It’s hard to believe that the Chevette was made for a dozen years or so. I can’t think of the last time I saw one on the street but we’ve seen quite a few of them ramble through the doors at One Barn Finds Tower. This 45k-mile one-owner 1983 Chevrolet Chevette S hatchback diesel can be found here on craigslist in the Kearney, Nebraska area and the seller is asking $4,850.
You can barely make out that this is a Chevette S, a “sporty” (ok, I know) look with blacked-out trim and other non-go-fast goodies. The photos are pretty small in the craigslist ad so my apologies that they’re a little pixelated. The Chevette hit the market in the fall of 1975 which was the golden era of regulations for many things, safety, bumpers, pollution, leaded gas, etc. I know that not all of those things hit the fan in the mid-1970s but it was a bit of a sad time in the auto industry for those of us who grew up when it was basically a free-for-all.
I’m not sure of the actual value of a 1983 Chevrolet Chevette diesel but that Chevyland U.S.A. bumper sticker may be even more collectible than the car is. Have any of you been there? Apparently, it’s permanently closed now which is literally a crying shame, it’s been a decade since I’ve been there. It was just south of Elm Creek, NE on I-80 in Nebraska – seeing that building on the side of the freeway was a milestone for me on my drives across the country.
The exterior looks rock solid and great other than some wear marks here and there. The seller says that it was “purchased new”, which I assume to mean that they purchased it new as most vehicles are purchased new, at least the first time they’re sold. They say that it has 45,000 miles and has been in storage but we don’t know for how long.
Yes, this Chevette has a 5-speed manual transmission so there’s that, and the interior looks great from what we see of it. The driver’s seat could use some reforming/padding but I don’t see any dash cracks or anything else that causes alarm bells to go off. The hatchback area also looks clean, although we don’t see the backseat. Here’s a great YouTube video on the 1983 Chevy Chevette.
The engine is an Isuzu 4FB1, which is a 1.8L inline-four diesel with 51 horsepower. That’s about half of what really decent power would be, but it also means that this car gets 55 mpg according to the seller. That seems a bit on the high side to me but who knows. It wouldn’t take much to really clean this car up and make it look great. Or as great as a 39-year-old 50 hp diesel Chevette can look. I like them, have any of you owned one?
I’ve said this before.. they need to bring back accent colors and strips like this car has, esp because white/silver/grey/black are the only colors available!
If it wasn’t for Isuzu we wouldn’t have the legendary Duramax. Isuzu builds good diesels. I know the one in the later Trooper we never got was a bit of a dud but these older IDI engines are bulletproof. I worked on a 83 I-mark diesel that had no maintenance and high miles but it ran like a top after replacement of a clogged air and fuel filter. In another shop we had a Pup diesel and the only thing holding it together was the paint but it would always start in cold weather. I would be tempted to own this car for its reliability and thrift. I know gas in CA is over $5 a gallon.
Yes, but for some queer reason, diesel today costs more than regular petrol. How odd.
I also have a problem with that.
Diesel comes out of the refinery stack with less refining involved than gas. So,… one would think diesel should be cheaper. However, complicating matters, fuel tax is for diesel is higher than gas at the federal level (extra .06/gal) and most states (varies).
I don’t have any numbers for total consumption, gas vs diesel. That would definitely play into the equation.
A relevant link:
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/articles/4/
bobk
I think that I read an article on gas vs. diesel a long time ago.
The pricing USA vs. Europe had to do with the # of refineries set-up to produce diesel, and the method for producing it (cracking?), if I recall correctly. It seems that Europe produced a lot more diesel than USA, at that time.
Not 100% sure, it was a long time ago.
Yes, diesel probably should be cheaper, but due to the old supply and demand thing as well as other factors, it’s typically more costly. Although interestingly today, 7/16/21, according to gas prices.aaa.com, the price gap nationally between the averages, is comparatively small with reg unleaded at $3.163 per gal and diesel at $3.270 per gal.
I just paid 3.95 here in CA.
I bought one of these new in 1982. I only drove it for a year but loved it. Gas mileage was great and with the 5 speed acceleration around town was acceptable. There certainly aren’t many left
I bought one of these new in 1982. I only drove it for a year but loved it. Gas mileage was great and with the 5 speed acceleration around town was acceptable. There certainly aren’t many left
I wonder if a 12 valve Cummins could be shoehorned in…
I didn’t even know the S package was available with the diesel.
All it needs is snail graphics with the ScarGo lettering under it!
This is ready for Radwood. Better start heading there early though.
Actually, 1983 was 38 years ago. That’s a beautiful Chevette, but anything that’s been sitting for a while and has 45k original miles will eventually need to have various things replaced after they go or break. Them not mentioning how long the car has been in storage should raise a red flag. It’s almost as if they’re trying to hide something. Maybe not though. My best offer would probably be $1,000 cash in case if something happens.
The Dark Ages in the driveway.
Chrysler should have countered with a coal-fired K-car…
A 1976 (gas) Chevette was the manual transmission Auto Club Driver Training car I learned to shift on. I remember the engine sounded fast, but it was slower than molasses in January.
You could time 0-60 in this thing with a sundial.
I was going to say you could use a calendar for the 1/4 mile, then I realized that 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for this car are nearly the same.
The “S” must stand for “Slow”
My dad had a ’78 Olds Delta 88 with the diesel, it was so slow and weak that it wouldn’t pull the skin off of a grape and successfully passing someone on a two lane road was both miracle and death-wish wrapped into one. I drove it to Florida from MO and it died in the tunnel near Mobile AL., issue was fuel with water in it I think. Terrible car, just like this one.
Was that the 350 diesel? GM should have never tried to Frankenstein that poor small block, such a disaster. This, though, has a solid little Japanese mill. Isuzu has fantastic engineering. I have a GMC PU with an Isuzu 5 cylinder in her. Great engine. I remember the automotive agony of the late 70s. Americans had just been run through the mill with OPECs treachery. Stuff that in this country, would have had them in prison for antitrust violations. (Funny, they said they raised prices for political reasons, but gosh, sure made them rich too! Of course, our country allowed them to do it, as it made the oil men in the WEST crazy rich as well, funny how that happens) People would try anything to try and keep the reliability of driving going. No one was sure if the prices would keep going up, so people grasped at straws, diesel was one of those things people tried. Of course, diesel was cheaper then unleaded in those days as well. For many, it was just the thing to try. I had many people tell me that if fuel shortages ever came, diesel would still be around, Uncle Sam would ensure that to keep the trucks on the HWY delivering needed goods. Add in the trauma of poorly running cars due to primitive environmental controls, and it was not a good time to be a driver, and most certainly, a new car buyer.
Wow, a rare Chevette S model, with a hatchback AND a diesel! Now we’re seriously stylin.
You want a slow car try a Renault Le Car with the three lug wheels and an Encore. They had very little acceleration and they could barely hold their speed on flat ground with the a/c on. God forbid if you wanted to try and pass a car, you had to shut the a/c to try it.
Theyve had this thing floored pedal to the metal since 1976 and its only covered 45,000 miles! Carry your chrystal ball with you so you can deduce when it is safe to pass!
If a stock Chevette isn’t slow enough for you,
this is your car!
Memorable features of this car as a lot boy at a Chevy dealer in the early 80s:
At idle it Shakes so bad if you have anything on the dashboard it will fall on the floor and the gauges are just a blur in front of your face. If you have to start it in the winter cold, at first fire ,you would swear a rod is going to come out of the block at any moment. If you’re watching for a hole in traffic to merge you are going to die, there must be NO traffic to perform any road maneuvers.
The car for sale has a TRAILER HITCH ??!! I just about spit out my breakfast laughing when I saw that picture! :)
0-8mph I will demolish this car in a foot race
Nice looking car. I remember cars like this from when I was a boy. I was way too young at the time to drive, but I’ve known neighbours who had them. I’ve never found earlier Chevettes very attractive, but I loved the later models, with the different grille and wraparound taillamps. I liked the idea of a diesel engine. It’s too bad it didn’t remain on the market. I would’ve preferred an Isuzu Turbo D.
Brings back memories . . . I owned one while I was working my way through college. I also bought two more for parts. I swapped-in the engine out of one (learned about timing belts the hard way) and the trans out of the other. Sold an engine to a guy who put it in a boat. Still have Chevette parts taking up space in my basement.
All were 4-speed A/T. Nothing on that car was any good. However, the engine was great.
The starter motors ate ring gear teeth off the flex plates.
My dad drove it now and then, and he dubbed it “the little cement mixer”, because it shook like hell at idle.
It only got 20-25 mpg, but I heard from others that the 5-speeds did much better for mileage.
My rambling thoughts . . .
I bought one second hand in 1989 and I loved it. With the 5 speed the acceleration(!) wasn’t horrible as long as you could keep your momentum up, but the fuel mileage was incredible. I did a 120 mile round trip on backroads with 4 people in the car, and used a total of just over 2 gallons of fuel. Dead reliable, and never, ever failed to start, even on the coldest Ontario winter nights.
I wonder what the hitch is for. I certainly wouldn’t tow with it.
It would make a handy pull point for the wrecker operator to use to pull it on the rollback bed when you sell it to the scrap yard.
It would make a pretty handy pull point for the rollback driver to use to get it pulled on the truck when you get tired of wasting money on it and send it to it’s final resting place.
The only relationship between an Olds with the pathetic GM diesel and a Chevette with an Isuzu diesel is that they were both sold by GM. Isuzu makes very durable and economical engines. GM conversion diesels were bombs with short fuses.
drove 1 of these for Stanislaw co as pretty new (1977/8?) but no diesel. Pretty good on gas (altho co filled it at the yrd so didn’t keep record). I’d DD it as diesel, hatch and 13/14 inch tire – pretty affordable ! Good sz, less polition, a bit of jazz inpresentation (grey w/red, beauty rings).Perfer slush bx for DD (typical usa-er – eat, telephone, ‘live’ in my commuters).
Former owner of a 1980 gas Chevette, I’m just wondering if they ever fixed the clutch cable issue. It got to the point that I started carrying a new one all the time and when the aluminum adjuster broke, I’d swap cables and get another new one. That car never let me down, always started and once it warmed up there was no stopping it
Recalling the Isuzu diesel motor/transmission is the replacement combo of choice for the hordes of nationalized American ‘classic cars’ still running around Cuba….
Had to replace a clutch in one once. The bell housing bolts had nuts on the engine side, What a miserable job that was. After more than thirty years have passed and I can still remember THAT one.