Ultra-Rare 1970 Chevrolet Nova SS L89, Which Should've Never Existed, Went off the Radar

Legendary Motorcar restored that Chevy Nova SS, believed to be a one-of-one model, over 15 years ago. The owner had that one 1970 car with a 396-cubic-inch (6.5-liter) V8 engine with an aluminum head, which was somewhat strange. Chevrolet was not making them at that time. Not in 1970. However, the owner had all the papers that proved that he was right.

He chose to restore it with the help of Peter Klutt and his team of experts but sold it approximately five years later, and eventually lost track of it.

Another customer called Legendary Motorcar and asked if they knew where the car that they had restored over 15 years before was. He really wanted to buy it. The team is now asking the viewers if they know anything about where it might be at the moment, hoping to find it and drag it out from its hiding place for one more moment of glory.

The one who took it to Legendary Motorcar Company in December 2005 had bought it in the early 2000s after having seen a sales ad. Little did he know at that point that car was the only one of its kind. A mountain of research later, he realized that it was an ultra-rare vehicle.

"This car does not exist," the car restorer told the owner. Oh, yes, it does!

In 2005, Peter Klutt of Legendary Motorcar Company received a phone call from the new owner, who told him he had a 1970 Chevy Nova SS L89 with an aluminum head and wanted to have it restored.

He trailered it to Legendary Motorcar Company. The team began working on it right away. Back then, the restoration experts made a video of what really was a very rare car. Chevrolet built 311 L89s in 1969. But there was no information that any L89 rolled off the production line in 1970.

"The car does not exist," Peter told him. But the owner had all the right papers to prove it, including the Protect-o-Plate. What is a Protect-O-Plate? Starting in 1965, the cars manufactured by General Motors came with an Owners Protection Plan warranty booklet that had a thin metal plate or plastic card attached to it. That was what GM called the Protect-O-Plate.

The owner had the original engine, a numbers-matching 396-cubic-inch V8, still in the car, mated to a four-speed manual transmission, which took 375 horsepower (380 metric horsepower) and 415 pound-feet (563 Newton meters of torque) to the asphalt.

To confirm the authenticity of the Nova, Legendary Motorcars called Brian Henderson, a renowned Nova expert. They took the engine apart together and concluded that it was, indeed, original!

It is a black-on-black 1970 Chevrolet Nova SS L89, the only one in existence. On a test drive carried out in 2008, Peter Klutt said it was that V8 engine that set it apart from a plane Jane Nova. He found the suspension wasn't anything to write home about. It did not corner like a true sports car, it did not behave like one. But then again, there was the V8.

If a guy is going to spend six figures on the restoration of a Nova, he is a bit twisted, Peter said back then, without disclosing the exact amount of money invested in the restoration. However, the owner did it on the right Nova: a one-of-one Nova, a characteristic that makes it extremely valuable today.

Where is the car that should have never existed?

The Legendary Motorcar team restored the car from stem to stern and from top to bottom. They redid all the chrome trim, repositioned all panels, and retrimmed the interior. Everything was fixed or rebuilt. The Tuxedo black complements the sleek lines while the car rides on 14-inch wheels.

The restoration was completed two years later, and the car debuted at the end of July 2007 at the SYC Supercar Reunion in Collinsville, Illinois. Some of the rarest models, true collectors' gems, kept it company.

Now, over 15 years since they had the car in their garage, they are looking for it and ask a helping hand from the viewers. Someone just has to have it and apparently set no price limit. According to classic.com, a 1970 Chevy Nova comes with an average price of $53,700, with the highest price paid for one hitting $220,000.

However, that price does not include exclusivity, which might take the kind of example that everyone is searching for right now north of $300,000. So, that might convince the current owner of the super exclusive Nova SS to unlock the hiding place where they keep it.