Taking a little heat from my classic car friends

[dklowrider]

That is a sweet looking Nova. Aftermarket suspension and LS power would've put that in the same driving class as the SS. Otherwise, old cars look great but drive like,well, old cars. Without spending the funds to transform the Nova or own both cars together, the SS is a great car for driving. I gave up a C5 Z06 for mine.

[GroundhogSS]

That is/was a nice looking Nova. Bottom line, you gotta do what makes you happy. Enjoy the Camaro.

[J-vette]

The nova looks great. I think you should have kept it. Congrats on the camaro though.

I also have a nova, 70 and I'm putting a ls1 into it. I thought about selling my nova when I got the camaro but I didn't and I glad I didn't.

[Dennis Northwest]

It all comes down to $$ and storage. I would love to have that Nova as a second car/toy but sometimes you gotta sell the old one to make the numbers and parking situation work on the new one.

[Warpaint69]

I have a 1971 Chevelle SS 454 LS6, hardly drive it. Then again I hardly drive my Camaro. I'd rather drive my Camaro though.

[Rocky1974]

Originally Posted by Smokin14

I sold my 69' Nova to get my 14' SS and some of my classic friends think I should have kept it (just some ribbing). I will admit it is a different driving and owner experience but, I needed a change.

I think everyone will agree sometimes we do things just because, making changes adds some excitement to life. So what do you guys think, mistake or not? I will add I am thrilled with my new SS, it kicks aaaaazz.

By the way it had a 400 SBC, 4sp, 3.73, posi about 350 hp. Here is a pic.

I have a '69 Camaro SS with a SB400, THM700R4, 4.10 posi. I 've owned it for 25 years and it replaced a 69 COPO Camaro that I'd owned for 15 years. It's an Arizona car that I did a full frame-off restoration on. I have no intentions of letting it go.
But, with all that said, if I had to get rid of cars and it came down to it or my '10 SS, the '69 would be the one to go. My 5th Gen is just a much better car in every way than the '69. It's much more refined, handles much better, has way more features, is every bit as fast, is much safer and is much easier on fuel.
There was a long period after the muscle car era ended that you could always count on the old muscle cars being faster and looking way cooler than any new car, but that's just not true any more. This latest crop of muscle cars look every bit as cool as their 60's counterparts and are even faster.
We've got 400/426/505/580hp Camaros. We've got 460/650hp Corvettes. We've got 420/444/662hp Mustangs. We've got 375/485/707hp Challengers. We've got 645hp Vipers.
And all these new muscle cars are rated in SAE net horsepower. The muscle cars from the '60s were rated in SAE gross horsepower, which means that the difference is even greater than the numbers would indicate.
This really is the muscle car heyday now.

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by el ess A

Excellent upgrade. Nova suspensions suck anyway.

Sometimes you never know how much you miss the old iron until you no longer have it. So after a while, if you still got the itch, you can go back and get another one day.

stock maybe, you should see my nova, anyway, nice nova and the choice was yours and you got what you wanted....

[LimaCharlie]

That is a clean Nova. It has a nice drivetrain setup too, especially with the 4-speed.
I think we can all agree that older muscle cars have more character and personality compared to modern cars. You lost some of this when you sold the Nova. This is why your friends are giving you crap. Bottom line, a clean brand new car just isn't as impressive as a clean old car.....regardless of the make/model of car.
However, your 2014 SS performs better all around. It brakes, accelerates, handles, and drives far better than the Nova. It is also much safer. You can take it anywhere with no worries. Aside from being reliable, it's still a Camaro and much cooler than 90% of the new cars you see on the road.

[EETSMine]

I traded my 71 Skylark for my 2010 SS. I have no regrets at all. Enjoy your Camaro.

[PalmerGA]

I never was a huge Nova fan, so you probably did the right thing. Now... if it were a '67 Chevelle SS - I'd say you were crazy. Right Wayne?

[CamaroCracka]

Originally Posted by Rocky1974

My 5th Gen is just a much better car in every way than the '69. It's much more refined, handles much better, has way more features, is every bit as fast, is much safer and is much easier on fuel.
There was a long period after the muscle car era ended that you could always count on the old muscle cars being faster and looking way cooler than any new car, but that's just not true any more. This latest crop of muscle cars look every bit as cool as their 60's counterparts and are even faster.
We've got 400/426/505/580hp Camaros. We've got 460/650hp Corvettes. We've got 420/444/662hp Mustangs. We've got 375/485/707hp Challengers. We've got 645hp Vipers.
And all these new muscle cars are rated in SAE net horsepower. The muscle cars from the '60s were rated in SAE gross horsepower, which means that the difference is even greater than the numbers would indicate.
This really is the muscle car heyday now.

This is why I bought the Camaro SS when they came out. I just could not see dropping the same amount of money on a lesser car. If I could afford a 69 too, that would be great. 6 or 8 of them in various flavors would be even better. I would have done the same as the OP.

[aurora]

Smokin14, maybe your friends are just still dealing with their emotions after getting rid of a car they loved. Maybe you should have thrown a going away party.

I think you made a great decision, its really nice that you had the opportunity to own either car….but time to pass on the torch to someone who will love the old one up like you did.

[SIN R G]

Wow, that is a nice looking Nova. To bad you were not able to keep it and get the Camaro. Was that an option?

[Smokin19]

A lot of good comments, even the ones saying I should have kept it. I do have my own 24 x 32 shop (besides the garage) and could have made room but, it really came down to affording two cars, one Harley and one pickup, not to mention the wife's car.

Would suck to be insurance poor and being in n.e. Oh, there is only so much good summer weather.

Driving the Camaro SS with it's power and handling, not to mention my first convertible, is such a blast that I really can't say I miss the Nova right now.