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From what I've seen and read on the Nova resource page no way exists to tell if any Nova with the exception of 72 is a true SS except paper work that would have been included in the origional sale or if you get lucky and find the build sheet hiding in the car someplace.
Or if you have the matching numbers engine and it is the 350 ci, 300 hp or a 396 engine. Needs to have the engine codes on it that correlates to the 300 hp engine.
On a 72. the fifth digit of the VIN needs to be a 'K' to be an SS.
On a 72. the fifth digit of the VIN needs to be a 'K' to be an SS.
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938 Posts
I thought those engine options could be ordered without the SS badging? It just had to be a special order.Or if you have the matching numbers engine and it is the 350 ci, 300 hp or a 396 engine. Needs to have the engine codes on it that correlates to the 300 hp engine.
On a 72. the fifth digit of the VIN needs to be a 'K' to be an SS.
I thought those engine options could be ordered without the SS badging? It just had to be a special order.
I'm not sure about the COPO's and such but from GM you could not get a BB Nova without it being an SS....Also the L48 SBC was also in the Nova an SS only option...however there are some years where you can get any motor in any Nova (SS or not...however for the years the BB was offered you could only get it in an SS)..so the motor is not always a true guide to if the car is an SS or not...
COPO (or special order as you call it) allowed a person to order any combination of anything, with or without anything.
Trouble is the factory didn't offer COPO to every person who wanted to order a car. Fifty or more (as in a power or phone company wanting a fleet of vehicles to be equipped their way with a custom mixed paint) that wasn't a problem. But you wanting a single body in white with an L-88 and a deluxe interior to go in a carry out box was a different ball of wax.
The district sales manager usually got involved in COPO orders so there was usually a trail of paper that could have been verified if anyone had kept that pile of paper; but you must ask yourself have you kept last weeks grocery receipts? To GM's central office a COPO had the same value as your cash register receipt for a summer cook out. Nadda
Most people think COPO is some kind of holly grail, it isn't it is just an order generated by any commercial customer desiring a vehicle built their way. Rail road companies, cities, utilities, all of them had access to COPO to order anything they wanted, and still do.
My father bought a Caprice Classic Deluxe with a full 9C1 police package on a 1968 COPO car that the city of Clearwater Florida had ordered and built for the chief of police. The reason my father bought it was because the city auditor didn't want to pay the bill for the COPO car as being to luxurious. It was outside the amount authorized per car by the city council. The dealer was stuck with it (you can not return a COPO, you order it and it is yours) and since it had a 350 horse 327 under the hood, TH400 tranny, 3.55 12 bolt with four wheel disc brakes; not to many old ladies were in the market for it, so my dad got it for cost. In the records of Impala SS cars built there is no mention of this car, though it was an SS in terms of suspension, power, cooling, batteries; by any definition accept badges it was an SS.
Big Dave
Trouble is the factory didn't offer COPO to every person who wanted to order a car. Fifty or more (as in a power or phone company wanting a fleet of vehicles to be equipped their way with a custom mixed paint) that wasn't a problem. But you wanting a single body in white with an L-88 and a deluxe interior to go in a carry out box was a different ball of wax.
The district sales manager usually got involved in COPO orders so there was usually a trail of paper that could have been verified if anyone had kept that pile of paper; but you must ask yourself have you kept last weeks grocery receipts? To GM's central office a COPO had the same value as your cash register receipt for a summer cook out. Nadda
Most people think COPO is some kind of holly grail, it isn't it is just an order generated by any commercial customer desiring a vehicle built their way. Rail road companies, cities, utilities, all of them had access to COPO to order anything they wanted, and still do.
My father bought a Caprice Classic Deluxe with a full 9C1 police package on a 1968 COPO car that the city of Clearwater Florida had ordered and built for the chief of police. The reason my father bought it was because the city auditor didn't want to pay the bill for the COPO car as being to luxurious. It was outside the amount authorized per car by the city council. The dealer was stuck with it (you can not return a COPO, you order it and it is yours) and since it had a 350 horse 327 under the hood, TH400 tranny, 3.55 12 bolt with four wheel disc brakes; not to many old ladies were in the market for it, so my dad got it for cost. In the records of Impala SS cars built there is no mention of this car, though it was an SS in terms of suspension, power, cooling, batteries; by any definition accept badges it was an SS.
Big Dave
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Well said there Big Dave!
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