By: Chadly Johnson
I’m not sure if you can be genetically born a guy person, but if this is scientifically possible, then Russell Rosales is a DNA match. Ever since he was little and could clutch a toy in his hand, it was something car related. When other kids were watching television the Dukes of Hazards, Russel was studying the latest issue of Car Craft magazine while munching on his Captain Crunch cereal. Eagerly eating up every page he would lock eyes on a bitchin GTO and tell himself he was going to own one of those one day. Then, 4 pages later he’d see a hot looking Chevelle and immediately change his mind to having to own one of them. This easily distracted by the next shinny object to come along syndrome that he suffered from as a child would carry into his teen and adult years.
Today Russell has 50+ builds under his belt, none of which he has held onto for much more than a year. Simply put, there are just too many cool cars out there to be had. Even with a sweet ride sitting in his garage, Russell finds himself jealous of, and wanting what he spots driving down the street or in a magazine, and before you know it his current car is being sold and he’s chasing down his next purchase. I have a bit of the same “issue” myself, I really think it comes down to the thrill of the hunt and all the torture and excitement that comes along with it. The sinister looking Nova you see before you though is the holy grail in Russell’s mind…it is as good as it gets…aka “a keeper.” Before we get too involved with Russell’s roll with the Plain Brown Wrapper, we should look back at the Nova’s unique history.
Dale Cado rolled the shiny new Fathom Green Nova off the sales lot at Les Standford Chevrolet in Dearborn, Michigan in 1969. The small block, 4 speed, vinyl top, Super Sport was Dale’s high school car…not bad huh? Dale utilized the stout factory package to do a bit of street racing, but within 2 years the Nova became a dedicated drag car. The Nova would soon be shot in a wild silver paint scheme very symbolic of the 70s era he was growing up in, and competed in the Modified Production class at the drag strip. In 1975 the wild silver paint job would be replaced with the brown tone that the 69 still wears to this day. At the same time Dale and the Nova would move up to the more competitive C/SM (C Super-Modified) class. A snap shot of the mid-10 second Nova at this point in time would consist of a tunnel ram fed small block, 4 speed, Dana 60 spool with 6.17:1 gears, Moroso housing floaters, Harwood ladder bars, and Cragar wheels wrapped in M&H Racemaster drag slicks. Joe Liberty of Liberty Transmissions built the straight cut gear 4 speed that was present then, and has stood the test of time. The Nova was also ahead of its time as it was “mini-tubed” which is a commonly heard term today affiliated with ProTouring style builds. The tubs were done very cleanly and are really not noticeable from inside the trunk, but they allow room for the massive drag radials.
Dale never won any major championships, but he was a consistent and dedicated class racer. There were hundreds of guys like him, putting in long hours in the evenings wrenching after work to battle at the track on weekends. The Plain Brown Wrapper was campaigned primarily at Detroit Dragway, Tri-City Dragway, National Trail Raceway, Milan Dragway, and U.S. 131 Dragway. Outside of the dragstrip in the off season the Wrapper’s race engine would be pulled for rebuilding and a milder engine set in place to be displayed at the Detroit Autorama.
Dale cut ties with drag racing after blowing up the Nova’s motor in 1980. The financial cost of racing simply became too much to handle for a blue collar racer paired class rules changes…it was simply time to hang it up. For Dale to separate himself from racing took a physical relocation, and a career change. Dale quite his job at Diamond Racing Engines, and started a fresh life in Chicago. The Nova also relocated, landing on the East Coast where it bounced around to several owners. Eventually the 69 settled in Connecticut with gentleman who had aspirations of racing it again, but the dream never materialized.
At this point Russell had a strong following in the car scene due to his many builds and deep passion for all things automotive, you may know him as “Need4speednow?” Russell had just sold his 64 Chevelle and had posted online that he was in the market to pick up something new. A social media follower sent him an image of the Plain Brown Wrapper and Russell freaked out as he had posted an image of the Nova himself around 8 months earlier expressing how cool he thought it was. Now that he knew the Nova was up for grabs he couldn’t sleep until a deal was struck and the idle drag car was his.
Once in his possession Russell dove into learning more of its history. A Gulf service sticker inside the Nova’s glove box had the name Simon on it, and the name was also pinstriped on the roof of the Nova. Russell knew he had a connection so he searched the address of the station in Taylor, Michigan, but found the station was long gone. Still on the trail Russell began searching all the names on the car in the area of Taylor, MI. He started with the name Cado as it was a prominent name on the roof and found a Dale Cado who graduated high school in 1970 from Jefferson High in the same town. Knowing the graduation year was a match he tried a Google search of the name and found multiple results on Facebook, but with one in the Chicago area. The Facebook match also listed a work place, so Russell tried the phone number, and couldn’t believe it when the correct Dale Cado answered the phone! Isn’t technology great…and really really scary!?
Dale had not heard or seen of the car since he had sold it in 1980. An immediate friendship was sparked and Dale supplied Russell with an incredible amount of history of the car, including some amazing historical photos. I love hearing stories of cars being traced back to their original owners/builders, it gives great closure to many unanswered questions. It is also cool to hear when a survivor car ends up in the right hands, and the Nova could not possibly be in better hands than those of Russell Rosales as he knows the perfect line between preservation and continued use of the Nova. The Plain Brown Wrapper is still in incredible condition, one of the nicest survivors I have ever photographed, and yet it is not a dust collector…Russell actively drives the car, and awakens the slumbering beast under the hood on regular basis. The Nova and Russell make a perfect pair…one just sounds a lot angrier than the other.
