Here’s a comment that few will ever hear at the gas station: “That Vega belongs in a museum!” Well, this Vega has been in a museum for 25 years, in the collection of “Downtown DeSoto” in Clinton, Missouri, and they are selling this well-documented 23,275-mile 1976 Vega on eBay. It’s so original that it even has its factory A78-13 tires, to which the seller applies this caveat: “They should not be relied upon for highway driving.” True words. Barn Finds’ all-star car spotter Curvette sent this one in, and the high bid currently sits at $5,325 and has not met reserve. What will it take to take home one of the few museum Vegas the world has known?
Quick digression—I have a small collection of H-Body dealer promo cars because I like their styling and they’re inexpensive. Fortunately for me, I have this museum car’s twin; painted Lime Green Metallic, it differs only in its interior color.
The most important thing to look for when Vega shopping is rust. Although this car was clearly parked on a lift for photos, this is the only picture of the undercarriage that is posted on the eBay ad, which is a shame. The rocker panel does seem to look good, so that’s something.
The seller does post several documents, including a journal for fuel stops, that prove that the mileage claim is genuine.
The interior also indicates that this is a low-mileage car. Based on this picture, the Vega has not a four-speed but rather the standard three-speed manual. Yes, you could still get a three-speed in a Vega in 1976 (I’m a little surprised, too). Surprisingly, there are no pictures of the engine posted, but the emission sticker tells us that this car has the standard one-barrel equipped “Dura-Built” 140-cubic-inch four, which produced 70 horsepower and was fed through a 2.92:1 rear axle ratio. (There is a video of the engine running, and it sounds good.) Chevy worked fairly hard in its sales materials to distance this engine from earlier examples in earlier Vegas; in an attempt to soften the car’s dubious reputation for reliability, the engine had a 5-year/60,000-mile limited engine warranty. Anecdotally, the later Vegas were of much better quality than earlier examples, but the damage was done.
The museum car is not perfect. Although the seller has cleaned the fuel tank and installed a new fuel pump, they mention that it will eventually need a carburetor rebuild. Nevertheless, it “runs extremely smooth and the brakes are totally operable”; those brakes were front discs/rear drums for 1976. The top has some light hail damage, there are a couple seam tears in the interior, and “the left rear quarter was painted at one time.” Also, the AM radio doesn’t work and the fuel gauge is inaccurate.
At least there’s a full plate of factory literature that comes with the car.
Regarding the car’s issues, it’s impossible to think that you’re going to buy a perfectly running and driving car from a museum. A museum car’s job is to sit and look good, which this Vega undoubtedly did for a quarter century. Any reasonable car fan knows that they’re going to have to spend a lot of time tinkering on a car that’s sat that long, and this one will be no exception. But imagine what people will say at the gas station.
A clean, unmolested economy car of this era is hard to find, perhaps even more so for the rust-prone Vega. It’s fun to see one in good shape. A couple interesting features: the A78-13 tires (I remember that tire size), and the gas purchase journal. Three-on-the-floor, surprising. At the local cruise-in I suspect this would be more entertaining than the SS396 parked next to it.
Good write-up Aaron. Your almost-matching scale model is cool.
This is almost unbelievable. ( I do believe it though). I didn’t even know you could get a 3 speed in a Vega, I always thought it was a 4 speed as standard. The fact the rockers are all there is a good indicator that everything else underneath is ok as well. I can’t get over how well preserved this one is, even the original tires…. Wow…. I like your scale model too Aaron, what are the odds about it being the same exterior color as this find too? And you truly hit the nail on the Head with Curvette, truly an all star finder if I ever saw one!!! Hope this gets preserved, like Bob in Tn already ( very accurately) pointed out, these do have a tendency to rust very quickly, so to see this with its original steel is pretty rare.
Love it.
Years ago I found a Vega promotional model car at the
local Pay Less drug store.I asked a clerk “How much?”.They
told me $1.00,so I bought it.
I learned to drive stick in a ’71 3 speed Vega identical to this one in color!
GLWTA!! :-)
We had one in the family in 1976. Same colour combination, but ours was automatic.
I know I’ll catch a lot of flack for this but, this would make a perfect period street machine! A tunnel rammed 355 and a super T10 feeding a 12 bolt with 4.10 gears, bass boat green metal flake paint, crushed velvet interior, that is my dream Vega. Eat your heart out