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For what it's worth, the "Nova" story is a myth: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Here is a whole list of cultural misunderstandings of car manufacturers http://www.oddee.com/item_93544.aspx

That was the first thing I attempted to search for and the output from the site is:

Spanish: did you know that the popular anecdote about the Chevrolet Nova is an urban legend? Google for "snopes nova".

It's a nice detail.