In keeping with Tom’s Nova Custom capsule, I’m posting this ad for the 1977 Nova Concours it replaced. It’s always fun to see an ad show off a specific trim level, but in the case of the Nova, which was available as stripped as anyone could’ve wanted, it was necessary, much more so than the similar ads occasionally run in recent years for the minimally distinguished Corolla S.
In fact, for some people, a car like this kitted-out Nova might have made a compelling alternative to the likes of the Malibu, when fully loaded and equipped with a V8. And while this was the Brougham-y Nova, the treatment is actually fairly restrained. It would take a long time for domestic manufacturers to stop stuffing all corners of the market with cars so similar in size and layout, with the later Nova crammed in alongside the Spectrum and Cavalier, but at least in the Camaro-based X-body, there was some substance to the unique platform.
Just a note, the title reads “1975” but the Concours trim level didn’t arrive until 1976. In 1975, the luxury Nova was the “LN”.
I absolutely LOVE the 1975-79 GM X-Bodies. So cleanly styled! Some of the best-looking cars of the 1970s, and one example where the Chevy was the best-looking thanks to cleaner detailing (especially the ’79; I believe 76-77 had a very fussy grille treatment). They all somehow avoided being as bland as the Aspen/Volare, as dated as the Dart/Valiant and Maverick/Comet, or as florid as the Granada/Monarch and Concord.
Only if they had carried over the 1973-74 Nova through at least 1977 and just re-name it Nova (Base or) Classic. While the 1975-79 they should have been renamed Nova Custom until the 1973-74 Base Nova or Nova Classic is gone by 1978 then the Base Nova will become Nova Custom while the luxury variation would then become Nova Concours. INMHO, the 1975-79 Nova should have at least carried over through the end of the 1980 Model Year so the much improved bug-free Citation would have replaced it for 1981 instead. But as GM always made fatal errors in prematurely releasing the Citation in Mid-1979 as a 1980 model. Haste makes waste.
I want some of what you’re taking.
That dash is not out of a 75.
As if she’d drive that ugly thing.
I hear ya, same goes for me….
lol
In the 1975-76 era, the Nova was at a big disadvantage. At Ford (75-76) and at Chrysler (76) the cheap end of the compact market was still serviced by the old cars (Maverick/Comet/Valiant/Dart) while the blossoming higher end was served by the newer Granada/Monarch/Volare/Aspen. The Nova tried to cover the entire range, but I’m not sure it was all that well equipped to do so.
It was a good, serviceable car, but everyone knew that a Nova was a cheap Chevy. We did not know that the Granada and Volare were bad cars until a few years later – they looked pretty good in the showroom.
The driver in this ad does not exactly look like most of the people I saw driving Novas back in the day.
That’s probably why the Nova LN was rebranded Concours for ’76 – notice the ad doesn’t call the car “Nova” anywhere. The Concours was considered a distinct model.
Maybe by the advertising people, but there were “NC” (Nova Concours) badges on the car itself.
A more honest piece of ad copy would have been “How good can you make a car look?”
“The driver in this ad does not exactly look like most of the people I saw driving Novas back in the day.”
She looks like the wife of the businessman/villain in Hawaii five-O, Barnaby Jones, Rockford files, etc. She was almost always in a Lincoln Continental.
The Driver on the Ad would prefer driving that same era Cadillac Seville than a faux luxury Nova aka Concours.
She looks like a Camaro TypeLT/Berlinetta owner of the time. Or Firebird Esprit.
10 years later she’ be in an Accord.
Somehow I’m reminded of Madeline Kahn’s character in Mel Brooks High Anxiety….
As usual for Ford, the Granada/Monarch initially sold very well, w/ the in retrospect absolutely ridiculous comparisons to Mercedes.
And, as usual for Ford, it took buyers not long to realize they’d been had.
Had a 68 Nova but then I went overseas again. I missed the later editions and missed the advertising. Seeing some for the first time on CC and doing the typical “old guy” routine. Very enjoyable.
Frankly I don’t know the differences between the dashes etc but if it’s Nova and especially with a 230 or 250, I think it’s a pretty good car. Wish GM was still that trustworthy.
When were they EVER trustworthy? Now about 10 million recalls and a bankruptcy later, do you still think that they are trustworthy? I mean, they are recalling cars that don’t even exist anymore, that being Pontiac and probably Oldsmobile, too. Trustworthy to the hilt, yes? Oh, and then replace this X-body with the NEW X-bodies and we really continue to fill out that trustworthy equation that the Vega started.
A lot of the success of the cars was due to their advertising, and how blatant or subtle the marketing.
Above, you see Chevrolet’s take. Quiet, refined, and pleasant looking automobile nicely kitted out – but unfortunately, also available in a ‘cheap bastard’ version.
Against this, Ford offers the Grenada. Badly done blatant faux-Mercedes, and the advertising is center around a series of obviously middle-aged-New-York-City-Jewish-women who are overjoyed that their car is being mistaken for a Cadillac. Even the one who gets a parking ticket.
Guess which one was the bigger seller? Mencken was an optimist.
I’ve always regarded the Nova Concours as probably the nicest car (for the price) that GM made in the 70’s.
And just in case you’ve forgotten – put this against the quiet class of the Concours:
I think the meter maid had a problem with Cataracts.
These ads are cringe-worthy, but I got a chuckle from this one. Totally appropriate outfit for a Ford Granada!
Are there more in the “Jewish lady from Long Island” series or was it just a one-off? I’ve only seen the ones where the Granada is side-by-side with a Mercedes or Cadillac, which are much less endearing. “Nobody ever went broke…” indeed.
I’ve heard it said that this was actually honest, tongue-in-cheek humor that gets to the core of why most people buy cars. Madness! That’s mistaking honesty for narcissism. Or did I miss the ad where Elaine’s mechanic also mistook her Granada for a 1961 Falcon? “We Build it Cheap So You’ll Look Like You Paid More!” Yikes… that kind of success is poisonous.
Note the original intention with the Granada was for it to be the new Maverick. Then the energy crisis hit and sales of the Maverick rose . The other effect of the energy crisis was that people who wanted to spend more on a car went from buying a “hot rod” to buying luxury whether perceived or real as evidenced by the success of the LDO Maverick. Ford decided to take advantage of the situation by keeping the Maverick around for those who wanted basic transportation and giving the Granada a higher level of standard equipment and selling it as a poor man’s Mercedes. It was a win win for Ford. The Maverick made some money since it was fully amortized and the Granada made even more money since it had a higher price and the advertizing and higher standard content had people willing to buy a pseudo luxury compact.
Early prototypes of the “75 Maverick” were a lot plainer than the eventual Granada. No hood ornament, heavy chrome, or lantern turn signals. Per Collectible Automobile.
Good points Eric. Ford made plenty of money on every one they sold. The higher trim ones were not so horrid but the Nova was a much better car in every way
What does being Jewish have anything to do with this?
Who knows ? Ask Elaine Finkelstein !
“World class luxury compact?” Seriously? That and the other copy in the ad is fantasy land!
Go look at a Nova Concours from back then, and compare it to a Maverick, Dart, Valient, Hornet, etc. Drive one if you get the chance. No, it’s not quite luxury as we see it today in a small car, but it was a nice, classy, tasteful economy car. Definitely much nicer than most of its competition, a good step above anything competing other than a Granada, and definitely about 30 years ahead of its time, as most people wanting this level of comfort also wanted a much bigger car back then. Size was still class in the mid-70’s.
The Concours failed on four points: 1. Chevy took an already existent car and fancied it up, then expected it to compete against something that had a unique styling (Granada). 2. You could still buy a Nova in the three-in-the-tree-rubber-floor-mats-cheapo version – and from ten feet away they looked the same. 3. People were only starting to wake up to the idea that ‘small car’ didn’t automatically mean ‘penalty box’. 4. Chevy tried to do it on the cheap, not the appointments, but the refusal to do a ‘completely’ different car. We all know the Granada was a re-bodied Maverick, which was a re-bodied Falcon. But it looked different, and that’s what mattered to the buyer.
Obviously, GM didn’t really believe in what they were doing at this time. They couldn’t bring themselves out of the ‘penalty box’ mindset and spend the money on a new body.
Yeah, I really liked the Concours. Were I not neck deep into SCCA autocross with my Vega and Monza’s, a Nova Concours would have been my choice for a car back then.
If a guy had to pick a late 70s “luxury compact” and live with it for 10 or 15 years, this would have been it. However, this was another example of Chevy failing to catch the trends that Ford was seeing and exploiting.
The Granada/Monarch was a brand new car that shouted “luxury compact” very loudly, even in base trim versions. The styling was perfect for the era, and in the showroom, the car came across very nicely. I knew many people when these were new who bought one, trading in a much larger and more expensive car for it. The interiors were trimmed out as nicely as any compact in an Olds or Buick showroom, and the dash looked like it came right out of a Mercury Marquis. If only these had possessed the built-in goodness of the Nova (or even the Valiant) this would have been a Ford Greatest Hit. Unfortunately, they did not age well.
In 1977 I was offered a company car (my first!), and it was a choice between a base Nova and a base Granada. There was not even a moment’s hesitation, I took the Granada, for precisely the reasons you mention. Even in the base version, it just sparkled with crisp, clean, unique luxury compact styling (and the 4-door was much better looking than the 2-door, btw). The dash was very attractive, and even the base vinyl upholstery (red, in my case, with a silver exterior) was pretty decent. The Nova seemed so yesterday, and had this generally clunky, bulky low end look about it. I always asked for Granadas whenever I rented a vehicle, which was frequently back then. Plus it accommodated my tall frame with ease. I remember it drove competently, and the little V-8, while still a gas guzzler, offered more than adequate performance. The Granada/Monarch twins were winners in my book, but as you note, I, too, did not think that they aged well with subsequent facelifts.
The only problem here is the Nova, even as a stripper, was a nice car to drive. The Granada drove like an old car since the chassis was ancient. The upper trim levels of the Nova weren’t bad and if you wanted loose pillow, you could choose Buick or Oldsmobile versions.
Exactly. C&D tested the Nova w/ HD suspension and called it the American BMW.
The Monarch was all crappy Falcon underneath the cosmetic surgery.
Combine Concours trim with 9C1 suspension, a 350, and the right convenience options and you really would have a world-class luxury compact.
Road Test magazine ordered a 1977 Concours as you stated, and loved it. F41, 350 4bbl, it handled like a sport sedan.
The Nova may have been influential in its so called “Compact” size car market, but its incidental size which today would be categorized as a Full or Large Sized Cars carries into today like the Holden based Chevrolet SS 4 Door Sedan or even the Chevrolet Impala. As you can see on my Photo Montage Compilations of Chevrolet 4 Door Sedans from 1965 through 2014, these cars were within the Nova size range with of course the 1965-72 Chevelle Malibu pioneering this size range first.
These were the coupe versions which were within the Nova’s size striking range from 1965 through 2014.
At least they spelled Conours right. Pet peeve: Concourse condition!
“Conours?” Sorry, had to tweak you ;>)
I want to like the late 70s X bodies, but I think GM really failed on the details. This is the top-line trim model, and it doesn’t even have a split bench! Perhaps I’m missing the perspective on what the market was like for cars like this since they are before my time. The Seville was a success on a platform/size very similar to this; I realize Chevy was at the bottom of the hierarchy, but would it have killed GM to make some better equipped Apollos and Omegas to fill the gap? I’ve never seen any equipped better than this Nova. The nearly identically sized 78 A bodies ran the full gamut from complete strippers to Broughamtastic; heck, even the FWD X-bodies did.
Split benches weren’t even standard in Cadillacs at the time, I’ve seen solid front bench Sedan deVilles in both the 1971-1976 vintage and 1977-1979 vintage, the split bench didn’t become standard on DeVilles until 1980 or so, if that helps put things in perspective. I know that I have seen a well equipped Skylark of this similar vintage with a split bench, so it was available on the higher end X-cars at least.
That is an interesting perspective regarding the Cadillacs, thanks for that. Regarding the Skylark, that gave me an excuse for a quick romp through oldcarbrochures.com. If Buick did offer split benches on the Apollo/Skylark, they didn’t include them in the brochures, as all front benches pictured were full/solid. Lots of different buckets available, though. I didn’t check Olds or Pontiac, but I would think Buick would have offered them if anyone did.
I honestly never gave split bench seats much of a second thought until I rode in my friend’s 85ish Chevy pickup a while back, she’s not much over 5′ tall, so I had my knees embedded in the dash, lol.
Maybe it was Pontiac? I know I’ve seen one with a split bench somewhere.
Maybe the Phoenix had either split bench, it was plushed up and sold as an “all new” car for 1977 1/2. It may have had wide bucket seats, too.
Concours name flopped, since it was just a Nova trim level and was similar to the Valiant Brougham, older car with velour. Pontiac went all out and renamed and restyled Ventura to Phoenix, and pushed it as an ‘all new’ car. By 1979, it was just another old compact on the way out.
Ford hit home run with having an ‘all new’ Granada, sold alongside the ‘economy’ Maverick. Buyers saw Granada as a ‘personal lux’ car, versus a trim package.
Me personally prefer the GM X body to the Fords, but the general public saw it as a late 60’s car trying to be ‘new’. Hot Rodders wanted used pre-75’s to ‘soup up’ and run regular leaded gas. So, Nova mainly sold to economy buyers.
BTW: By 1975, base Novas had carpeting, just plain pile. Floor mats were still the Chevette Scooter’s base flooring.
And yet the Versailles was an immediate total flop while the Seville was a success.
While many consider the Seville a deadly sin, they are highly regarded today – clean and well-proportioned – in stark contrast w/ the baroque Granada/Monarch and Versailles all of which are considered somewhat comical artifacts.
I owned a 1977 Concours (bought new) for four years. It was a solid pleasant machine with the 250 six. However, it had a/c which not only was rather weak in cooling, but the dash clearly was cobbled from the dash of the ’77 Buick Skylark (?). It had several badly matched plates welded over the Buick’s outlets! In another misstep I replaced the Concours (same color as the ad above) with the new exciting 1981 Citation…..large mistake!
If anybody read my Mother’s Day comment you’ll know I’m biased and have loved “Disco Novas” since I was wearing Pampers. And maybe it’s just that bias speaking, but I do consider the Concours to be “justifiable Brougham”.
The Nova was a great car, but severely “base” in its most base form. The inside of a stripper model, like the one we had when I was a kid, was amongst the most poverty-spec spaces in the (automotive) free world. Anything to make the experience a little more livable is OK by me, even if it came along with a silly name. I feel the same way about the Valiant Brougham.
The B-O-P X-cars may have been an even better proposition. I say “may have” because I’ve never seen many of them, but the ones I have seen appeared to have nicer interior details and materials even when not fully optioned-out. Aside from the name, the only thing I don’t like about the Concours is the grille. It’s OK, but I prefer the regular version.
Just like with GM’s first compact, I go back and forth on whether I like the coupe or sedan body better. If I had to choose, I think I’d go with the hatchback, just because that’s such a cool feature to have on a car like this. Most people probably don’t even know/remember that they existed. Apparently even the Concours was available as a hatchback, although they seem to be very rare. That’s the one I want most – but with the regular grille swapped in place.
As shown from this 1978 Mexican Chevrolet Ad, there was even an upmarket version of the 1978 YES 1978 Chevrolet Nova Concours. The Mexican version of the luxurious version of the Concours was called Concours Deluxe or De lujo. Other than the front side fenders and nameplate which were really from the Nova Concours, this upscale Concours De lujo were really Buick Skylarks. Maybe GM was not selling Buick cars to Mexico back then. And another yes, their Nova SS/Nova Rallye 2 Door Hatchback version were called get this YES and it was called “MALIBU RALLYE” which for all its intents and purposes were really unrelated to the Malibu line from that specific era. Like how much more can they be related?
Now this is another Ad showing their Nova SS/Nova Rallye in which Chevrolet de Mexico renamed as of all Chevrolets, the “MALIBU RALLYE”