If you’ve always wanted a four-door Chevette to match your avocado-green refrigerator, here’s your chance! The seller has this 1979 Chevrolet Chevette posted here on craigslist in Vacaville, California and they’re asking $7,800. Here’s the original listing, and thanks to Pat L. for sending in this tip, he’s probably wearing Sansabelt slacks in this color as we speak!
The funny part (or is it the sad part?) is that we actually had kitchen appliances this color in our time-capsule-like 1972 house that we bought 23 years ago, I sort of wish we would have kept them now. And, who doesn’t like a roof rack on their green subcompact four-door sedan? I know I do. This color is called “Green, Medium Metallic” by Chevy, it’s not avocado green as I alluded to in the first paragraph. Sorry for spreading fake news there.
My apologies for the quality of the photos, the seller provided some of the smallest photos in the history of Barn Finds, so once they’re enlarged for our format, they’re incredibly pixelated. Hey, at least they aren’t verticals! And they show the whole car, other than the underside, and a good photo of the dash. Chevrolet made the Chevette from 1975 through 1986 for model years 1976 through 1987.
This is the only photo showing the dash. This car has a mere 59,000 miles on it and was originally from Klamath Falls, Oregon. The seller bought it from the original owner’s son in 2017 and being a mechanic, proceeded to give it a major once-over (my words, not theirs) to make sure that it would be reliable if he had to take it into San Francisco for work – about 55 miles, which takes around 55 hours, give or take, depending on traffic… (really about 1.5 hours, if you’re lucky)
The seats look good but the seller says that there are a few splits in the seams of the driver’s seat, and I wish they would have been a nice green plaid fabric. Sadly, there was no plaid fabric available for this car, and no green fabric at all, just green vinyl. The back seat looks great as does the rear cargo area.
The engine is Chevrolet’s 1.6-liter OHC inline-four, which would have been factory-rated at between 70 and 74 horsepower and 88 lb-ft of torque when new. This one has a Turbo-Hydramatic (TH-180) three-speed automatic. The seller has done a lot of work making this car a reliable driver, including replacing all of the rubber gas lines and vacuum lines, new shocks, brakes, hoses, starter, timing belt, alternator belt, alternator, muffler, rear hatchback strut, and the list goes on and on. Any thoughts on this sweet green Chevette?
Good thing the seller covered the plates these are high on car thieves lists:-) Grandpa had a yellow one with a flower on top the antenna . He loved it and said ” that little devil has power”.
My mom had one. She used something like that on the antenna also. To her, all cars looked the same.
Irenee “Brip” DuPont had a tan 1980 model he drove for years.
The license plate was worth 100x more than the car.
Old money.
I’ve worked on hundreds of these and seen hundreds more. Never saw one this color.
That red hose sticks out like a fly on a wedding cake, Scotty!
Ha, I know, Boatman! Thanks for mentioning that so I didn’t have to, but you know I thought about it!
For better or worse, the front and rear towel racks option did not catch on in the North American market.
I don’t wanna hear ANYBODY complain about the price on that 78 Pinto
If seller can get $7800 bucks for what is basically a second generation Vega then I need to get back into flipping cars
Nothing like a Vega, except they both were a 4 cyl Chevy product . The Chevette was miles better than a Vega in every catagory but looks
Today’s only Tuesday Scotty, l save those green slacks to wear on Sundays.
Ha! You’re my go-to guy for wardrobe selection, Pat!
Ahh yes. The Baby Corvette. This one looks like Yoda.
absolute dogs. as much driving fun as a riding lawnmower.
Chevettes were the last RWD compact cars. Even the Japanese cars. Well, it’s nostalgic for sure, a collector? Could be. At least at the right price it would make a good daily driver. Keep it in mint condition and you can also take it to cars/coffee/shows ect. No matter how you use it, it will attract attention because of its rarity. RWD sets this car apart from the rest of compacts. The rest is up to the new owner as to whether they really like a solid “green pea” car, RWD or not. Good luck. Great article too.
A Chevette for $7,800? No way!
But then again, with new sub-compact cars retailing for $20,000 and up, it’s not a bad price.
Everything is relative. (Speaking of which, I had a great-aunt who owned a Chevette.)
My parents were the original owners here in Klamath Falls. The real history of her (we named her Murphy, named after the man that sold it to my parents). I donated it to a group here in Klamath Falls that gave it to a woman that was living in the Battered women’s house here in town. I loved Murphy and wanted to keep her, but didn’t have the room for her. My parents bought her June of 1979 and drove it to Roseburg, OR. when they adopted me and brought me home. I’m so glad to see Murphy look so good!
I couldn’t tell in the pictures. Does the tach redline at 8,000 rpm?
8000rpm,only in neutral
I would not have it here or there. I would not have it anywhere. If there was a gun to my head I would not buy it. 78.00 and for me that is too much. As the line went from one of the greatest car movies. 78 hundred dollars….that price is too f&%$@!& high…..KABOOM!!! I just bought an 84 Corolla in better condition for 1,700.00 exactly what it was worth. That chuvette isn’t worth that. In today’s world there are quite few dreamers that think every old piece of junk is a gold mine. Some cars are just neat old cars, not worth great sums. That car isn’t even neat, just junk.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
“I would not have it here or there. I would not have it anywhere.”
To quote Dr. Seuss.
Great cars and coffee car, but I wouldn’t be caught dead commuting in that car. Spent plenty of hours behind the wheel of Chevettes belonging to friends including a lengthy road trip. No way.
Well said, James, that’s exactly what a car like this is for, in my opinion. It’s just a funky weekend car show car for gathering a group of folks around it and getting them started talking about cars and life in the 70s or whatever. A conversation starter.
I agree with Chris. It’s just a neat old car. Like Chris said, why does everyone think that because they own an old car, it’s worth thousands and thousands of dollars? It drives me nuts! I can these owners saying, “We’re sitting on a goldmine”.
It is akin to going to an estate sale and seeing a box of VCR tapes marked $10 each firm LOL
LOL. you made me do it Boatman
This thread proves that we need an lol button to go along with the thumb!
lol!
$7800. no flippin way, I’d be embarrassed to show up in that thing at my grandma’s funeral let alone at a cars and coffee, I can hear those guy’s uncontrollably laughing, stomachs would be hurting and tears running from their eyes, and I’m sure one smart A would ask, what bum did you steal that thing from, give it back, ten years from now they’d still be laughing, I’d give that car to Grave Digger so he can run it over, what a joke!!!!!
One year only combination of the later front with early rear. Missing the body side moldings that were standard equipment on non-Scooter models (including all 5-doors that year).
The glue was coming undone and they were falling off, so my mother and I pulled them off around 2012-2013.
Had a 2 door hatch with the diesel. Little crowded with three and luggage enroute to Fla.
plaid seats weren’t available, however, you could order your ‘vette with a weird sorta striped sorta check sport cloth. Let’s not forget about the optional semi-auto seatbelts copied from that era’s VW rabbit. (later to be found standard on late 80’s early 90’s GM products to cheap out on the SRS laws) Rag on Chevettes all you want, they were America’s best selling car in 1979 or 1980. Correct me if I’m wrong. Chevette, once upon a time the most determined cockroach of the road, and everywhere, and hard to get rid of. If I had room, I would snatch this one up for nostalgia’s sake alone
With all due respect, you’re wrong. “The 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass, remains the best-selling car in America for the second year in a row.”
https://alansfactoryoutlet.com/the-best-selling-car-model-every-year-since-1978-in-the-united-states/
I stand corrected. You are right. Chevettes were Americas best selling sub compacts those years. I still have the issue of MT with a 1980 gold t-topped Cutlass Supreme coupe on the cover being declared as Americas sweetheart
Am I the only one noticing how these long forgotten poo boxes from our youth gather the most comments? Corvette, Malibu ss, Trans Am, etc, some comments. A forgotten everywhere once poo box and the comment section explodes! I’m scared to see what happens when someone post a 1980 ford escort 3 door hatchback with 15k miles on it! Can barnfinds commet’s sections server handle the traffic? Again, Boatman, LOL is in your honor kind sir
You’re not wrong. These were everywhere. Until they suddenly weren’t. I think generally, they were probably prevalent on the roads until the mid/late 1990s.
I’m pretty sure that Avocado appliances were out of style by ’79, so someone was feeling nostalgic when they picked this one off the lot.
The tires are wrong. Whitewall steel belted radials were standard on these and was a very big deal at the time. It does not look right without them.
http://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Chevrolet/1979-Chevrolet/1979-Chevrolet–2008087308/slides/1979_Chevrolet_Chevette-02.html
And we certainly wouldn’t want anything less than the correct tires on a classic car of this magnitude.
Well this was a huge selling point to distinguish it from the Japanese offerings. Usually, you had to pay 10 bucks extra for those.
They weren’t steel belted tires but glass belted. Per the brochure
Why so much hate?
It’s a car from a era when there were thousands of these in fleets everywhere
I have owned three best cars – east to repair great gas mileage
To each his own
I love the history and if I had the money I would buy it.
The saying goes if you have nothing nice to say – say nada!
Thank you for a lovely trip down memory lane.
Be kind people !
How cool is that to have the original owner in the comments!
I did want to let people know of the real story on it. I really wanted to keep this car since it was my parents’, but just couldn’t. Sure miss it a lot!
I stand corrected before I’m corrected, 1981 Ford Escort. The international car to save us all. Poo box extreme with front wheel drive