When Toyota and General Motors teamed up to build cars together in Fremont Assembly Plant in Californiawhere El Caminos and GTO were assembled and now Teslas are bornthe result is New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., also known as NUMMI. The first car to come out of the NUMMI assembly line was Chevrolet Nova 1985has been Americanized AE82 Toyota Corolla Sprinterand production Novarolla continues to 1988. This is one of those cars, a 1987 rabbit ears found in a corpse dump in Denver, Colorado.
The Nova name derives from the 1962 model year, when it was used as a cutting level for the all-new compact Chevy II. As Malibu . cutting level setting aside the name Chevelle to become a model name in its own right (in 1978), the name Chevy II disappeared in 1969 and the name Nova took its place. When quote appeared for the 1980 model year, Nova is getting more and more ancient received the ax in North America (continued production for a few years in Iran, however). Millions of Americans have positive memories of Their Simple, Reliable Chevy Novasdespite this, and so the name was revived for the new Corolla built by NUMMI.
In fact, the NUMMI-built Nova has proven to be exceptionally well-built, which puts everyone with experience with the substandard vehicles built during the last years of the Fremont Assembly ( I grew up nearby and I know people who used to work there in the early 1980s; their stories about workplace hazards and corner cutting will chill your blood.) NUMMI Novas are built by many of the same workers, represented by the same UAW leaders, but the build quality is much better than the quality of, such as, a regal ’81 built there.
This one has gone 240,208 miles, not as good some other 1980s Toyotas I have found in car graveyard but definitely a respectable total for an affordable mid-1980s car.
The interior is filthy but not overused, so we can assume every owner (perhaps the last) has taken very good care of this car throughout its life.
Why is it here? Probably a combination of rust (not as bad as what happened to Toyotas in Rust Beltof course) and some mechanical failures can cost more than a few hundred dollars to fix.
Mechanically speaking, it’s pure E80 corolla. The engine used in all of the 1985-1987 Novas was a 4A-C carburetor, producing 74 hp. In 1988, Nova shoppers could get a Nova Twin-Cam with the same 110 hp engine went in (NUMMI built) Corolla FX16 GT-WILL.
One five-speed manual transmission is the base device on NUMMI Nova, but it has the option four-speed automatic.
The MSRP on a new 1987 Nova sedan is $8,258, or about $22,005 in 2022 dollars.
This one has an automatic transmission, air conditioning and this Delco AM/FM radio (you need to listen great music of 1987), showing that the $630 (currently $1,680) Nova 3 option pack was picked up by the original buyer. To this point, Toyota-badge E90 Corollas being built at NUMMI, and they purchased Fujitsu TEN radios instead of Delco radios.
The “Econ” setting on the air conditioner is found in Other Toyotas of the era.
You will find one in every car. You will see.
Starting in 1989, NUMMI started to build E90 Corolla Sprinters with Geo Prizm badge, replacing Nova. Prizm became Chevrolet after the 1998 demise of the Geo brand, with production ended in 2002.
Nothing like the old Chevy Nova!
Perhaps the NUMMI Nova will indeed be extremely valuable to future generations of collectors.
