MM Retro Write-Up: 1971-1977 Chevrolet Vega

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MM Retro Write-Up: 1971-1977 Chevrolet Vega
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^^^^ Cosworth version

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By member-request, a Retro Write-up of the 1971-77 Chevrolet Vega.

IN A NUTSHELL: More handsome in appearance than its domestic Pinto/Gremlin/Cricket competition, but not without major issues of its own.

By the late 1960s, despite still being in the waning days of the Golden Age of large American cars, it was apparent to GM’s management, as it was with competitors Ford and AMC, that a domestic subcompact car was going to have to be developed to counter the steadily-growing popularity of not only VW’s always-popular air-cooled Beetle/Super-Beetle, but also, for the first time, sales of the Toyota Corolla and Datsun (Nissan) 210. Those who wanted something smaller than the typical compacts Detroit was offering were pretty much limited to offerings from VW and the new upstarts from Japan, unless one wanted to take a chance with a unreliable subcompact from France, Britain, or Italy (which were for sale in the the U.S at that time, but with few takers). GM’s own subcompact German-sourced Opel Kadett was available through Buick dealerships, but at that time, was not particularly reliable.

GM, of course, was no stranger to introducing new, radically-designed (for the period) vehicles, as the Front-Drive Olds Toronado/Cadillac Eldorado and the ill-fated air-cooled/rear-engine Corvair proved (see my Corvair write-up). But the Corvair, in early models, for a number of reasons, proved deficient in safety, and the Toronado/Eldorado, with their huge weight and stress up front, had a reputation for chewing up the soft front tires of the period very quickly, even with proper tire rotation/alignment. In fact, Chevy had to bring out the thoroughly-conventional Nova/Chevy II to try and regain part of the compact market-share that the Corvair’s troubles had cost them.

Only problem was…..not all of those lessons had really sunk into the mind of GM’s management, or, if they did, they were soon forgotten. When GM decided to do a domestic subcompact of their own instead of simply selling German Buick/Opel Kadetts, once again, it was back to the drawing board on another new and rather unconventional design that was to become known (after much debate for the car’s name) as the Vega.

The basic layout (front-engine/rear-drive) was conventional enough, but the company (at the insistence of ED Cole, GM’s president, who had helped develop the famous new Chevy V8 in 1955), decided to go with a highly-questionable 2.3L (140 cubic-inch) in-line four, of 90 HP, that used a silicate-aluminum block, a cast-iron head, and cast-iron crankshaft-bearings. Cast-iron cylinder-liners, which would have added more strength, were not used. Not only did this engine have noted noise/vibration problems and made a racket while running, but also oil-consumption, a tendency to overheat, and, when it DID overheat (often, not IF but WHEN)…the aluminum and iron parts expanded and contracted at different rates, warping crucially-important components and damaging (or ruining) the engine. Note also that, except for Chrysler’s 5/50, most drivetrain warranties at this time were 1/12 or 2/24.

Around this time, John DeLorean, who had been at Pontiac for years and was highly-instrumental in the success of Pontiac in the 1960s, was transferred to Chevy as its new Division Chief. He took one look at the Vega’s proposed layout, tossed up his hands, and complained to Ed Cole that this was an inadequate design, asking for trouble, would cost the company too much in liability and warranty-work even with the short warranty. Cole, however, remained committed to the aluminum/iron engine design, and, by then, the car’s design and development had already come along too long to cancel it and start over if GM wanted to meet its introduction-deadline for the 1971 model year. So, Cole ordered it into production, and the rest is history….it’s also one of several reasons why De Lorean decided to jump ship at GM several years later and start up his own auto company.

That’s not to say that the Vega did not have some good features. Personally (and many critics agreed with me), I thought it MUCH better-looking than either its Ford Pinto or AMC Gremlln competitors (Chrysler decided not to go with its own domestic subcompact until 1978, and sold the very unimpressive British/Hillman Cricket/Avenger for a few years in the early 70s). The Vega, although with a very low ground clearance that prevented it from going through some automated car washes of the time, was easier to maneuver and park than most domestic vehicles, Instrumentation/controls were simple and easy to deal with, and, unlike the Ford Pinto, a Kammaback Wagon version (although with only three doors) was available from the starting 1971….the Pinto wagon was not ready until a year or to later. And I was a big fan of the Vega’s looks and body style…….it looked very much like a downsized version of Chevy’s larger Camaro pony car.

The Vega obviously was not as dangerous in a rear-end accident as Ford’s Roman-Candle Pinto, but also, even apart from the noisy and unreliable engine, had other issues as well. Its short wheelbase, light weight, and relative lack of suspension/shock-travel meant a somewhat jittery ride, particularly compared to GM’s silky-smooth large cars. The car sat extremely low to the ground, so one not only had aforementioned troubles with car-washes, but the transmission/drive-shaft tunnel was very high inside the cabin, requiring the four not-so-large adult occupants to essentially sit in four deep pockets, with their feet into narrow footwells. The clatter from the engine (when it ran reliably) was always an issue. Unlike with most other GM products of the time, quality-control at the Lordstown, OH factory was lacking, and trim-parts were loosely-assembled and sometimes fell off. And the car, especially in the Snow Belt where it was built, became known as a rust-bucket due to poor-quality sheet-metal and corrosion-protection.

So, like with the competing Pinto, this car initially sold very well at first, but, as its issues became known, customer-resistance to it became more more pronounced, and sales fell. In 1975, a sport-oriented version, engineered by Cosworth, was offered with a special paint-job, an all-aluminum engine, and electronic fuel injection (the first in a Chevrolet product), but few were built, found few buyers, and was quickly dropped. In an effort to revive the standard version’s sales, a twin-brother Pontiac Astre version was introduced, improvements made to the unreliable engine, a new “Dura-Built” name was given to the revised engine, and it was upgraded to an a 5/60 warranty, outdoing even Chrysler’s 5/50 at the time. Still not much effect on sales…..this car had pretty much run its course, lasted to 1977, and dropped for the upcoming Isuzu-designed Chevette and the wildly-popular-at-first but then really disastrous X-Body compacts, which would debut a few years later. And, for a while in the mid-late 70s, slick offshoot fastback and notchback coupes, done on the Vega’s platform, were sold as the Oldsmobile Starfire, Buick Skyhawk, and Pontiac Sunbird, with a 3.8L V6 and 5.0L V8 available….but these engines, by then, had been greatly emasculated.

I myself did not have a whole lot of personal experience in the Vega, though I did sample a couple in test-drives, a co-worker of mine (who was not at my office very long had a coupe version that I rode in a few times, and a car-pool partner of mine had a related Olds Starfire with the V6 and 4-speed manual. It was funny when I rode in it…..I often wound up in the back seat with almost no headroom/legroom for an adult…in those days before seatbelt-use laws, with my big frame and height, I’d sit crosswise in the back seat, with my long legs across the seat next to me, and my head leaned up against the small rear pillar. Ah, comfort.

And Ah, the Automotive Malaise-Era…..I never tire of writing about it.

And, as Always, Happy-Car-Memories.
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MM
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