I just bought (what I thought was) a 1971 Nova. Registered as a Nova. VIN & cowl tags decode as a Nova i ordered the build sheet and it comes up as an Acadian. Manufactured in Willow Run MI.. and sold by a dealer in Quebec.
Can anyone explain this? What is my car??
Can you post pictures or at least the numbers off the VIN and cowl tags? Please block the last 2 or 3 digits of the VIN though. I'm sure we can help you if we see what your numbers are.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Id say so as well. They may have switched it to Nova trim for resale as well. A lot of people havent a clue what an Acadian is (much less of a clue with the Beaumonts). My brother did that to one 20 years ago because his buddies thought the Acadian wasnt as nice as the Nova, for whatever reason.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm assuming that's what happened based off parts availability. As far as the numbers stating Nova, that was my fault. I was not deciding it properly. But yes, there weren't many made in 71. I can't find my production number exactly but it does say only 417 were shipped to Canada in 71. Now I'm wondering how it was ever registered as a Nova.
if you ordered a GM of Canada historical packet, it will say how many were imported(?) into Canada, as well as the total number of that model sold in Canada - since they were a Canadian market exclusive, you can bet that GM of Canada should have total model year production numbers.
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1970 Formula 400 Carousel Red on black (std) interior "no drivetrain option" car (same base drivetrain as GTO) 1:411 1970 Firebird Formulas originally sold in Canada
Unfortunately you've now got it registered as a Nova. You may want to visit a good registry and determine how to change that. You might need to break down the VIN accordingly to show it's an Acadian.
As added information about the production numbers. The reason that 71 Acadian's are so low is because Pontiac introduced the Ventura II to the Canadian Market in 1971. The Ventura took over as the X body offered by Pontiac dealers in Canada. I'd also expect that the car has an early build date and quite likely was built in 1970.
As added information about the production numbers. The reason that 71 Acadian's are so low is because Pontiac introduced the Ventura II to the Canadian Market in 1971. The Ventura took over as the X body offered by Pontiac dealers in Canada. I'd also expect that the car has an early build date and quite likely was built in 1970.
Looks to be a build date of the first week in January according to the cowl tag, so likely January 1971. If they didn't build them for the normal length of time vs other years then this one could well be a late version.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I'd rather not involve the dealer as after conversations with him I don't believe this to be misrepresentation. He just didn't do his due diligence and assumed it was a Nova because it was previously registered as one. As far as I'm concerned, it's 100% an Acadian based off VIN & build sheet. Can't really dispute that. I don't think it would be difficult to get the registry changed back given the documentation I have.
As far as the build date, it rolled off the line January 13th and from what I gather, the Acadians only ran for the first two months (roughly) in 71.
I'm just having a battle with myself whether I should keep it or return it. It's been beautifully restored and one hell of a conversation piece but there is a considerable price difference between what i paid and the appraisal.
What I asked was what GM sold the car new? It will be on your docs. Maybe the original selling dealer did the Nova conversion to sell the car? Stranger things have happened.
Due to the release of the Ventura I wonder if General Motors may have built the car as a Nova and stated on the MSO paperwork that the car is a Nova. If not enough Acadian specific parts were available at the time of assembly and the vin already assigned this may have happened. It sounds far fetched but plausible. It would be interesting to see the original paperwork.
The original dealer was in Quebec and closed its doors in 1994. The thought of them doing the swap did cross my mind. You never know. I contacted GM to see where their records would have gone and likely destroyed. I've since reached out to the Heritage Center to see what they have on file. Maybe a factory invoice to the dealer??
In the meantime, I think I'm going to pull the back seat and see if I can find any docs in there.
Did Acadians share the same production numbers as the Nova? I only ask because there were only 417 shipped to Canada and the last #'s of my VIN are higher.
I would see what you can do with motor vehicle, see if you can go back to find how long it was registered as a Nova.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
