The Nova was designed by Richard Oakes, an upcoming designer in the United Kingdom. The fabulous design of the Nova, won Richard a scholarship at University to further his career. The name Eagle was chosen for the South African version due to the fact that Chevrolet had a Chevy Nova on the floor over that period.

The Eagle (Nova) was then imported from Britain during the 1973 oil crisis by the late Bill Badsey and Bob White. In South Africa, the Eagle was manufactured by a company called Eagle Automotive based in Johannesburg. After a fire which caused the Eagle Automotive’s premises to burn down, the factory was revived to create 150 of these magnificent cars. Manufacturing of Eagle cars in South Africa stopped in the late 70’s, when the partnership split and Bill Badsey immigrated to the USA. In the years to follow, there were a couple of reputable manufacturers. Alf Paulsen was one of them and thanks to him nine more explicit examples saw the light. Unfortunately, there were also those manufacturers that harmed the Eagle’s name to a large extend.