In August of ‘74 I bought a ‘74 Nova that was the dealership demo for $2995. It was a 2 dr coupe with a 250 six and a three speed manual with the shift lever mounted on the floor. I traded my ‘55 Cadillac 2 dr HT for this car because I was planning a road trip from here to Vancouver, Wash. and I knew the Cadillac would have never made the trip.
The Nova was painted Lemon Yellow, which was apropos and the interior was black vinyl with front bucket seats. That Nova had lots of get up and go for a 6 cyl and the shift knob smelled like English Leather mens cologne which the salesman that drove it must have worn daily.
Well I got as far as Eugene, Oregon when I stopped for gas and the attendant was checking under the hood when he asked me to come and take a look. There was coolant seeping out around the head gasket and he told me I’d better get it to the Chevrolet dealer ASAP, which I did. I took them 2 days to repair the head gasket under warranty. During that time I found that I’d lost $40.00 of Travelers Checks which at that time was a lot of money to me. I went to the Bank of America in Eugene to get them replaced and when they checked the numbers on the receipt the told me that these checks had already been counter signed and cashed, so they wouldn’t replace them. So I turned around and drove back home. The speed limit was 55 mph then and just outside of Roseburg. Or. I got stopped by an Oregon Hwy Patrol officer who had clocked me at 62 in a 55 mph zone and gave me a ticket and Notice to Appear for I believe $75 and told me that I could just write a letter to the court clerk stating that I lived in Calif. and enclose a check for the fine, which I did, when I got home.
That was the longest GD drive I ever took! I drove 55 mph all the way home, taking 11 hrs. The next morning when I was cleaning out the car I found those “lost” and “cashed” Travelers Checks between the back and seat of the drivers seat where they must have come outta my back pocket. I went right to the B of A and withdrew all my money and closed my acct. and I’ve never done business with them again.
The Lemon Yellow was just the right color for that POS which was nothing but problems from then on. I finally traded it in April of ‘76 for a ‘67 Buick Skylark 2 dr HT which was my favorite car outta the 23 different cars I’ve owned since ‘69. So all’s well that ends well.
Eddie
