69 Nova Big Blocks

[sYc]

That is a story in itself. A person came to Brian and told him that he had a Yenko Nova that he was working on and wanted to put back original. He told Brian that it was supposed to be a 396 car, but had some type or another 427 in the car. He went on to say that it did have the right heads and intake. Brian suggested a couple of people to contact to get the correct parts. Later this person returned to have Brian assemble the parts (396) to go in the car. Brian, not knowing that he would some day own the car, or that the 427 taken out of the car might some day have a bearing on the history of the car, did not concern himself with the 427. Even when Brian made the deal, he did not question the owner as to the where abouts of the 427, since he thought he was buying a L-78 Nova. Where is the 427 ? Tom

[Jeff H]

Not to go off the subject, but this makes me wonder about a 69 Camaro that someone from one of our local clubs has. It was apparently a 396/375 car that Reedman Chevrolet put a 454 into and sold as new. He is the original owner of the car so I would think that would make it a SuperCar. Would any dealer swapped big block car be considered a supercar even though it isn't a Yenko, Nickey, Berger, Baldwin/Motion?

[sYc]

Stepano, Yes, I would consider that car a supercar, and could attend the reunion in any guise. Any, yes, a big block conversion car. As per why this car and maybe not another, it is hard to explain. In fact I tried, but could not put it into words. What it boils down to is this. Most of the cars that want to attend the reunion are no brainers, of course they are welcome. The few that fall into that gray area I handle on a one by one basis. And more then once have caught heck over my decision. Each year I hear "why is that car in here, its fake, or its not a supercar, to well, you let so and so's car in". But I realize that is part of the job. I try and be fair, but realize that I will never please everyone. I do have a system, it is just hard to explain.

The sYc works in much the same way. Most cars registered are no brainers. But, there is that percent that falls into that gray area. All I can do is weigh what information that has been made available to me and then offer my opinion.

I know it is not a perfect system, but have yet to come up with something better. Believe me, if I thought that there was a better way, I would change. Remember, I pay $$$ to do this. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Tom

[sYc]

Jeff; If the car is all you say it is, and I have no reason to doubt you, it would be most welcome at the reunion. I would love to meet the original owner, and see the paperwork. Supercar owners who still have their cars are my heros. Tom

[copo9566aa]

Tom
Only Big Block is a Supercar L72 & Zl1
Small Block Deuce is 1/2 Supercar
Corvair 1/4 Supercar
Just look at the 2002 rªunion.Many Camaro on the list
Only two Deuce and two Chevelle. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

Just a remark. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Stefano, did your friend buy that Z-28 off of cartraderonline? Sounds like the same car. Gold/white stripes,saddle interior, etc. Sold new at Nickey chevrolet. He had original invoice, etc. Only paperwork he had for any type of conversions were for the headers. Still retained its original drivetrain. LT-1, m-22, 4:10 rear. Owned it for 20 years and bought it off of the original owner. I think it had 21k miles. Out of Aurora,IL. I had an appointment to see it. He was asking $7950 for it, but I offered him 10k. He did get a better offer. I passed. It definitely never had an L-88 in it. If it did, it would be mine. Neat car nonetheless.

[Stefano]

Dave,
I was referring to a hypothetical scenario. I do know the car which you refered to and the headers and alarm system were installed by Nickey Chevrolet after the purchase and no, a big block was never in the engine bay of that car.

Any idea who the new owner is?

[Stefano]

Chicago is a snnall city, I have a fairly good idea where that Nickey Chevrolet sold Z28 Cannaro nnay end up.

[sYc]

I disagree, at least as it applies to the Supercar Reunion. To me, the engine is only part of it. I feel that a car's history is very important. Any musclecar from Nickey, or one of the other "supercar dealers", that has documentation, is special to me. We need to see the car and related paperwork. That is how we learn. Examples, Most Gibb Novas ('68) are 396 cars, special- you bet! an original Gibb sold LS-6 Chevelle, that is special and was featured 2 years ago. This year, 2 small block race cars. Fred Gibb's first race car(Z-28) Lil Hoss and a 1983 IMSA Camaro, Don Yenko's last race car. Both to me, special, a part of history. If it were not for the Yenko Stinger program, the Yenko supercars may not have become a reality. 1. he used the COPO process for the buiding of racecars, 2. had set up a dealer network to sell the cars, but Nader killed the Corvair, thus, everything was in place to market the 1967 Yenko Super Camaro. The Yenko Deuce is special, a continuation of the SYC program. The Vega and Turbo-Z, Don's efforts to not give in. All part of history. To me, that is what the Supercar movement is about, not splitting hairs, but preserving history. That is why I started the Supercar Reunion, to have a place where owners could bring their cars and not be "judged", but instead share it with us. In the five years that I have hosted the reunion, I have seen more supercars, and learned more about them, then most people will do in a life time. And I hope it continues. There is still much to learn and a lot of rare cars still out there, that most of us know nothing about.

If a car's history is not important, then our cars are no longer unique. Tom