(Chevy) Nova --Query

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Is the story about the Nova being interpreted in Latin America as "no va"
>(doesn't go) and having terrible sales as a result merely a myth?  A
>colleague at my campus sent me the message below (with accompanying
>website) to the effect that it *is* a myth. Would any ads-l members know
>anything about this?

I don't really KNOW much about it, but it's been my understanding that this
story was bogus ... I don't remember my source, maybe Snopes or some
similar thing. I first heard the story a long time ago, maybe 1980 or
earlier, and it sounded dubious to me then. I think "nova" in Spanish means
about the same as "nova" in English, right?

A more recent comparison: a few years ago I noticed a fancy new Toyota
pickup on display. It had conspicuous labels (more conspicuous than the
Toyota name itself or the name of the model [Tacoma or whatever]) reading
"TRD" (this apparently stands for "Toyota Racing Development"). I remarked
that perhaps the company could have come up with a more felicitous
initialism, for the sake of its large North American sales. But it looks
like Toyota sales are OK ....

-- Doug Wilson