Always a crowd-pleaser car, or at least a crowd-gathering car, eyes-per-dollar, it’s hard to argue with the drawing power of a Chevy Chevette. Whether anyone would buy one just to have people ogling it is another question. This former museum resident, a 1981 Chevrolet Chevette, can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Brownsburg, Indiana, and they’re asking $10,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to JDC for the tip!
That’s exactly what happens with this car, according to the seller. They say that people take photos of it everywhere they go, and I believe it. This looks like a museum car, at least above the ground. To the seller’s credit, they have provided a great bunch of photos, a very nice video, and several underside photos showing the bits of rust under this glorious-looking Chevette. Is that the first time anyone ever said glorious-looking about a Chevette? Here’s another underside photo. And, here’s a brochure showing the 1981 Chevettes.
Believe it or not, and I know you can believe it, we have seen five 1981 Chevettes here on Barn Finds since day one, and I’ve written about all five. I don’t know if that’s a badge of honor, courage, or ignorance, but I think they’re interesting cars. Three of those five were two-door hatchbacks like this one, one was a four-door sedan, and one had been converted into a pickup. Two of them even had diesel engines! If this “Silver” car had a diesel, I’d be on my way to Indiana as we speak. Ok, maybe not, but I’d love it even more.
Chevrolet made the Chevette from 1975 for the Bicentennial year (1976) until 1987, and apparently, there are still a few preserved examples out there. About the underside rust, the seller says there is a small hole in the passenger floor pan, and there’s more on the to-do list. There is a crack in the right front shock tower, you may have already noticed that the bumper filler material is gone, both front and rear, the chrome on the grille is peeling, the rear end seeps after the car sits for a while (a new gasket is included), there’s a valve cover oil leak, and there is some minor fading on some of the interior panels. That sounds like a lot, and it is, especially with a $10,000 asking price. The Dark Blue interior looks great to me, including the rear cargo area. I’d want a manual transmission, as always.
The engine is Chevrolet’s 1.6-liter OHC inline-four with 70 horsepower and 82 lb-ft of torque, which passes through a three-speed automatic and sends power to the rear wheels. It has factory air-conditioning, but they say they haven’t tested it. That seems strange when all you do is literally push a button to see if it works, but that’s the story. I can’t imagine this car selling for $10,000 with the rust underneath, but maybe it will? Any thoughts about this Chevette?
I remember one of my Uncle’s buying a new Chevette Diesel Coupe with 4speed for my younger cousins to get around in, there were actually three boys and two girls. They all took their road tests in an were allowed to use the car as long as their HS grades stayed up. But these kids like myself and siblings were all a bunch of hoolians, that were extremely hard on cars and motorcycles. That little Chevy took so much abuse over the years I’m surprised it last so long then sold for what it did. All while getting incredible mileage and dependability.
I had this exact car, except in red over red and without the AC. It was objectively not a great car, in that it was slow, fairly uncomfortable, and that lack of AC was a real problem in Southern California in the summer.
That said, it was fuel efficient, reliable (in 100k of ownership, it suffered a failed starter, a failed master cylinder, and an exhaust failure covered under a recall), and surprisingly fun to toss around corners. Never underestimate the joys of driving a slow car fast.
That said, I’ll never buy (or even covet) any T-platform car except an Impulse/Piazza.
Lots of these cars made it through our dealership back in the day. Contrary to popular belief (mostly bad mouthing from the local Tokyo Trashcan dealers) they worked good and lasted a long time. I’ve seen lots of them with 300K miles and still going. No more rust issues than anyone else. Of course the Chinook Belt never used much salt on the roads (if any) so vehicles lasted a long time.
A good portion of the cars we sold were diesel-powered so they took the flak about being smokers, along with the total “lack of power” option. I was never very sympathetic to lack of power complaints; I told a lot of customers to get out and push, along with the rest of us idiots.
I always liked the Front Engine-Rear Wheel Drive setup. In slippery conditions you had a fighting chance of controlling a skid. Front Wheel Drive always left a lot to be desired when roads got icy.
My ex-wife couldn’t drive the Ford Topaz when it was slippery; she always rammed the front wheels into the curb. I told her to drive the Bronco, which she did and never had any complaints–except for how much she hated me. Different story.
R-12 A-C so when it worked it was real cold. You will need to convert to R134A and sweat, or look around to find R-12/R-12 Substitute. In this case, the first thing you will need is a belt.
I think a lot of Chevette stories will surface here. I went to High school with a guy who had a silver one like this, except a black interior and a stick. I remember us riding on some back twisty hilly roads and having a blast. It truly is fun to drive a slow car fast. I’m right with Geomechs, I always preffered front engine rear drive. I always thought they held up well. I like the whiitewalls on this one, not something you always saw, and it dresses it up a bit. Thanks Scotty!!! You drummed up more old good memories.
This is a joke right?
PS. I had an 84 LS which got me through college. Actually very reliable and great basic transportation. Manual, no AC. Actually got 100K out of it. Next owner probably got way more.
Some great fwd cars for sure. And reliable ones. But rwd will always get the nod from me for balance and driving manners. 🏁
I bought 1 new. Put 140,000 miles on it. Sold it for $100 when the floor rusted out. Good basic transportation but slow and only got 28 mpg with an automatic.
Chat GTP estimates that there are 400 to 2,500 surviving 1981 Chevettes worldwide.
Es ein das American Opel,,(Manta steering wheel, etc) ,and was an okay car, but always lived in the shadow of the Vega. I think they should have used an Opel motor. While a diesel has no business in any car, in this case, I’d say go for it. I was surprised to learn this is a belt driven cam, but not a scrambler, so a minor delay, no damage, but no real advantage over the Vega. The diesel at least would deliver many, many miles, despite its shortcomings.
The Chevette proved that there were still holdouts for US small cars, and not go the Asian route. Almost 2.8 MILLION Chevettes were sold, beating the almost 2 million Vegas, so there is bound to be a few “hiding” yet. I read, ’80 and ’81 were their peak years. Probably the last gasp in small US car sales over the Asians, as they were just getting going here. Great find, nothing fancy, not many “saved” a Chevette.
The Chevettes used Isuzu motors which were awesome.
The gas engine was. Built by GM, using Opel and Isuzu help, the diesel was Isuzu designed but GM built.
I can’t help but wonder which museum this car was in. Maybe the ’80s car museum in the Midwest that features only mainstream 1980s Era everyday cars like this. Yes the price maybe on the high side for what it needs but didn’t P.T. Barnum once say there’s a seat for every butt?
I’m amazed that it rusted as much as it did, wow. I’m wondering how it was stored. Maybe it was a museum with a dirt floor?
Pity its a auto, learned stick on these, and a 318 1970 Duster, talk about different clutches to learn on.
The Chevette was fun, dependable and made a decent car for PA dirt roads. Big change from the huge boats we normally drove.
10k, no way. But you would get 10k worth of attention
A nephew bought our neighbor’s silver 2 door. He had a flat tire soon after and told his mom( my sister ) he knew how to change the tire. He proceeded to put the jack in the wheel well fender curve….. ugh.
can i get a hit off the pipe this guy has because i need it.10k? i got a 70 4dr Chevelle that’s been sitting in the dirt for 16yrs that looks 100 times better than this. surprised the jack stand did not collapse the rocker.2k tops. we had a brand new 78 model what a mobile P O S that car was. these were junk and the crusty bottom side on this 1 proves that
10k he could at least fix the a/c
Geomechs
When wrong wheel drive understeers or to prevent it, light taps or light pressure on the brake with the left foot and right foot on throttle can make the rear do.what you want.
Abs can interfere with this procedure.
Disclaimer:
Your on your own trying to make a car do what I can.
I’ve left foot braked street cars in snow, rally cars and road race.
You didn’t say what museum.
Let’s maybe rule out The Henry Ford, the National Corvette Museum, the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, The Nethercutt Collection, Blackhawk, and Petersen.
I’m gonna take a wild guess and say the old Harrah’s in Reno. They had just about anything.
Nice condition up top but, unfortunately, this car was probably driven in the salt for the first couple of years of its life. To me, that kind of ruins everything else about it.
This ad seems to have triggered more past Chevette memories than comments on the car itself lol. Anyway, interior looks really nice. Granted the outside looks very clean, minus the few mentioned issues, but those Kalamazoo winters have taken a bit of a toll on the underside. Certainly more rust than I was expecting considering the mileage and it being in a Museum, whichever museum it was. As Scotty mentioned, you couldn’t just try turning the AC on to see if it worked or not? Seems rather strange. If every aspect of this car was mint, I’d say maybe, but I think if he want’s to see any reality in selling it, that price is going to have to come down by quite a bit.
I also don’t have anything yo say about this car and the only chevette I can remember was a rally car. Can’t remember their names but the team was Hairy Canary. They rallied a yellow Mustang for a few years and then one year switched to a chevette. I asked about the change and was told it was the smallest, lightest rear wheel drive car they could put a v8 in.
The A/C reminds me of when I was shopping for a Corvette. I asked the owner if the a/c worked and he said oh yes it works great. I replied that it would work even better if it had a belt. He looked at me like a deer in the headlights. Needless to say I turned and left at that point laughing all the way.
I got stuck with a Chevette rental car years ago it was a terrible car. The engine sounded so bad that I couldn’t bear to make it go 70. Cheaply built, poorly engineered. Best forgotten.
Museum car!!!! You must mean morgue car. Why would anyone collect or preserve this
If found by aliens they wouldn’t think much of the human race.