UPDATE – This 1974 Chevrolet Vega GT Kammback is for sale again a little over a year since it was featured here on Barn Finds, with quite a bump in the asking price. It can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Big Lake, Minnesota, and the seller has raised the asking price to $8,000. Here is the original listing. Any thoughts on this Kammback?
FROM 10/08/2022 – Chevrolet offered three different versions of their small and somewhat sporty Vega station wagon: a Panel Express, without rear side windows, an Estate Wagon with woodgrain sides, and a Kammback as in this 1974 Chevrolet Vega GT Kammback. Disclaimer: the Panel Express didn’t come in a GT version. The seller has this little four-speed wagon listed here on Facebook Marketplace in North Branch, Minnesota and they’re asking $5,000. Here was the original listing.
The Vega was made from 1970 for the 1971 model year until 1977 in hatchback, notchback, and wagon form. I’m getting “that feeling” again which isn’t good, especially right before winter, which here in the upper Midwest is the worst time to buy a collector vehicle. Motorcycles are easy to store but cars, not so much. I don’t see too many flaws on the exterior of this Vega, other than that missing bottom right-front fender trim piece. A period Vega brochure lists that the GT cars had a black stripe towards the bottom but not all of them appear to have that so maybe it could be deleted. It’s a bummer to not see the optional passenger side mirror here, which is a must in 2022. The 1973 models may be the best, visually, with the original style egg crate grille and smaller bumpers.
The new-for-1974 bumpers aren’t eye candy for sure, especially when compared to the pre-5-mph bumpers. Not to mention that they added six inches to the length of this car. But, they are aluminum which was pretty rare at the time. If this car had the early, smaller bumpers, it would look so much better, in my opinion. I wonder if a person could change these big bumpers out to smaller bumpers? Do any of you have any experience with that on a Vega? I mean, I’m just wondering for general information purposes, it’s not like I’m going to buy this one or anything – as far as I know now. The GT version got stabilizer bars, nice mag wheels, and white-letter tires.
The interior looks fantastic in this car and there even appears to be a clear plastic cover on the bottom of the driver’s seat. The Napachi half-knit vinyl seats both front and rear look outstanding as does the rear cargo area. Being a GT, this car has full gauges and even a clock – that’s pert’near luxurious for a Vega and this isn’t even the really fancy Estate version. The optional Saginaw M20 four-speed manual is what you want here. A three-speed manual was standard and a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic automatic was also optional.
There was an optional CB radio available and it appears to have a CB under the dash, next to what appears to be an add-on cigarette lighter. It says Audiovox on it. Wait, that’s exactly what it is as seen here in this eBay listing! This car has air-conditioning but the seller says that it needs a charge, which means that there’s a leak somewhere. A Vega with AC? Cool, literally. I wouldn’t want to put the extra strain on the engine so I’d probably not worry about the AC too much.
Speaking of the engine, this seller deserves a gold star for uploading such good photos, including an engine photo. This is Chevrolet’s 2.3-liter SOHC inline-four, which in the GT version, would have had 85 horsepower and 122 lb-ft of torque when new, a bit more than the non-GT Vega. This car has almost 100,000 miles on it so it isn’t a low-mile car by any means and the aluminum block and cast-iron head engine is legendary for having trouble. There is no word on how this one runs but if it runs as good as it looks, I’m in. Later engines had a “Dura-Built 140” with improved cooling and other features. Enough already, you can’t tell that I’m excited by this car, can you? Any thoughts on this Vega Kammback?
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