People and Their Wheels: James Froberg's 1966 Chevrolet Nova
Friday, June 13, 2008 11:39 PM PDT
By Brenda Blevins McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleBackground: James is a lifelong Longview resident. He graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1981. He is an electrician at Longview Fibre Co. He has three children, a 19-year-old daughter and 15-year-old and 9-year-old sons.
His wheels: A 1966 Chevy Nova he purchased from a local couple about two and a half years ago. “When the people who owned it first bought it, they lived down the street,” James said. “They drove by, and I loved the car.”
They stopped by his house one day, and James kiddingly asked them to stop driving past his house.
“Then they’d always come by and stop and talk or honk the horn,” he said.
About three years ago, the man who owns it came by in his pickup to visit. James told him he should have bought a classic car instead of four-wheelers.
“So he says, ‘I’m going to sell the Nova, and I want you to buy it,’ ” James said. “They knew how much I loved the car.”
Cars had been a hobby for many years, but as life got more complicated with family and work, it stopped working out, James said.
“I always said to myself that the next hot rod I’d want to own would be a ’66 or ’67 Nova,” James said.
He felt humbled to be asked to buy the car, he said.
“They figured if they were going to get rid of it to anybody, it would be to me,” he said. “I was really honored to be able to buy it, and people were amazed that they sold it.”
A rare specimen: James said the style and looks of the car drew him to it. They drew a lot of other people as well, but most of them wanted to turn the car into something other than what it originally was — an economy car.
They “turned into one of the biggest drag racing cars,” James said. “There are very few Novas out there now. You hardly ever see the ’66 or ’67 Nova.”
Earlier Novas suffered the same fate, but not to the extent of those years, James said.
“I don’t know the numbers, but most of them were turned into drag racing cars, so if you go to car shows, you rarely see (them),” he said.
With that in mind, James said he knows buying the car was a chance of a lifetime.
“I got lucky, that’s all I can say,” he said.
The car required a tiny amount of effort to spiff it up, he added.
“I’ve done very little to it except for in the engine compartment, cleaning, rebuilt the motor, a few pretties on the motor, other than that it looks pretty much stock everywhere,” he said.
James said he plans some minor interior touch-ups of the original “agua” color to coincide with the artesian turquoise of the exterior.
He doesn’t take the vehicle out in bad weather to keep from degrading the condition.
“Somebody, a long time ago ... took this car and kept it away,” James said. “They might have taken it out and driven it every once in a while.”
The condition of the vehicle is pristine, he said.
“It has no dents, never been wrecked, there’s no rust on the car, all original interior,” he said.
It does have 12-year-old paint on it, he added, but he can live with that.
“If I can keep it dry all the time and drive it when I want to, that’s the best thing for it,” he said. “To keep it going on and on and on.”
When the sun is in the sky, he takes it out to car shows. His favorites, James said, are Unique Tin, Clatskanie Heritage Days and Woodland Planters Day, among others.
He said his sons are both into cars and love the Nova. They enjoy being out in it, driving around.
The reactions they get make the higher gas bill a little easier to take.
“I’m excited about the car,” James said. “The color and the way people like it, the good shape it’s in, that’s what I like about it.”
catlvr wrote on Jun 14, 2008 4:19 PM:
Carol here.. Paul's sister.
Saw your nice wheels..man, I am sooo jealous!
Wish I could have a muscle car..but I fear that I am past that stage now!:-)
Maybe in my "golden years" while I can still drive!
If you want to keep in touch with me..please do!
Carol (Hill) Weir "
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