A small, two-door, orange, woodgrain-sided, manual-transmission-equipped wagon: what’s not to like? I’m sure you’ll let me know, but until then, check out this sweet 1974 Chevrolet Vega Kammback Estate. This baby is listed here on eBay with an unmet opening bid of $2,500 and a buy it now price of $7,450! It’s located in beautiful Billings, Montana. I would love to drive there right now and check it out, that’s one of my favorite “freeway drives” in the US, heading west on I-94/I-90.
Jeff showed us an orange Vega Kammback a day or two ago and, oddly enough, I posted this exact same car a little over a year ago. But, back to this listing.
I know that some (most?) folks have a problem with the Vega because of it’s infamous exploding gas tank. No wait, that was the Pinto – Vegas had the exploding engines, that’s what it was. Well, not exploding, more like imploding. But, come on, an orange two-door wagon? I can almost guarantee that this car would have more people taking photos of it at a gas station or restaurant parking lot than a red Ferrari would have. Now, an orange Ferrari with woodgrain sides.. hmm..
The seller says that this car is a “I owner garaged survivor” and that the previous, original owner “passed away and the car sat undriven from 1992, until I bought her.” Cool. I mean, not the passed away part but the stored for 25 years part. It had to have helped with the rust, or lack thereof. They do mention that this car “has a little rust, but extremely minimal.” If you’re dropping $7,450 on the buy it now price it wouldn’t hurt to fly into Billings Logan International Airport and check it out first or call your preferred remote vehicle inspector.
Other than some of the typical “chrome” trim on the dash that’s worn a bit, this interior looks really nice. The padded dash is a thing of beauty, at least in its condition. The headliner looks wicked smart, as does the back seat and a fancy radio with an 8-track player.
This is Chevy’s engine in question: the aluminum-block-married-to-a-cast-iron-head 2.3L, 140 cubic-inch inline-four. The seller says that this car has been “gone through front to back. Starts, runs and drives like a new 74 Vega.” I still like this car a year and a half later, how about you?
Kammback or Brake? You be the judge.
“Starts, runs and drives like a new 74 Vega.” Translation: Starts sometimes when it is not flooded, runs great if you ignore or don’t notice that blue smoke trail behind you, drives exactly like you would expect one of GM’s first very feeble attempts at making a small car to drive………….
Oh goody. More predictable negativity. I sometimes wonder if Barn finds readers even like cars. All the negativity on almost every post has gotten old.
I notice that too ( as well as the author) I knew people that had good luck with these, not great, but with proper maintenance, they were good cars. That was in colder climates, and hot weather, they seemed to suffer more. One overheat, and that was it ( not much different today) Vega was a good car for changing times. I read, there was such a demand for them, they were produced at 73.5 cars/hour, which caused many of the production problems.
John DeLoren was not happy G.M. rushed him………..It is a true surviver got to have steel sleves…..then they were OK.
Clearly, one man’s negativity is another man’s clever exaggeration. Thanks.
Well you have to understand that today people feel empowered with their silly useless handheld devices to pound out silly useless things. I for one think this is a very cute and nifty little bugger of a car
I agree with you Will. There are some people who take themselves way too seriously. They need to appreciate these cars for what they are. Every car is on here for a reason. They need to stop taking life so seriously. After all, none of us get out of it alive. I used to be a bit like that, but it has taken being diagnosed with cancer to put things into perspective for me. My advice to them is that they need to change their attitudes before it’s too late.
As an aside, we never received the Vega here in Australia. I wasn’t aware that they had an engine with an alloy block and a cast iron head. That’s a new one for me. We learn something every day.
Laugh and the world laughs with you….cackle like a maniac and watch them back away very slowly.
It has nothing to do with negativity, it’s just stating simple facts. Those of us who appreciate REAL classic automobiles should probably hold our tongues and overlook the junk. But sometimes it’s just so hard to resist. Lol.
Stuff like this most certainly is NOT junk, and is indeed a classic in its own right. The original build quality of such cars as Vegas might have been bad, but that is no reason to not appreciate such vehicles for their uniqueness today (and how impressive it is that some were able to survive in such nice condition as this one).
Like Adam says, “Every car is on here for a reason.”
The negativity about Vegas is well earned.
At least the “Iron Duke” was better than the previous aluminum self destructing powerplant.
Fred I wanted ask you about the Iron Duke 2.5 4 cylinder engine. I recently bought 81 AMC Concord DL coupe has this engine with 50K original miles as you know most Concords were inline 6 4.2s any thoughts on iron duke? thanks
Alan, there have been 3 in the family. One has been owned for 24 years, an 86 Olds Calais. 130,000 miles on it now.
Couple of head gaskets in two of the three. Loud, crude and slow but went into millions of vehicles. Even postal trucks. FWD GM cars & rear wheel drive GM trucks and AMC and Jeep vehicles.
Timing gear, [ no chain or belt except the last couple of years or so when a chain was used ], cast iron block [and head IIRC ].
While like something developed for a 30s vehicle, it smooths out at cruise.
Stay in the right lane and enjoy your ride. It just takes too much time to plan on passing anyone.
I don’t know if it’s worth the price, but I sure like it! Nice write up, Scotty!
Wonder how it looks, when you get it out of the box?
what’s that old lipstick pig analogy? These cars sucked then and i’m sure time didn’t change that fact
The seller should worry that if someone is looking for Vegas on ebay right now, they won’t see the Cosworth for right around the same money, or the V-8 Vega for less….and the V-8 one looks like it was screwed together right, and has A/C!
I like it and I’m a Ford guy, the Orange color with the woodgrain looks cool. I would have to pull the 4 banger and trans along with the rearend and put a 327 / 5 speed / narrowed Camaro / Nova rearend then have some fun at stoplights.
A friend had an early Vega coupe with filled in rear side windows, built small block and a nasty shift kit in the automatic. Car was lettered on the back “Vegamatic” , as in the vegetable dicer of the period. The car would chirp the tires at slow speed on the 1-2 shift.
I like it. A lot.
Still not a GT.
I like it. Alls it’s missing is the girl with the plaid mini skirt with white knee high boots, curled shoulder length hair and lipstick. Total photo op! Keep ‘em coming
Yes’ whenever I see one of these I know there’ll be a lot of negative comments. I think that’s because if you bought one of these and had bad luck with it you’ll have a bad opinion of them. Back in 1975 my grandfather shocked the whole family when he came home with a new one just like this one. Same interior but, his was dark green with the wood grain. He put over 80K miles on it in a few years then turned it over to my aunt who drove it into the mid-eighties. It was sold when the rust got to looking bad but, it was still running very well.
More people taking pictures of this than a Ferrari? Umm… no. And BTW, Vegas would also explode if hit from behind at speed, as would pretty much all small cars of that period with rear-mounted fuel tanks. I believe it was 20/20 that did a report on the issue, with lots of footage of many makes and models exploding. The Pinto just got all the negative press because of one well-publicized lawsuit.
I think that the general, casual observer would indeed be more interested in this car than a Ferrari (as would I).
This would be seen as an interesting, retro-looking station wagon (a rare breed these days), while a brand new Ferrari would be perceived as just another generic, pointed-nose, “fast” car. The former has a lot more character.
I would definitely agree. No really. If I saw this little Vega parked in the street parralled in front or behind a Ferrari, you know? The Ferrari would be totally invisible to me. It’s the little Vega that would invoke so many memories. No. Not so much the car, but of a particular time a place for me. The Ferrari? Nothing
I’ve always thought these would be a great V6/ MT cars. You could still have a nice car w/ more modern reliability. I like it – except for the woodgrain. That wouldn’t bee too great a problem anyhow.
Never thought id see the day where a 4 banger vega lists at $7500.
I saw one of these at a car show with a CSB and 4 sped. New paint and upgraded interior, it was beautiful.
The Vega. The only car ever to rust in the Dealership showroom
Only in New York, Pennsylvania,Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana where they salted the dealerships
Now that was funny. Lol I am truly sick to death of that word Patina. But your screen name is great lol
I love wagons in general ,this one is beautiful. A friend of mine had one in high school same color sans the woodside.I had a VW fox 2 door wagon,and now own a 1987 Volvo 245.I’m not sure it is worth that price though.
Scotty, your finds like this are a scream. Keep em coming.
This one and others like it used to be common sights.
The novelty of a Vega surviving 44 years intact is enough for it to grab my interest. Thanks.
Chevy shared parts for many years without changes. This car has the same steering wheel, seats, and door hardware as my ’81 Camaro had.
Bought a used Vega just like this one, only medium blue. Had 10K miles. Great car until I got about 45K miles, starting burning oil. Don’t know why, changed oil every 2,500-3,000 miles, maintained the car. Traded for a pickup truck at a dealership.