If you missed your chance to drive a mini-GT car years ago, here’s a 1977 Chevrolet Vega GT available on ebay. It’s a sharp looker, as we’ll discuss below, but the value is your guess. At the moment, it sits at $6200 with the reserve not met. There are six days to go before the auction closes, though, so maybe you should try a bid. Just be prepared to head to the northeast corner of the USA, as this one is currently residing in Richmond, MA.
Nostalgia is a funny lens. I was alive in the 1970s, and I remember Vegas. Almost all of them were orange. Most people thought they were junk. Perhaps most especially those who ended up buying them. (That’s your signal to go crazy in the comments.) But looking back, it’s possible to put away the “Hey, the muscle cars are all gone” prejudice and see this car for what it is: a mini-muscle machine (missing the power, though) that has great lines and cool “mag” wheels.
So let’s take what’s obvious. The silver paint (claimed original) over a red interior works wonderfully. There’s a suggestion that this is a 35,000 mile car. There’s also paperwork and a trail of ownership that is carefully detailed in the ad. Like it or not, history costs, but it’s a worthwhile investment, too. Do you like the other 70s cues—the aftermarket sunroof (said to be watertight), and 8-track from a 1977 Corvette (where is that car right now?)? I certainly do, and I also note that this car has had a bunch of care lavished on it, so that’s a few thousand bucks you’re ahead if you end up winning it. Look at the ad to see the long list of service upgrades that you won’t have to do.
What’s not to like? This is one of those “It is what it is” scenarios. The car has a 2.3-liter engine, described in the listing as a “Dura-Built 140.” That means it’s less than half the size of the V8s available in the Vega’s corporate cousins (Camaro comes to mind) in this year. Don’t forget, though, that this one is installed in a smaller and lighter chassis, though don’t fool yourself into thinking this car has any ability to snap your neck with power. On the positive, the tranny is manual, at least, so you can row it to max torque as you shift through the gears. That, and the car is air conditioned. That’s a power-sapper, of course, but it makes cruise nights an easier proposition. So where does this leave you? Decades ago, you’d have to defend a choice like this Vega. Time has erased that need. The question now is how to balance the cost of ownership with the fact that this car is never going to be a tire-smoker.
I LIKE it, but then, I learned to drive stick in a ’71 3 speed Vega. Too bad it doesn’t have the fancier Camaro style seats, but verything else about it is great! I could proudly daily this one! GLWTA!! :-)
These were great looking cars. Too bad there were so many performance and quality issues with the earlier models.
I bought a new 73 Vega wagon, automatic transmission and it the worst new car I ever owned. It started burning a quart of oil every 200 miles with less than 20k miles on the odometer. The body also rusted out prematurely and I kept it clean and in the garage.
Those car are throw sways. When the ash try get full put it to the curb for trash pickup. I had two one automatic one four speed. Going up a hill you had to shut the air conditioning off. The top of the cylinder sleeves would eat it’s self and would burn oil and water . It has its own built n smoke screen .
I rember back in the day a yellow Vega with a 302 in it, was something to witness, I was only 16 at the time but some how they shoe horned it in with headers. Allways wondered if that guy didn’t live long..
He’s still alive and drag racing his Vega all the Southern California and Southern Nevada.
I would’ve gone as high as $500 for this Vega… cash!
Unless the original engine was steel sleeved, they would smoke at 50000. My dad,gone now, and I built many. There were 2 4 speed transmission. The Muncie came in Gts. The made a double over head can, after market. Fun cars,if they were sleeved.
no Vega engine was steel sleeved from the factory ever. Not one.
The dual overhead cam Vega was not an aftermarket addition. It was the Cosworth Vega which was a special edition built in 75 and 76 only. The engine was designed and built by Cosworth of England. A pretty rare and collectible car. As for the transmission, early models used an Opel, but later it was a Saginaw 4 speed, never a Muncie. Also, the smoking was not a result of unsleeved cylinders. It was from dry and cracking valve guide seals, a relatively easy fix.
And, when aluminum blocks are sleeved, isn’t it usually with heavier cast iron like in the Buick/Rover V8 and the Cadillac 4.5 and 4.9? ,
This actually looks exactly like my sister’s first car. Paint and interior color, everything. Our parents bought it for her to go to college in. It was a very good car. Good gas mileage, never needed any real maintenance other than the normal. Now, the Vega that she bought for herself to replace that first Vega,…that one was an absolute nightmare.
Dura built? Maybe they meant Dura rebuilt?
For 1975, Chevrolet massively improved the 2300 cc Aluminum nightmare, and re christened it the “Durabilt 140.” (Ha ha, 140 cubic inches = 2300 cc). But the improvements were real and substantial
A new cylinder head had better cooling. A stainless steel headgasket was used (specified for 1971, but then the accountants came in…) to keep the rubber ones from disrupting the party. I believe there were improvements to the pistons, as well. I looked at the pictures, but I can’t tell if the “are you kidding me?” rubber stopper oil filler cap, which was so difficult to put back in place that some owners probably didn’t, had been replaced with a real, screw in cap, the type GM probably purchased 100,000,000 of each year.
By then, the car got actual rust proofing, a glove box, and a radiator with a capacity that could keep the heat-sensitive aluminum alloy in its narrow range of optimal temperatures. 95% percent of the time when someone says how much they loved their Vega, it was one of these later cars. The other 5% got extremely lucky
I had a ’71. Worst consumer product in history
I owned a few vega’s in my life. Had a 77. Beautiful car. Red with black interior. Had all the amenities including high back buckets, 5 speed. Power steering and brakes. Even had a factory am-fm cb radio. Great car but the one I miss is my 72. Got it from a small car lot. Two weeks after I bought it, it died on the side of the road. After inspection, found the carb was gummed up bad. Found a phone number on the original warranty info. Called and found out it was his mom’s car. Was parked 13 years earlier with a full tank. Needless to say it evaporated and I got varnish. Funny thing. The passenger side was covered in door dings and a co-worker said it was probably mom’s car and dad backed the truck in the garage and hit mom’s car every day. Hit it right on the head. 16 year old kid talked me out of it for his first car. Regretted that ever since. If you have a feeling you shouldn’t do something……DONT :-) Great day everyone.
I’m thinking it could climb to the $15,000 range from what I’ve been seeing.
And I thought the $6,750 it’s currently bid to was expensive, LOL! Holy cow. I have no reason to doubt you, as people have pretty much gone crazy with money lately. $15k might be a stretch but who knows? GTs are certainly much more uncommon than Cosworths, which are all over the place.
That flips the script, because when these were new, they were as common as dirt, but the Cosworths were as rare as hen’s teeth because at $5k for a Cosworth, and only about 5k Cosworths made each of the two (2) years they were on sale, most of the Cosworths were bought as collectibles and stored, since they cost about $1k more than a fully loaded Trans Am or Z28, and about $1k less than a Corvette. The Vega GT’s, on the other hand were plentiful, but most of them succumbed to a combination of rust and the Vega’s legendary quality issues, so few survive today, making this example a true survivor.
Yes, the script has certainly been flipped. People who sprang all that money for the Cosworth tended to take better care of them, and, in many cases, just store them thinking they’d be valuable someday.
If you bought a GT, by contrast, it was probably your daily driver, and then got passed along, used up and junked like any used car. Since they were unusually rust prone, that process did not take long in salt states. Maybe 10 years max.
worked out the plant where they built . they run the line 100 cars a hr. thats why their junk . that 77vega is made better. that wasthe last yr they made them. their past came back to haunt them.
There are Cosworth Vegas out there. Far superior engine even though it was detuned for street use.
The Cosworth Vega engine never developed the power that it could have, because GM refused to reinforce the aluminum block as Cosworth wished, and the emission controls limited its peak horsepower to about 10 or 15 ponies over a stock Vegs GT.
Demand was weak for a car that cost $200 less than a new Corvette, for which air conditioning was not available
A large part of the Cosworth Vega engines were simply sent directly to recycling, because the demand was so low for over priced car,, with all the status that Vega’s brand could bring to the party
Hahaha!
Was around many of these in there belly buttons everywhere used car days. I always thought they looked pretty cool for a cheap Econo car. But driving them they never seem to have the sporty, light, and fun feel a car of this size should have. The engines were just a lump of doing nothing right. Capris and Opel Mantas were quite common as well and and did everything so much better. They weren’t power houses but they could be revvy and genuinely fun to drive. I know the market says different but even a nice Vega is still a Vega and that makes it $1000 car…
As they say, time heals all wounds, until the new owner takes one drive in this anyway.
I too drove a few of these back in the day. A buddy had a ’74 GT hatchback. They are very slow, even with a manual. 0-60 will take about 15 seconds per automobile-catalog.com. Sounds about right. They seemed slow for back then. It’d seem glacial now in a landscape where even a regular minivan hits 60 in the mid 7s. I also imagine it’d feel a bit unnerving in traffic, where everyone is flying around at full speed in vehicles 2 times, sometimes 3 times, the weight of this thing.
Sadly, the only way to mod it to be much quicker would be an engine swap, which you’d probably be hesitant to do if you dropped $10-15k on this thing. But in any case, it’s a relic of a time long past and surely would turn heads, if not to avoid the slow moving obstacle it’d create in modern traffic. Good luck to the new owners!
I owned a V6 3.2 wagon monza version of the vega a 1979 all original which I swapped out for a built 3.8 4 bbl dual exhaust. Best car I ever had along with my Skyhawk both cars very fast. I took on many stock v8s with great success. Just proves how good a V6 is. I had both cars for over 12 years drove them hard.well over hundred thou. Till the end.
and almost every person who says “My Vega was the best car I ever had,” swapped out the entire drive train with something that actually worked and generated reasonable horsepower
most consumers do not evaluate an economy, car purchase, based on how it would be with a different engine that they paid for themselves, parts, and labor
I owned a 1974 Vega GT fastback. Red with a black racing stripe running down the center of the car. Black vinyl interior with red piping. It was a 4 speed manual. It had fancy wheels, and a am/FM radio. No a/c, ps, or pb. I bought it used in 1976. It looked hot and fast but was a real dog. It had a little rust when I bought it. Mechanical is where I had problems. I went through 3 heads in 9 months. Chevrolet replaced the first 2, but not the third. Said I was abusing the engine. Told me it was overheating and I wasn’t paying attention. The temp gauge never showed overheating. Traded it in on a new 1977 Nova 2 door sedan. It had the 305 V8. I loved that car and the engine. I have read a few complaints on bf about the engine.
My buddy’s ’74 GT hatch was dark green with white piping. Dog indeed! I distinctly remember us laughing that it could barely spin the tires, on a gravel road! He beat the almighty [censored] out of the little thing. I do not recall him having the cylinder head problems that so many of these did, but dog is almost putting it mildly.
The problem is not the cylinder, head, failing, but the head gaskets and the engine block itself
I had a 72 GT red with black stripes. For the size it ran really well, until someone dumped a cup of sugar in the gas tank. I could never get it back to specs after that. Had some fun in that car during my time in college
Hard to believe there’s still any of these around, apparently there’s some that never got wet. Just be sure and carry a spare head gasket, and a good supply of JB Weld
What happens in Vegas…
Had a 74 GT. Nice little car. My dad fixed it up with a bigger radiator, helped with the cooling. One day it quite running, and I pulled the gas tank out to get to the electric fuel pump. When we dump the fuel out, I found someone had put sugar in it. I didn’t say anything about to anyone, then a few month’s later a so called friend asked about it. I knew it was him. It ran great for a while after that. Wish I had it now.
With “friends” like that, who needs enemies?
I was engaged to be married in 1973. The blushing bride thought that the 1969 Z-28 would have to go. I took a peek at a 1973 Vega GT as a possible replacement About a week later the engagement ring was returned. Thank you GM!!!!
I had a 75 black with gold stripe that I bought while a car was being restored. Guy came with his buddy in a GT350 to buy it. I had just had the head redone and told the guy it needed to be broken in slowly. He buys the car and him and his buddy peal out of the driveway as if they had a race to the highway. A couple hours later the kid calls me and says the car blew up on the highway.
So much for breaking it in. He went directly to break it.
Sounds like he misheard you!
It would have blown anyway, broke in or not
Remember that Trans Am bandit edition that maybe wasn’t with that LT-1 that looks like a LS for 8 grand? Well here’s your chance to go back & buy that car & save yourself the embarrassing fact this car will never touch Old Gators ride in anyway shape or form! Save yourself endless nightmares thinking how your going to make muscle with a 2.3 lump because you paid too much to replace it!
I lived through 2 Vegas. The first was a $500 deal on a 1971 to run errands in when my older brother got sick. He was a mechanic and thought this little car would be fine. It didn’t have the power to match my lead foot, so he figured I would be safer. Not too long after he died so to did my car. Well it was using 2-3X more oil than gas and I was being teased about spraying mosquitoes. The dealer, who my brother had worked for, gave me back the $500 I’d paid for the first one to put towards a 1977. It was burnt orange with beige interior, and had 7 miles on it when I drove off the lot. I loved that car!! Had 96,000 miles on it when I sold it to go to college. Worst mistake of my life. I’d love to have that set of wheels back. Love to have this one but a bit rich for my blood. I hope whoever gets it, treats it kindly and leaves it looking like it does right now!!
If the worst mistake of your life was selling a 1977 Vega (and I like Vegas!), doesn’t it make you wonder if you are taking enough chances in life?
:)
BT
Frankly, the only thing the Vega had going for it was the styling. It looked like a 3/4 scale Camaro. Everything else whispered “junk”! Bt the time GM sorted out all of the quality issues, the car’s reputation was completely and permanently destroyed. GM cut it’s losses by restyling and renaming the Vega, calling it the Monza, but the aluminum four-banger was gone, replaced by an assortment of GM corporate fours, sixes, and a 262 V8 that required a mechanic to unbolt the motor mounts and jack up the engine to change the back two spark plugs, LOL! GM came out with a Technical Service Bulletin and recall kit to improve access to the rear spark plugs by drilling a hole in each front wheel well so you could change the back plugs with a socket wrench and an assortment of extensions and universal joints. The recall kit included a rubber plug for each hole so water wouldn’t splash up into the engine compartment between tune-ups!
The Monza and its corporate siblings, the Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac Sunbird and Oldsmobile Starfire, were all supposed to get GM’s Wankel engine, but when the Wankel was stillborn, the small V8 was the replacement motor.
Please Robert, don’t insult the Camaro!
It wasn’t meant as an insult, but a complement. The second generation Camaro was a good looking car, and some of those good looks were grafted onto the Vega. The inherited good looks were about the only thing the Vega had going for it, however. Many people were taken in by the family resemblance, however, expecting the Vega to perform as well as it looked, and were soon bitterly disappointed. If my comment was taken as an insult to the Camaro, I apologize. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa!
The Wankel Was Supposedly The Engine GM Designed The Vega For To Begin With But The Problems With Rotor Seals & Fuel Economy Stopped GMs Interest In The Engine Supposedly The Reason The Vega Had A Large Transmission Tunnel Was It Being Designed To Use The Rotary Engine.
No
The Vega was specifically designed (or it “happened”) for the 2300 Aluminum engine.
The Monza was designed to be an upscale showcase for the Wankel
Wow – 5 speed & has a/c! Silver/red is a good combo!
Nice gage pkg – tho I would replace the clock with an oil press gage.
Looks good(unlike ’74-76 camaro) even with the 5? mph bumpers – these do not stick out as far as others! hmmh.
I wonder if Chevy made any test mule Vegas with the dependable 153 cube OHV 4 cyl that was avail in ’60s chevy IIs/novas. If they did, i bet a LOT more would still be on the road – at least in drier no salt areas, like So Cal – with a lot more happier drivers!
Joe,
I laughed out loud when I heard this one has AC(?!) trying to drive that car with the AC on at high altitude it’s got a turn from a slug to a stone!
I never understood why GM just didn’t use that fantastic Nova 153 4cyl. (maybe it wouldn’t fit under the hood?) It was proven and paid for. Heck, they could’ve designed a modern cylinder head and intake to address its shortcomings and make it fit the car(?!) Alas we’ll never know….
Ah yes, the Iron Duke! 153 cubic inches (2.5L), iron block and heads, reliable as a stone, and twice as heavy! I think that it was too high to fit under the Vega hood. If I remember correctly, I thought that the Vega motor was slanted to lower the height of the engine even further, so it would fit under the Vega’s sloped nose. I used to work as a pump jockey at the local gas station and a friend inherited his parents Vega when they bought a new car. I used to see it a lot, because every time he pulled in for gas, I had to check the oil, and I think I added at least a quart every time, sometimes two quarts! The worst part was that the damn thing only held four quarts in total, including one pint for the filter!
Robert Atkinson, Jr., the 153 i speak of is from the ’60s & is NOT the iron duke! – it’s a “sawed off” chevy strait 6. & like the 6, i believe it has no timing chain OR belt!
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1830276/cut-down-engine-week-chevrolet-153-four-cylinder/
Weights:
Vega engine 4 cyl: 285 lbs(impressively light in wt, i must say)
Nova 153 cube 4 cyl: 350 lbs(so you might need beefier springs or spring assisted shocks up front if you put 1 in the Vega – & maybe a phony hood scoop for clearance)
I was 18. Saw an ad for a 74 VW Beetle so went to take a look. Turns out it was a 74 Vega. I liked the look so I bought it. It started burning oil. It burned a quart to work and a quart back. I got to the point I would use recycled oil from the airport. I also had a CB when they were all the rage. I had a trucker say “breaker little Vega Can you come oil my driveway?” It finally blew the engine and I towed it home. A racer bought it for $50 and wanted to put a V8 in it. I never knew if the buyer put in his ad “a VW” just to get people to come look at it but I’m certain that’s what his ad said!
Read somewhere that they shipped these in boxcars, stacked vertically. Two rows. Got dozens in 40 ft rail car.
True, and I think they were open flatcars. They didn’t want oil dripping all over the railcar flooring.
The unusual freight car shipping was only done for a year or so. 71 Vegas were designed to be shipped standing on their front end without leaking battery, fluids, etc. The system did not prove cost-effective and was quickly discontinued.
I bought an identical car (except black interior) brand new. It was actually pretty trouble free until about 70k miles and then this happened: https://www.flickr.com/photos/24547418@N08/18817452159/in/photolist-uXhDvk-uEQmWk-MbYMjX-McC3Nu-Mg3hZo-Mj7hyX-MjVRCP-R6Upok-2kMYdGo-2kMYdJC-2kMYdLB-2kN2U7x-2kN2UfZ-2kN2Umv-2kN2UoQ-2kN3iSz-2kN3iVA-2kN3jbA-2kN3jfJ-2kN3kWu/
I had a ‘74 Kamback. Car and Driver did an article on the cosworth version and included all the part numbers, so I went to the Chev. dealer with my list in hand and ordered one. The salesman was bewildered and called someone from the parts department over. They reviewed my list and checked their books and agreed it was possible. I got an aluminum cross flow rad, a relocated battery, LSD, better shocks and anti roll bars, transmission oil cooler, an more but that is all I can remember. It was nearly 50 years ago. I loved that car. It had terrible OEM tires which I replaced nearly immediately with Michelin
LSD? That would explain your love
I see what you did there! But LSD refers to the Limited Slip Differential (LSD) not the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug of 1960’s fame.
I think the original equipment bias ply tires on my Vega lasted about 9000 miles
I bought a new leftover 74 Vega GT during the gas crisis. I was never one to ever keep a car over a year or less. I did get 3 yrs of trouble free service and until recent yrs the longest I owned any car. Good thing it was rust colored paint when I sold it to a coworker for $3k. The “GT” moniker was a joke obviously
A friend of mine bought an auto Vega GT, red, white stripe. It was in amazing shape. Dont remember the year of the car, but it was about 1984-5, he bought the hooker header v8 kit, built a VERY capable 350, added a turbo 350, narrowed 10 bolt position, had the 4 bolt ends put on the axels so he could use the stock vega sport wheels had 1 maybe 2 inches added to the rears, and a chubby set of Firestone supersports. It was the most insane out of control car I’ve ever driven. In the wet it was down right dangerous. we loved it. We did all the work ourselves, outside, not an electric or air driven tool anywhere. Lost contact with him years later, no idea where he lives or if he’s still living, often winder what happened to it. When I see one for sale, wonder if I have another build in me….
I bought a 74 Vega GT new yes the 2.3 were junk there use to be a Pinto&Vega wreck yard out on Aurora ave in Seattle they had a 75 Skyhawk 231-V6 that was wrecked with 600 miles i bought the motor for $550 and sold the 2.3 for $300 to some poor chap. So for another couple hundred dollars had a great running V6 vega good on gas and pretty quick kept it a long time..
Yes John, I’ve heard others who swap out those with Buick V-6s, made them more drivable. One thing about Vegas, the ease of working on them. I changed a motor and transmission out in an hour, one time. And as for the rust problem, we just spayed oil in the panels, but don’t tell anyone, hah.
My mom had a 76 GT silver/red. It had the 5spd, but a much nicer interior. This interior was the standard Vega. I thought the GT got the upgraded seats and door panels. The dash says GT though. BTW – with the dura built engine her car lasted many years/miles. Overall it was a good little car.
Once again, a happy Vega, owner, because the car was after 1975.
If GM had done its own development and testing, instead of outsourcing that job to its customers for three years, the history of auto imports into the USA would be entirely different.
instead, they thoroughly convinced the world that the United States could not build a small car, and inoculated their customers from future GM purchases
Maybe, maybe not. American carmakers considered small cars as just big cars that had shrunk in the wash, retaining the front engine, rear drive layout that was heavy and consumed so much space in the cabin, with the driveline hump and the rear axle fighting for space with the gas tank. It wasn’t until Detroit began building front-wheel drive cars with the transverse engine and transaxle (GM J-Cars, Ford Escort and Mopar Omni/Horizon twins) did the Big Three get serious about building competitive compact and subcompact cars.
I have an urge, don’t kn0w why, to save this quote:
” a mini-muscle machine (missing the power, though)”.
It’ll come in handy some day.
GM wanted the light weight of the new Reynolds high silicone aluminum alloy to improve vehicle performance.
They forgot they would need to put in a radiator and functioning head gasket to take advantage of that feature.
I always liked the body style of the Vega but they weren’t much of a car. The engine’s were junk and the Cosworth Vega was no better. Most of the Vega’s that are survivors are now drag car’s which they make one Hell of a bracket car due to how light they’re.
Man I loved hearing all the comments about others Vegas I had a 75 GT maroon insides and out it was actually my second car my dad owned a Chevrolet dealership I had the opportunity to drive and own some pretty sweet rides my first car I owned was a 79 red/black Monza notch back with a 231 v6 and I also put some v8 to shame with that car then came the vega it was someone’s trade in and I found the original MSRP in the car it was 1500.00 for that car with air condition it was slow but a very good car never broke down although I only had it for a summer then I moved on to a sweet black on black 73 type LT Camaro. I’ve been a car guy for ever thanks for letting me go back for a minute.😎
yep, another happy Vega owner, who had a car that was built 1975 or later. You were spared the test driver experience.
Had 73 gt..2 motors..none of them lasted 35k miles..gm technology in 1973
They just should have put a 267.v8 in it and
D forget it no..Ed coke wanted a alum.4cylinder that would blow up…go figure
.
The aluminum block engine could have worked. The 1975 in later Durabuilt 4 was a pretty good engine.
and don’t forget that Porsche use the same alloy in the 928
insane cost cutting eliminated a proper radiator and adequate cooling for the aluminum alloy engine, which required operation in a very narrow range of temperatures. Elimination of the stainless steel headgaske gasket guaranteed failure.
and don’t forget, the Corvair would’ve had no issues had cost cutters, not removed a stabilizer bar from the rear suspension
Looks like a nice Vega. I see I’m like a lot of guys here and had one at one time and don’t feel the need to own a second one. I have owned cars over the years that I truly would like to own again or one like them but. the Vega wasn’t one of them. Again, still a good looking little car for its age and you could call it a time capsule from 1977, as original as it is.
the vega gt in the pic is a 76 not a 77 76’s had the gt emblem on the side.77’s had the word vega gt in letters running down the length of the car.my mom had a 74 vega with the stripe pkge hatchback.it started burning oil more than gas.no rust issues though.it drove really nice and lots of rm for cargo with the backseat down.and i live in ontario canada and lots of winters
It’s a Vega, enough said. If someone wants it for $6,300 USD, well they can have it. I don’t want it, period.
I bought a 1971 in Oct stick. What a pig got ass kicked by a Datsun B210. Luckily I only had to suffer 16 months with it when it was totaled by a hit and run, OH HAPPY DAY.!!!!!!!!! 😊
I just got a 71 I’m going to build a drag racer with a small block and powerglide tranny
Really had a good laugh reading back about my first and last new GM car 1973 Vega fastback. Honestly loved the look and the economy was excellent when they came out with the 721 radial tires and added the dual point distributor, learned the factory maintenance free battery died because the water level would get low, and it could be put in a bucket and the sides could be squeezed to get it filled backup and working for a couple more years. Really had to thank them for the translucent battery case of the day. I read of the new technology of the aluminum alloy for the engine, but really it didn’t make any sense, even the lawn mower engines had a steel insert bore, but took a chance and lost. Soon after 13000 miles she needed a oil well to keep her happy. And finally GM decided to replace the junk engines with the same junk engines. Another bone head move, so after the new engine was replaced I sold the car, and learned later that engine didn’t make it very long either.
721 radial tires….were those the Firestone failed a lot tires?
Yes. My Grandmother had a set mounted on her 1968 Chevy Impala, and when they were recalled, you had to go to specific locations to receive a replacement set of tires, not every Firestone dealer was authorized to perform recall replacements. I had to drive “Grammy’s” car from Saugus, MA to Newton, MA to get the defective tires replaced. Not a great distance “as the crow flies”, but one of those classic “You can’t get theah from heah!” trips, at least not easily! It took me over an hour in Boston traffic to get to the location in question, followed by another couple of hours of waiting before my car even saw time on the lift, followed by another half an hour or so to change the tires, with my return trip taking over an hour and a half, due to the onset of the evening “rush hour”!
My 1971 Vega came with bias-ply tires. They wore out incredibly fast.
American car companies were very slow to adopt radial tires. 1948, Citroen equipped its cheapest car, the legendary 2CV with Michelin radials.
In 1970, the Lincoln Continental Mark III had radial tires as standard equipment. 1974 was the year that Detroit began the.large scale shift to radials, which required retuning suspensions because radials give a much firmer ride than bias ply tires.
Ford generally used Firestone tires. I don’t remember what my Vega had.
You should have had someone install a ’60s Chevy 153 4-cylinder engine, which was based on the 230 strait 6, which you can’t kill – no timing belt or chain! If your vega had a liquid cooled powerglide, that would be bulletproof too. My friend’s ’68 nova has the orig 230 & glide & it’s still kickin with no repairs to either with over 300k miles on both. But he don’t drive it in the salt (or rain if he can help it). ALL cars back then rusted quick – including imports.
My 1971 Vega had a two-speed Powerglide, just like a 1952 Belair.
Probably reliable because not much can go wrong with two gears.
All competitors had three speed automatics
The Reynolds Aluminum alloy actually did make sense.
The alloy contained lots and lots of very hard silicon particles, and in a narrow range of operating temperatures, these very hard granules actually stick up above the aluminum, eliminating metal on metal friction, and avoiding the expensive cast iron cylinder liners used on the Buick Aluminum V-8 of the 1960s. Too cold or too hot, and the sllicon particles cannot protect the soft aluminum.
To keep the Vega’s price down, an inadequate radiator was installed, along with a cheaper head gasket than engineers had requested. This meant that the engine was constantly operating at temperatures above and below the ideal operating temperature range, and iron pistons did rub directly on soft, unprotected aluminum.
Within two years, Chevrolet was retrofitting coolant recovery systems, free of charge. I’m not sure when the radiator was upgraded, but I bet in 1974, along with the redesigned head with better cooling and the originally specified stainless steel headgasket.
Porsche’s 928 used the same Reynolds aluminum high-silicon alloy, with good results. Their secret? A real, functioning radiator.
That said, I don’t know of any engines that use the stuff today, so you have to wonder…
The Reynolds 390 aluminum alloy has become quite popular in many applications, not just internal combustion engines, and yes, once you understand the properties of the material, it can work well in automotive applications. Unfortunately for GM, the material was brand new at the time, and the engineers were still on the “learning curve”. Combine that with the sabotage of the “bean counters”, who, in their arrogance thought they could do double duty as design engineers, with their ruthless cost cutting substituting cheaper, inferior parts (radiators and head gaskets) for the ones originally specified by the engineers. The results were as predictable as they were disastrous, both in the short term and to GM’s long-term reputation, but that’s to be expected from Business School buttheads whose only focus is next quarter’s bottom line. I wonder how many customers GM lost to the imports, from selling poor quality products that drove customers into the arms of GM’s competitors, never to return.
Unfortunately, still GM hasn’t learned their lesson nearly fifty (50) years later, see the story below about the customer who bought a $75k Chevy Suburban that wouldn’t pass the MA auto inspection because the “Check Engine” light came on, and GM has no idea how to fix it!
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/08/07/business/chevy-engine-light-still-on/?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter
SOLD for $12,100.
Unreal how someone could fork over that amount of cash for trash. Apparently some car buyers are about as intelligent as our current administration
A mini muscle car … minus the muscle. Wait. What?
Junk new, junk now, junk always.
At the time the Vega was launched, the Mini, Fiat 128, Toyota Corolla, Datsun B210 were all front engine RWD
FWD really took off in the USA in the mid-70s with the VW Rabbit