 Nova. Was a great car, and I needed the power of this car, but not at $4,000 more than my standard Nova! $13,000 sticker was Buick Regal money 😉
Yeah that price tag killed it... that’s 5.0 Mustang money from that era also... lots of choices to be had for that kind of money then
I wonder what the Escort GT or GTI of that era cost.
@@bigretardhalo $13700 for my 1988 Mustang GT after rebate so you are right on with the price.
@@rightlanehog3151 Escort GT was about $11000 in those years give or take a few bucks depending on what rebates were at the time
@@emeyer6963 That makes the Nova look like a bargain.
The Chevrolet Nova that was made by a joint venture between GM and Toyota for Chevrolet was a wise move. It is NOT a sacrilege to Chevrolet fans, for this version of Nova actually helped Chevrolet. Nova was twice the car Cavalier ever was, and unlike Cavalier, Nova was a very reliable car. Prizm was twice the car Cavalier ever was..
The official car of the 40 year old virgin
Looks like it had the same interior as the other models. Maybe GTI like seats and a trunk spoiler would have set it apart from the other Novas on the lot. At a $2500 premium it still looked like a base model from a distance.
The "SS Nova of the 80's" ...lmao, how embarrassing
A real piece of crap car! These particular Nova's didn't last more than a few years after production, then people just started junking them because of how badly built they were.
@@thunderray1987 I had a 72' Nova. It was a beast! ie: .5inch lift cam, 4 speed Muncie, 750 4b Holley, 12 Bolt rear ....looking back Motoweek "should" be embarrased to say this 80's Jap Nova was the legacy of the legendary 60's-70's beast ....its downright shameful 🤭
@@thunderray1987 ...at least they didn't say some nonsense like it was the Yenko Nova of the 60's
What's funny is that this car outperformed both the 250 and 307 equipped '72 Novas and was only 0.3 seconds behind the 350 automatic. Only the 350 manual (barely) and the SS were faster. It also got twice the mileage of the 350 manual.
@@wesley00042 lol I had an optioned SS 72' Nova ....no 88' Jap Nova was beating that car
This was my first car in 2001. My mom gave it to me after she bought a new car. At 6'3 I looked like I was driving a clown car lol
Vehicles were smaller then as SUVs had not taken over.
110 hp and badged a SS. I thought giving the SS badge to the early 2000's 200 hp Monte Carlo's was a stretch. Still, 200 hp was more than the 80's SS Monte's I guess. In summary, for a long time, the SS badge was little more than an appearance package. I guess it's all relative to the times.
The Twin Cam wasn't badged "SS" but it was black with red pin striping.
That lady hand shifts so delicately omfg
A respectable 0 - 60 time of only one 1 week.
Do you guys have a Nissan stanza wagon 4WD review?
x1WARRIOR1x I believe I remember seeing it on here maybe a few months ago, and when it originally aired. So, your best bet is to look through the listings of videos.
The 80's Nova is what I point to the most when talking about "wtf happened to this car?" discussions :P
Really wish Motor Trend had done a comparison test of this and the V6 powered Cavalier Z24, which was restyled for 1988 and IMO kind of a hot car for the time. Shows what a hot mess GM was in the 80's/90's, I mean you had how many different small car platforms??? Saturn, the J-car Cavalier(with Buick, Pontiac and Olds variants), and this Toyota Corolla with a bowtie. Then with the real shitboxes, you had sold at the same time the Chevette, Suzuki built Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro and the Daewoo based Pontiac Lemans.
EDIT Motorweek, not Motor Trend lol
Don't forget the Cadillac J-body variant that they somehow made for seven years...
@@YaBoiZackbannedmefordissent As a Cadillac fanboy, I somehow forgot about that abomination. Kind of like how they say childhood trauma can be repressed and forgotten in your subconscious lol. BTW you don't happen to be from the Franklin TN area???
This was the car Romy and Michelle referred to before they borrowed the Jaguar.
Michelle: “Wait, if the people at the reunion see us pulling up in a Nova, won’t they know that we’re not really businesswomen?”
Toyota ftw!
One of those oddball cars that time has forgot. There were a lot of neat 80’s and early 90’s cars. Now everything is just bland and manufacturers are afraid to be different.
No offense but this isn't the best example of "diverse" car desogns, its just a rebadged Toyota, on top of being another boxy GTA San Andreas reject car, like almost every sedan in the 80s. This wasn't even minimum effort, this car was made with no effort whatsoever, " make it shaped like a car, and throw a Toyota Drivetrain in it"
BigWheel none taken but I didn’t say it was a best effort. The Toyota FX16 that used this same motor was also an oddball car in my opinion. Isuzu Impulse, Oldsmobile Calais quad 442, Omni glh, Nissan Pulsar, etc. are all quirky interesting cars to me along with a lot of others.
@@black98rt I suppose but there's still oddball regular cars out there
The honda HRV is just a bland crossover, but its got an interesting interior in my opinion and some had 6 speed manuals for example, there's also the scion box cars and the old pontiac GTPs were somewhat quirky but also bland. There's some out there still but they'll likely not find an audience before they all rust and fall apart.
BigWheel yeah oddball can be applied to a lot of cars and it’s definition is going to be different between people. The Grand Prix you mentioned had an oddball variant too. They were offered turbocharged in the early 90’s and McLaren actually helped with the development on them. My last car was an 05 maxima 6 speed manual which apparently only about 1% produced came with that transmission so it’s kind of an oddball. I also had an 04 Passat diesel 2.0 which was only available for a year and a half. Also still have a 98 dodge neon r/t which is kind of an oddball. I guess I’m an oddball too.
@@black98rtI really liked the first gens of those neon R/Ts and the GP you're thinking of is the ASC McLaren which are quite rare and can fetch a decent price in good shape my current car is a 03 bonneville which I like for the weird interior design with it's over abundance of vents and dials and buttons (which are actually pretty decent once you get used to the ergonomic layout) I want to eventually buy an SSEI supercharged but the problem is finding one worth buying.
Maybe sales were low because it wasn’t a real Nova…
Fujiwara 4age chevy
now i want one for some weird reason
My ex gf had a blue '86 if i remember. Certainly not the Nova from the 60's lol.