By Eric Rood
When I was in high school, a classmate drove an Officially Malaise Era Chevy Nova in Brown with a plaid cloth interior. I always wanted to drive it—or at least sit in it—but I barely knew the girl and so never endeavored to ask. Instead, I frequently parked in the school lot nearby in my Mercury Topaz Personal Misery Coupé and looked to the Nova, whose greatest asset was that it looked like A Car, perhaps the most car-like of cars. So I feel a twinge of nostalgia for this clean 1979 South Bend CraigsList example from the Nova’s last model year (unless you count the Toyota Corolla-based FWD penalty box), which is as Car as a car can get. If this ’70 Nova doesn’t receive the Brown Car Appreciation Society (BCAS) stamp of approval, I don’t know what does. But wait, there’s more! [1979 Chevy Nova 4 door/1950s refrigerator on Chicago CraigsList] 
We’ll get to The More in a moment, but this four-door looks like a base model sedan with the Chevy 250-cubic-inch straight six that was similarly discontinued after 1979. With all of the Malaise Era smog controls in place, it probably struggled to eek out triple-digit horsepower figures. 
The seller claims it was a barn find with fewer than 70,000 miles on its 35-year-old chassis. The pristine interior seems to confirm this and its transmission/driveshaft “hump” hits a nostalgic sweet spot for someone who’s not been around an old rear-drive car in too long. Man, do I miss a column shifter, too. 
For just $2,500 or maybe a non-crap trade, this seller will let you drive this straight-six beauty home. 
When I was young, my family kept our food cool in an 14-ton brown refrigerator that would leave even the most stringent BCAS member russet with envy. And this Nova seller is not only selling a brown Nova, he or she is also selling an equally brown late 1950s Hotpoint refrigerator. 
This kind of panache is rare in modern appliances, but industrial design for the home was all the rage in post-war America. 
The fridge’s cold space is a model of blinged-out beauty. You could probably buy a bespoke designer fridge like this for a few grand today, but this seller is only asking for $250 or a trade for the real vintage deal. 
So what’ll it be? A $2,500 slice of Malaise Era goodness or $250 for a founding member of the Brown Fridge Appreciation Troupe (BFAT). I’d recommend carting the brown fridge home atop the Nova using brown tie-down straps, but you might break the Internet in doing so. Because I work at the Internet, I can’t endorse this fully, but I can applaud the extraordinary Brown-ness of a person who pulls it off. 
Full ad text:
“1979 Chevy Nova 4 door/ 1950s refrigerator (South Bend IN)
1979 Chevy Nova 69,000 miles 6 cylinder was found in a barn! for sale or barter, what do you have? I could use enclosed trailer, motorcycle, gator or off road cart with a bench seat, cash. As you can see the Nova is nice so please do not bother me with your junk! What do you have? Cash Nova $2500.00, refrige $250.00—-I WOULD LIKE TO TRADE FOR HARLEY OR JET SKI , SKI BOAT, SUV…what do you have?
Also a nice 1950s refrigerator clean and works…what do you have?”
[Ad permanently linked here for posterity’s sake after the Internet gets fixed. Hat tip to my awesome wife, Jenny, for finding this.]
Ross Ballot 
Jeff Glucker