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I DIDN’T think much of the Chevrolet Nova two years ago. Thesubcompact was then in its infancy, the joint-venture progeny of GeneralMotors and Toyota, a car wrapped in enough hoopla to make it appear tobe the savior of the western automotive world.

It wasn’t.

It was just an ordinary little car, in reality, a Toyota Corolla inAmerican clothing. Maybe it was because of the press conferences andtrips to California to talk to the people who assembled the car. Andmaybe it was because I was downright tired of all of the gooey, goody,you’re-gonna-like-this-car stuff that I wound up not liking the Nova atall.

Until my most recent trip to Detroit.

I was at a car rental counter asking for a Camaro when these twowomen showed up. These women were tough, no-foolin-around types, andthey started beating the car rental agent about the ears with questionsabout a “good, reliable car” that wasn’t too big and that wasn’t gonnarun out of gas before they left town in a day or so.

I don’t know how it happened. But, suddenly I felt my mouth open andI heard words shoot out in machine-gun fashion — Nova this, Novathat, yeah Nova, great little Nova, yep, uhmm-humm, good on gas, you’regonna like this car.

The women stared at me in disbelief. The rental agent stared, too;but she wasn’t about to let me rain on her parade.

“Say,” asked the agent. “Weren’t you just standing up here a fewminutes ago demanding a Camaro?”

I took the 1987 Nova sedan.

Complaints: My inability to shut my mouth when I oughtta know better.The car? It had a lousy two-speaker, AM/FM “stereo” radio, which was allthe more disappointing because it was produced by GM/Delco, which hassome of the best factory sound systems on the market. That’s it.

Praise: The Nova appears to be a star after all. I really pounded thetest model, which had under 2,000 miles on the odometer at time ofpickup. I drove it over every Detroit street bump I could find, and Iworked it hard in frequent highway runs between Detroit and neighboringcommunities.

The Nova’s 1.6-liter overhead cam, 4-cylinder engine puffed a bit asit moved from 50 mph to median highway speeds of about 65 mph. But the74-hp car ran like a hummer after catching its breath.

The Nova also handled reasonably well under pressure. Maneuverabilityin heavy traffic was excellent, as was braking in panic stops.Rainstorms did not upset this little front-wheel-drive machine. It didnot slip, slide, stop, or stall in the downpours.

Note: Recent surveys — notably those done by J.D. Power andAssociates of Westlake Village, Calif. — show that the Nova gets thehighest quality and consumer-satisfaction marks in the GM empire. Onfit-and-finish alone, I agree. After being brutalized by many miles ofpotholes and bumps, the Nova rolled into the rental-car return lotwithout a rattle.

Head-turning-quotient: Test model was a fire-engine red notchbacksedan with grey vinyl/cloth interior. C lean-cut. Pleasant.

Mileage: About 28 to the gallon (13.2- gallon tank, 370-mile range),traveling mostly highway, driver only, and with air conditioneroperating fulltime. Test model was optional three-speed automatic.Standard five-speed-manual version gets 29 mpg.

Price: $10,078, including $1,530 in options and $290 destinationcharge. Dealer invoice price is $8,756.97, according to AutomobileInvoice Service in San Jose.