What's the odds. Is it really a '71?

I bought what I thought was a 1970 Nova in July. I've been collecting parts to restore and upgrade most the car (LS2 6spd, etc). Since the plan was to build a non-original car I never looked at the VIN or Cowl tag real close.

Tonight I sit down and do a VIN/Cowl decode. Guess what, the Nevada and now California titles are wrong. It's a 1971. In fact it's a 4 week of December 1971 car. VIN says it's a 6cly and the cowl tag says it's a V8 car. I've read that this is a common mis-stamp.

The first tip off I ran across was the roof light. It's round.

Wonder if it's worth messing with DMV about?

Cowl tags can be a off. The Vin is the true factor to year and engine.

Vin year and registration year should match!

Cowl tags can be a off. The Vin is the true factor to year and engine.

Vin year and registration year should match!I'm guessing since this is an older car DMV didn't catch the VIN / year difference. The VIN 6th digit is a 1 and the cowl tag is stamped 71. Guess I need to go change a bunch of website where I have it listed as a '70 :turn:

My Dad's Nova is a 64, no doubt about it. However, over time, it ended up in the books as being a 63. They had the correct VIN, but the wrong year. The previous owner sold it to my dad as a 63. I figured out that it was a 64 because of this site. My theory on why these cars end up with the wrong year stated is because, at least in California, the registration card says when the car was first sold. My 70 Nova's title has "Vehicle Year: 1970", "Year first sold: 1969". My dad's Nova's registration says "Vehicle Year: 1963", "Year first sold: 1963". Over time, people mistook one for the other, and eventually it became known to the DMV as a 63 Nova.


For the situation, go to DMV, and tell them that the car is a 71, but the title says it's a 70. At the most, you have to take the car in to be inspected, and the vin confirmed.

DMV does make mistakes. I once owned a 66 Ford Chevelle. The MO DMV actually wanted to charge me to fix it.

I looked at a 68 SS years ago that was titled and tagged as a 67. Got into a little argument with the seller when he said it was a 67 but he showed me the title. I still wonder how that happened. Maybe it was such an early build car that it had to be sold as a 67?

If it was really built in December of 71, it would be a 72 model. It's more likely that it was built in December of 70.

Buddy of mine had one that was built in June of 1972, It was titled as a 72 but it was actually a 73...

If it was really built in December of 71, it would be a 72 model. It's more likely that it was built in December of 70.After talking with a few folks, my guess is that model years do not line up with the calendar year. The build for the '71 model year started sometime in 1970, making December one of the first few months of the 1971 model year. Like others have stated above, car was probably bought & titled in late 1970. The reason for the miscue on the title.

Another good example is my '07 TBSS. It was built in Oct '06. I bought it the first week of November 2006.