PB Nova X5e

Seeing as I am on the PB trail I may as well continue on that theme. Soon after the Alpha 83 was released, it was determined that a new design be introduced. At first glance the Nova was revolutionary rather than evolutionary in design when compared to the Alpha.

For starters the trademark red plastic was now gone from the car. But therein lay somewhat of s deception, as the suspension mouldings remained largely unchanged. However, introduced into the car was the monoshock suspension front and rear. The concept at the time was that monoshocks ensured that the damping on the car would be exactly the same side to side.

The chassis was the main change though on this car, and the key thing that caught my imagination all those years ago. Much like I was captivated by the Serpent Veteq so many years later, this was the first truly inspired design to emulate the formula one concept of the monocoque chassis. But what was really different was the fact that this chassis was one piece of aluminium unlike the modern Serpent which was bolted together.

The original Nova appeared in 1984. The X4 variant with minor changes was introduced in the year 1985 with the X5 coming in 1987. Of note is the fact that the rear shock set up of the X5 went to the now modern conventional upright inclined shock set up whilst the front remained faithful to the monoshock design first introduced into the Nova. I am still trying to identify where the designation "e" comes about on the actual model that I acquired.

I had been looking for a Nova 4wd for some time, but would either find a two wheel drive car or an incomplete basher. Finally spotted a unit for sale on eBay that was mint straight out of the box... And I mean mint out of the box example. This unit was of the last version of the Nova (the most desirable to me), the X5e. Complete with instructions, unpainted shell and s box in good condition, I decided to bid heavy on it. Unfortunately there was another couple buyers also hitting the auction that pushed the price higher than I thought but this is a purchase I will never regret as it's absolutely perfect and quite possibly the absolute best Nova left in existence that I have seen. This one will never be sold (actually none of my collection will ever be sold come to think of it!)