“A first car”, “pizza delivery”, “the a to b go getter”. The fishbowl design from many manufacturers filled the roll of transportation to every awkward first date, trip to the beach, and going off the college journey. It just seems stereotypical, every movie or TV show, there is a rusty, and well worn 70’s hatchback in a scene. Although most met there demise by the turn of the millennium… if not then, its quite a wild sight to see parked on the roadside today. When the Pacer you were always looking for doesn’t thrill your fancy as it once did, this 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire that is locally for sale in Naperville, IL with an asking price of $2,800 just might.
Beginning in the 1970’s, American auto manufacturing set out to fight the import brands of Datsun, and Toyota. Ford introducing the Pinto and General Motors designed a whole new line of cars…the H-body. In true GM fashion, every division jumped on the band wagon. The Chevrolet Vega started it all, with the Pontiac Astre, but the Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac Sunbird, Chevrolet Monza, and the Starfire were all the same body with different jewelry.
The second generation Oldsmobile Starfire built in Lordstown, Ohio…yeah Lordstown! GM envisioned a bright future of a massive new assembly plant built in rural Ohio. The Vega as other H-Body cars began production as a strike unraveled at the assembly plant, rebellious and unhappy workers were walking off the job and “sabotaging” the car right as they were building them. Throwing pennies cylinders, leaving bolts loose, cutting seats, taunting the paint, and destroying the hope GM had for there import fighter by building a doomed car right from the start.
A trusty and dependable selection of engines and transmissions were paired to get these little cars off the line in record time. The 151 cubic inch Iron Duke as well as an equally dependable 140 cubic inch inline-4 and a v6, and even a 5.0 V8. With a 3 speed automatic or a 4-speed or 5-speed, there was much variety to enjoy…and it one time these were a common sight, but as cars become rare cars, the sights of them in daily life are limited now. I am very happy to have spotted this fine example for sale.
Whats under the hood? I had a 77 Monza 2+2 with the 3.8 buick motor and a four speed, it was a decent cheap beater. my major complaint involves the awful cable operated clutch which made shifting fast next to impossible, but if you drove it like you hated it that 3.8 would scoot it right along. in fact my friends 78 Cutlass Supreme with the 260 or so cubic inch V8 was no match for that sporty beater! hell the A/C even worked. traded it in for a new 86 Toyota 4wd pickup and never looked back, but it did provide reliable transportation.
I love how the pictures were taken across the street from an abandoned car dealership. A sign of the times?
The other unfortunate aspect of the car was it’s name. Anyone who remembered the Starfires Oldsmobile built in ‘61-‘66 knew what beautiful and powerful cars carried that famous name. Sadly, a short 10 years later when GM was inspired to apply that imagery to a deformed, endemic and laughable rendition of itself, people flocked in droves to Datsens, Toyota’s, VWs and Honda’s instead. Stupid is as stupid does, and GM got even stupider as time went on. And so now we see one of the big three threatening halting production of their passenger cars while Toyota, Nissan, Honda and others see a bright, rosey future for theirs.
A Vega by any other name……..
The first car I bought brand-new was a 1976 Starfire GT. It was also the last car I bought brand-new (for myself). It was competition orange with a black stripe above the rocker. Despite others’ opinions I thought it was a very good-looking car, and I still do.
The seats were very comfortable, much better than a Vega’s. I had the 3.8 V6 with a 4-speed. It was not a race car by any means but it was fun to drive.
The downside was the 3.8 was a lumpy engine at idle, the car came with the infamous Firestone 500 radials, and it rusted faster than a Fiat 850.
That car saw me through about 8 different girlfriends and my wife married me in spite of the fact that I was driving it when I met her. She convinced me to buy a bright red RX-7 shortly after.
This is the same woman who encouraged the purchase of the C6 convertible. The recipe for wedded bliss is finding someone who understands your automotive needs. Nothing else matters.
No sure if the 2.3 Vega 4 could ever been described as reliable, unless it was the reworked Durabilt ones mid decade.
Love the color of this. Seems in good shape.
Looks like the 3.8 was the standard engine. Also checked 77 and 78, no 4s or V8 mentioned.
A Sunfire coupe with the v6 and manual combination was tested by Motor Trend back then and the gas mileage was excellent, especially for the mid 70s.
Nice way to experience the 70s for not a lot of money, though I’d prefer the aforementioned Sunfire.
Such an embarrassment for Oldsmobile.
Role. A roll is something you put butter on. Or what hangs over my belt.
Met their demise.
Taunted the paint? Neener, neener, paint.
I had one of these… worst car i ever owned. Was constantly breaking down (transmission seal blew at ~5k miles…) Main problem though was that it didn’t want to start in the mornings, period. I would have to get out of the car, open the hood, take off the air cleaner, and shove a wrench down the throat of the carburetor to hold the butterfly valve open. Even at that, it could take up to a half hour to finally start. Dealers couldn’t figure it out, even though it was still under warranty (and no, i didn’t buy it new, my in-laws did, and traded us for a perfectly good Nova). Once it was warmed up, it would restart all day long. One Sunday morning my wife and i wanted to go for a drive – took an hour to get it started. We drove to the Honda dealer and traded it for a Civic – of course it restarted when the dealer test drove it for the trade-in. Wonder if it ever started again….?
Is every Monza around going to get published?
Somebody really has a hard on for these cars.
You can not blame a lemon, for being a lemon !!!
Like it’s older brother, the Vega, these were made of compressed rust. Just ad water and watch them melt away…..