Car of the Day for February 2nd, 2010: Johnny Lightning 1970 Chevy Nova SS Dark Green

hi angel

i wasnt dismissing the SS moniker. its just that back in the muscle car days in the 60s and early 70s over on our side of the pond the mopars dodge R/T packages and plymouths performance packages were all the right stuff in one check box on the order sheet. the SS was more or less a trim package that people added to their muscle cars. now GM made some really hot cars as well, but you had to spec them out and play the option sheet like a fine artist dabbles in oil and canvas. chryco took all the guess work out by offering it as a stout package.

plus at this time frame GM had some self inflicted corporate ban on engines in compact and intermediate sized cars of no larger than 400 cubic inch. so why spec option a chevelle SS with a 396 V8 when you can get a plymouth road runner, or dodge coronet super bee each with all the good Heavy Duty stuff standard including a hi po 383 magnum V8, and add a few bucks for a 440 cubic inch mill. this self imposed ban ended for GM in 1970 with the chevelle SS 454, trans am super duty 455, as well as others.

its interesting to note that GM also had a little known special order thingy called Central Office Production Order, or COPO for short. this was really designed for fleet vehicle bulk orders like you needed 30 chevy bel airs in yellow with 6 cylinder engines, and 3 speed manual trannys for a taxi fleet, ETC. only a few savvy individuals knew that it could be used to order say a plain jane 1969 camaro hardtop coupe with an aluminum headed high riser 427 big block, muncie M22 4 speed manual tranny hurst 4 speed shifter, 12 bolt rear with positraction, and 4.11 to 1 gears. all with a plain jane interior, no rear spoiler, no cowl induction hood, no fancy nothing, just the hardware where it counted on a friday night. all this with a warranty even tho publicly according to GM press releases up until 1970 you couldent get anything bigger than a 396 in a camaro, and had to buy the SS package to get you into one. this was truly a back door way to get what you wanted when GM wasnt doing it thru the front door. pretty slick if i do say so myself

since as you can imagine COPO chevrolets are as rare as hens teeth they are usually worth more than a fully dressed and restored SS anything chevy sold. now when you buy an SS camaro it comes with all the hardware where it counts. so did my mustang GT i bought back in 2007. so nowadays its still a trim package, but has all the hardware to back it up now too. BTW i did like the holden rebadged as a GTO when GM brought it here, and like the Holden Commodore tho its rebadged here as a pontiac G8.

when researching the GTO VS the mustang GT. i didnt think the added horsepower of the GTO was worth its close to $38,000 selling price. i eneded up getting my 07 GT with the 300HP 4.6L 3 valve V8, 5 speed manual box, and a 3.55 to 1 positraction, plus leather, gage package power everything, and rolled out the door paying $27,000 with tax tags and licencing fees. with the cash saved, i payed the car off early, now i am researching my options for a supercharger, to give me an extra 150HP shove in the butt.

this all being said i refer to GM as big blue, or most often now as Goverment Motors since the obummer bailout and government takeover.dont get me wrong i own 2 GMs pre bailout/takeover. both good cars, plus the mustang, and 2 dodges.  i think GM works more slowly as car enthusiasts have been seeing the good stuff GM was offering over in OZ and we couldent get any of it thnak god GM is starting to sell cars with the aussie developed Zeta platform and RWD here again.

just some thoughts, rants, observations and facts

all fun

matt