Dacia represents one of the brands most anchored in the collective mind of Romanians. However, not all the models launched were designed or produced in Romania, neither "then", nor now.
The Dacia 1300 was, for a long time, the most popular car of Romanians, especially before the revolution of 1989. However, the design bases for that model were not local. Instead, the inspiration came from a Renault model. I detailed the full story behind that situation here.
Dacia Nova, the first Romanian design model
Until Dacia Nova, all the previous models of the manufacturer from Mioveni were not designed on the territory of our country. Nova was launched in June 1995 at the Bucharest International Fair at Romexpo and represented the start of a new stage in the company's history.
The Dacia Nova later became the Dacia SuperNova and later the Solenza. The body of the first Nova model was a hatchback type, with five doors and five seats.
The Dacia Nova was also a popular Romanian export, but unfortunately, due to the limited production capacity at Mioveni, more examples could not be delivered to Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and Serbia. In this country there was a significant demand for the creations of the native builder.
In theory, in 1998, there was also a van variant, the Dacia Nova Van. The latter, however, remained only in the prototype stage.
In terms of technical specifications, most Nova models were sold with a 1.6 engine developing 72 horsepower. Between 1995 and 1997 the R523 of the Dacia Nova was manufactured and between 1995 and 2000 the R524. Dacia engineers designed the Nova because the 1310 model was becoming obsolete and was no longer sold.
As an interesting detail, the 1998 version of the car, with a 1.6 injection engine, had other, more modern door handles. Also then, air conditioning and central locking arrived among the Dacia equipment. The Nova has been discontinued since 2000, when the SuperNova appeared.