A survivor

[bmod305]

In high school, I worked as a "gopher" at the local Chevy dealership. We sold tons of Chevettes, We called them the poor man's Vette. Built proof but slow. Sold a bunch of diesel ones too. They used a 51hp Isuzu diesel motor. They could get 50 mpg. When ever there was a thunder storm in the area. I had to move them off the lot and into the shop for the night. Any hail would dent them due to the thin steel body. Had 13 of them in shop one time. Brings back memories of my youth-lol

Dave

 

[NGRhodes]

Remember seeing a few of the UK versions in the Lombard RAC rally when I was little.

 

[Shannow]

https://www.streetmachine.com.au/features/1606/special-edition-holden-geminis

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Spartanfool
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Spartanfool
I took drivers training in several 1976 models, both manual and automatic. Expressway on ramps were not fun.


Driving school that I used for finishing and test had the diesel variant..


Diesel....OUCH! I didn't think anything could be slower than the 1.4 auto.


Diesel/5-speed was probably much better than any automatic. Guy I went to HS with had a Chevette...1.6/5-speed, decent little car.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Run
An RWD subcompact, potential for a hot rod. Drop in a crate 350 and it's off to the races. If one in such good shape crossed my path I would probably snatch it up.


Hooker had a kit to install a Buick 3.8 V6.

People have also installed V6-60's...saw one with a 3400/4L60E from a Firebird, and it looked factory. That little car would MOVE!

 

[Silverado12]

I used to carpool with a guy who owned an '85 "Vette". It was a happy day when he sold it and got a new 1992 Dodge Shadow.

 

[fdcg27]

I drove a few of these back in the day.
Had a college girlfriend who had one with a stick and it was fun to drive.
These were decent little cars and were even the best selling model in all the land for a couple of years after the fall of the Shah of Iran, which brought a large spike in fuel prices, followed by that of the Jimmy of Georgia in the midst of a deep recession.
The Corolla was RWD at the time as was the Mazda GLC and there were a variety of small RWD Datsuns from Nissan. Datsun also offered the RWD, inline six 810, a model that would evolve over time into the FWD Maxima.
You could even buy the very refined German made Opel 1900 or the up-level Manta version.
Lots of choices we no longer get in an era when RWD is terra incognito in ordinary cars.

 

[Oldtom]

I knew a guy in 1984 who had just retired from the phone company. The phone company bought dozens of auto trans Chevettes for company cars. According to my buddy, the Chevettes were universally hated due to small size and slowness. The workers beat the manure out of the cars and they held up to the abuse very well. When he retired, my buddy bought the exact same Chevette. He wanted a "city car" and knew it would hold up.

 

[CincyDavid]

Somebody splurged on the red one in the pic above...it has the body-colored "sport" mirror instead of the normal little rectangular chrome one AND full wheelcovers.

I had the opportunity to drive a diesel/5 speed Chevette a couple of times back in the 80s...all I remember was that it was SLOW.

I have no desire to own one of these but if I saw a 78-80 Ford Fiesta I'd like to have one as a cheap runabout.

 

[Cujet]

Those cars gave new meaning to the terms: "Noise, Vibration and Harshness". As they had all 3, in sufficiently annoying quantities. They were not pleasurable to drive. I swear GM used the most mismatched set of pistons possible in those engines.

 

[jstert]

my then new, later ex, wife insisted that my well used, tempermental 1966 mustang “didn’t work” for her soon after we married. i traded it towards a new 1981 chevette. it was my first new car and an awful dealership. the chevette actually worked without a hitch but i should have kept the mustang and traded the ex.

 

[bullwinkle]

I see one or two around here occasionally, but the vast majority of Chevettes wound up here:
http://chevetteracing.proboards.com/
Pretty hilarious to see a whole bunch of these careening around a dirt track, usually at fairly low speeds!

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Those cars gave new meaning to the terms: "Noise, Vibration and Harshness". As they had all 3, in sufficiently annoying quantities. They were not pleasurable to drive. I swear GM used the most mismatched set of pistons possible in those engines.


I don't recall the Chevette being all that bad.
While these were cars built to a low price point, they were no worse than most other small, cheap cars of the era.
They were far from the last word in any aspect of their engineering and development, but they did offer GM a product that ended up doing well after the second oil price shock.

 

[irv]

A friend of mine, years ago, had a sweet Pro Street Chevette. Sandwiched in between the fenders, and part way under the dash, as a 468 BB Chevy.
It was crazy fast and nothing but a handful. He wrecked it doing wheelies one day when he rolled it in a ditch.

Another bud of mine currently races this Vega in bracket racing. Another 468 BB Chev. He's the one who owns the shop I was referring to in my Ram posts. It is also a sweet car.

 

[MCompact]

A girl I dated in law school had one; I took a few trips with it. I decided I'd rather drive my old Cub 154 tractor- it had a comparable level of comfort and sophistication, and I could mow my yard with it to boot.

 

[Silk]

This is the Vauxhall Chevette which we got in New Zealand...just an updated Viva. I think they were Opel based, I've seen the same engine in Opels of the era.

 

[02SE]

My B-I-L had a Diesel Chevette as his first car. He's still scarred, and trying to compensate for it today.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Seeing this thread made me wonder,when did real metal bumpers go away being replaced by plastic "bumper covers"? And why?

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Seeing this thread made me wonder,when did real metal bumpers go away being replaced by plastic "bumper covers"? And why?


Good question? When I was Pro-Streeting my 74 Monte Carlo, I could not lift the front bumper, (after it was removed from the car by a buddy and I) by myself onto a workbench!

There was so much reinforcing metal behind it, which is why I wanted to lighten it, that I had to do everything on the ground.
I forget now how much metal I removed but it was easily over a 100 lbs per bumper. I left just enough metal to reattach it to the car and it still pretty strong!

 

[BHopkins]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Seeing this thread made me wonder,when did real metal bumpers go away being replaced by plastic "bumper covers"? And why?


It all started with the 1973 model year. NHTSA and congress implemented regulations that required a 5 mph safety bumper. Some of the earliest safety bumpers were still chrome, but mounted on shock absorbers. But eventually all the manufacturers went to plastic bumpers.

The earliest safety bumpers were downright hideous. The Corvette plastic bumpers were awful. One could see all kinds of ripples or waves in them.

I knew people that swore they would never buy a new car after the new cars with safety bumpers were introduced.