Little did I know when my friend, Don Carter and I were on our way to the local swimming hole to celebrate his birthday in July 1972, that my life would be changed so much 50 years later.

It was a hot July day. We were going down a country road when a pickup ran the stop sign and totaled the 1965 4-door Chevy Biscayne that my parents had handed down to me.

I was 19 years old and had graduated from high school in 1971. I waited one year to go to the local Vo-Tech school in Diesel Mechanics. I had wanted to buy a pickup, but they were more expensive than a car, and my Mom said no to a pickup. She told me that I needed a car, so the search started.

I went to the local Chevrolet dealership, and they guided me to a new car that had just debuted — a 1973 Honda Civic. I then went to an out-of-town Chevrolet dealership, where they showed me the Rally Nova. I believe the price of the Nova and the Civic were the same, but my friend, Don, said he wouldn’t go anyplace with me if I bought the Civic. I put $25 down on the Nova at a total price of $2795. I was able to make the $85 monthly payment on the Nova because the Vo-Tech School had an OJT program. I was able to save enough money to make the payments while I was in school.

The clutch went out in 1988, and I didn’t have enough money at the time to fix it. So I parked it at my brother’s place until I could get it fixed. Things got even worse, because in the spring of 1997, the Snake River flooded at my brother’s home, and the car sat in water up to the top of the tires for weeks. You could even see the water line in the glovebox door.

Fast forward to 2005, when the muscle car restoration was in full swing. I attended the Nationals in 2005 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to get some advice and meet fellow Nova people.

In November of 2005, I pulled the Nova into my garage and started to disassemble it. In January of 2006, disassembly was complete, and I took the body to have it sandblasted and find out her true condition.

Every panel from the rear window back needed replacing.

“Enjoy these cars, and drive them.”

My first sheetmetal order was nearly as much as I paid for the car. In May, I also found and purchased a 1970 Nova parts car with no engine or transmission that came from Phoenix (so it virtually had no rust). In fact, it was in much better shape than mine, but unfortunately, I hadn’t purchased it new. The parts car was absolutely invaluable for parts and pieces that were not available elsewhere.

I was very lucky that my step-son, Ryan Jensen, was a body man at the local auto body shop. For the next 4 winters, he would come over 2 weekends a month to do the body work and accept home-cooked dinner as payment.

I took to heart what Wayne Bushey said at the 2005 Nova Nationals Banquet. “Enjoy these cars, and drive them.” So that is the advice I used to build this car. We sprayed bedliner on the bottom of the car and in the wheel wells to prevent rock chips. I used seats out of a 1993 Cutlass that were very comfortable. I installed a Vintage Air AC kit, a ZZ4 crate engine with a Demon Carburetor, along with a Tremec 5-speed so it would be fun to drive. All of the restoration was done in my garage, except for the paint and upholstery.

I want to thank my brother, Burleigh, my step-son, Ryan, my nephew Brian. Also, many thanks to my friends, Don Glenn, Mike O’Brien, Don Carter, Terry Ray from Rayco Plating, Kevin and Jeff from Young Auto Body, my mother, Lavern, and my wife, Shirlene. I could not have restored this car without everybody’s help.

I took the Nova to the 2011 Nova Nationals at Bowling Green, Kentucky to have her judged at The Nova Nationals. The Nova was my first and probably only attempt at restoring a car. To my amazement the Nova was judged a Gold Class car. She received 924 points out of a perfect 1000 points. That is the award I will cherish forever. Even the head judge told me first time cars don’t usually get Gold.

I take her to two or three car shows a year, I usually try to drive her.

She now has over 7,500 miles on her since the restoration, which I know isn’t much, but she still looks as good as ever and I hope to drive her even more.