Once the Curbside Classic bug has bitten you, every trip out of the house is an adventure. Just yesterday, I thought my trip to Orchard Supply Hardware had provided me with a CC rara avis (rare bird): There, in the parking lot sat a genuine Chevy Vega! Could it be the last 2300 cc-powered beater Vega left on the planet?
The front bumper calls out the model year. For some reason, most ’73 domestics came with an upgraded front bumper, but carried forward with the rear bumper pretty much unchanged. I’ve never looked up the regulations, but I’d guess the Feds made ’73 a transition year requiring increased protection over ’72 but not yet the full protection mandated for ’74. At any rate, this car’s extended bumper and wider fill panel tell me it’s a ’73, despite the unchanged grille and tail lights.
Here’s a better shot of the Vega’s “mini-Camaro” styling. While the low roof line associated with said styling did not enhance utility, the looks helped Chevrolet sell close to 400,000 Vegas in both ’72 and ’73. Then again, from today’s perspective it’s no surprise that sales tanked to 78,402 in 1977 despite the styling. If you’re not familiar with the Vega’s steamy, overheated history, you can review it in the CC articles posted here, here, here and here.
Once I finished my walk-around, the only custom feature I had spotted were the larger, extra-wide wheels. Overall, it’s looking pretty stock.
No surprises inside, either. The steering wheel says “GT,” but the fenders lack GT badges. I’m going with a steering wheel upgrade, rather than this being a genuine GT. Too bad- I think the GT package increases the book value by up to $25!
While California’s mild climate protects Porsches and Jaguars (both infamous for their lack of corrosion resistance), this hatchback perforation proves NOTHING rusts like a Vega.
Spotting this single tailpipe, I’m still thinking this Vega packs an aluminum-block engine topped with an iron head. Still, something about it emits a non-stock vibe–maybe it’s that odd camber angle on the left-front wheel?
To find out, I got down on the ground and inspected the underside. Sure enough, two pipes ran from the engine bay back to the muffler, indicating an engine with two banks–most likely a mouse motor, but by using parts from a B-O-P H-body, someone could have just as easily bolted in a Buick V6.
Since it lacks the stock power plant, I’ve chosen not to go with the full Curbside Classic write up. Even so, I know you’ll all enjoy this brief view of this Seventies “classic.”
We should have a special CC award for non-resto-modded Vegas found in the wild. Congratulations!
But the real trophy would go to one that still had its 2300 engine. I agree with you that this one undoubtedly has the very popular Buick V6 swap. The only Vega on Eugene’s streets turned out to have one too, when I caught up with it: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-1977-chevrolet-vega-with-a-genuine-vega-girl-aboard/
+1!
Seeing a Vega just as a driver is like seeing a pirate ship still out on the ocean or going to the airport and finding out that your plane is going to a be Ford Tri-motor or something, its just not seen anymore….
The American Elm of the automotive world.
Game On! I saw one at the big box store on the west side of town about a year ago, some sort of aftermarket green but stock interior. I shall have to lurk about that side of town some more. The game’s afoot.
I saw one still running in Vienna but it was 15 years ago. Does that count? A Chevrolet dealer in your home town could not keep one of these piles running, so I was amazed to see one in Austria that still worked. The Austrians must have some terrific mechanics.
This is my kind of econobox less the SBC. I think a multi-port 2.8 or 3.1 with 5-speed out of a 3rd-gen Camaro would be a real cool swaparoo — perfect for this “baby Camaro”. The 2.8/3.1 is a nice narrow engine & wouldn’t hurt the handling that much.
The sweep speedometer indicates that this isn’t a GT.
My ’73 Vega on the mild climate of the San Francisco Bay Area was showing rust around the rear window after just a few years. BTW, a true GT would have different instruments … this one appears to be a non-GT despite the steering wheel.
Correct – it has the base instrument cluster.
GT’s had front and rear sway bars, a better interior, tinted glass, I actually had a wagonwith A/C and what a dog that was, on my 73 wagon I gutted a coupe GT and put the 4 speed and gauges and bars on the base car, all bolted up and plugged in just like on assembly line !!!!!!!!!!!!! We ran a twoing service in mid 70’s and when they died the owenrs would take 50 bucks for the cars not wanting to put more $$$$$$$$ into them, I must have stripped over 50 cars in that era and we took the parts to swap meets and sold them to street rod guys for projects. Also, I cut the center out of the bumper front to make the car looklike a mini RS camaro…….ahhhhhhh, the 70’s………………………….
The vents on the rear hatch say it’s a ’71, but any or all of these parts could have been grafted on from other junk cars.
The rear hatches, for the Vegas, I believe stayed the same through ’73, whereas the B’s and C’s lost them after ’71 . . . . the bumper and from what I can make out (faded heavily) a California “G” series issue indicated 1973 for certain.
1973 bumper standards were 5 mph front, 2.5 mph rear. They were one year only.
1974 was 5 and 5.
That’s correct, and many cars were able to get away with 1972 designs with little or no modifications. For example, the Torino’s used the same rear bumper in 1973, but added an cushioned impact strip and redesigned the bumper brackets so that the bumper sat out further from the body, reducing the chance of body damage.
In a fit of madness/stupidity I bought a 1973 Vega (used) in 1974. I really wanted a Datsun 240Z but no one would lend me enough money, so I compromised and bought the Vega and a motorcycle. I could write paragraphs about how crappy the Vega was, but a couple of examples should suffice; one was the engine, mine had about 11k miles when I bought it and used about a quart of oil every 400 miles or so. That wasn’t terribly out of line with a lot of cars then but the Vega quickly got to the point where it was a quart every 200 miles, and it got worse from there. I finally ended up buying the cheapest oil I could find in case lots and making sure that I had several quarts with me at all times. Flaw number two was the four speed transmission; this had a huge, huge, huge ratio gap between first and second. Even if you took it to the red line in first, it bogged down on the 1-2 shift. I ended up driving the Vega from my home in Kentucky to my Air Force duty station in California, it made it but it was a struggle. Eventually I sold the Vega for a couple of hundred dollars, and was happy to get it; at that point it was using a quart of oil every 100 miles.
wow, these were crap. beautiful design but crap. haven’t seen one in years…
ever drive a COSWORTH VEGA????? when set up and running, ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My brother, ca. 1977-78 had a two-door Vega that was sans engine (no, shocking!!) – in it’s place went a very built up 225 Buick V-6. Aluminum manifold, Holley 600, headers, hotter cam. Straight pipes with glasspacks bolted on and dropped over the rear axle. Kept it’s Powergilde. (Vega + Automatic = “Vegamatic”!). It screamed. V-6 drops were quite popular and in the Bay Area in the day, I saw one that had an Opel 1900 (which, in hindsight, would’ve been the logical choice but GM “committee design” said no).
Other GM’s that rust even in California include any of the 70’s B and C’s and the A’s with the vinyl tops. Seems the water would get trapped at the “C” pillars and the rear window backlight. Ex: a ’75 Caddy Coupe de Ville in Sacramento that would have rust bubbles right at the lip of the halo vinyl roof at the “C” pillar below the opera glass . . .
Semi retired neighbors across the street bought an early Vega like this in yellow to replace a bronze Studebaker Lark sedan, probably from 1962. I recall complaints about the engine and it did have rust behind the rear wheels rather quickly. The Vega turned into a red Monza hatch when they couldn’t take it anymore. Another case of GM getting it right (or at least better) on the second try.
The Stude gave around ten years service to the Vega’s probably 4 at best. And this was their 2nd car. The good cars were a ’68 Impala Custom coupe that gave way to a ’75 Caprice coupe, and these got the garage spot. I don’t think the Mrs. ever got in the small cars, so the big Chevys probably got most of their limited miles driven.
Last one of these I saw had disintegrated from rust literally the rocker panels were on the ground with the wheels still on it was recognisable as a Vega but only just, i thought it might have just been the damp climate it was parked in, maybe not.
Sales “tanked” to 78K(still a lot) in 1977 because the Vega was OLD, in spite of all the BS issues the Vega had, the Vega still sold in the several hundred thousand units per year bracket until it was already a way old design. Think about it, by 1977, the Chevette had come out and the H-special Monza and et al had been out for 3 years.
Chevy also had to offer an extended warranty on the 2300 in last year or two. I can’t rememember the details, but it was considerably more than the standard 1970’s GM warranty (maybe 6 years and 60k on the engine mechanicals).
With an upgraded cooling system, I’m guessing Chevy didn’t pay out too much extra in Vega warranty cash.
My old 76 Vega still had the aluminum block 4-cylinder when I sold it in 2002. It was blessed with an automatic, so naturally it was also called the Vegamatic. People always seemed to assume that it had the iron duke four. I had to pop the hood once to demonstrate to one know-it-all that I really did have a real Vega engine in my car. Even that didn’t shut the guy up. He then proceeded to tell me that my car was some sort of rare limited edition.
I still remember when these came out, at the same time as the Pinto. I was about 12 and after seeing a few of each on the road, became convinced that the Vega was going to mop the floor with the Pinto on the sales charts. The Vega was really good looking, while the Pinto’s dimensions were sort of “meh”. Also, the Vega sounded cooler.
The Pintos turned out to be rusters for sure, but NOTHING has ever rusted as fast as a Vega in the salty midwest. Those things made Studebakers and Internationals look like they were made of fiberglass by comparison.
I still love the lines on these hatchbacks – this may have been the best looking subcompact of the 1970s. It is a shame that it turned out to be such a hash job.
I remember a young lady (few years older than I, out of college already) who came to work at the engineering firm where I worked during college. She had a ’72 hatch, IIRC, and had moved from the New England area.
I was flabbergasted at the size of the rust holes and flapping metal behind the front wheels. Having lived in the South my whole life to that point, I had never really been exposed to Salt Belt rust issues.
Other than having to pull my windshield and rear glass every few years to sand and repaint under the trim (water collection point with no drainage), I never had any other rust issues with my car.
There’s a ’73 Vega driver in Calgary with the original engine and no re-sleeve job. It burns oil like crazy but at least it’s out there. Makes my day every time I see that orange smoke bomb rolling around.
Canadian Vegas seemed to holdup better, the Ohio ones rusted on the dealer indoor showrooms
I find it interesting that this being a ’73 still wears those astro vents on the deck lid like all the ’71 GM models had. Did the Vega not get the redesigned ventilation system?
Nope, Vega along with the ASTRE kept it until the demise in 1977, the basic hacthback soldiered on a few more years under the PONTIAC guise of an ASTRE NOSE with a Iron Duke 4 and the Hatch and Wagon style, Chevy did also make a v6 monza wagon up til 1979 or so and used up the tooling and body styles to the end They also produced a few MONZAS with the hatch style too
So, was the secret car on Mad Men the chevy vega? I’m way behind on that show.
I’ve always loved the styling of these, and I will agree it’s much better than the Pinto’s runabout, though both came in sedan and hatch bodies, but from a distance, you could not tell the difference however. The only obvious way to know was to get up close and note that the rear glass was fixed, a parcel shelf installed, and the lower body area below the window was the trunk.
However, both of the wagons, to me were about equal in looks.
I do think by 1975-77, the Vega had improved enough that the rust issues were much less, and the motors lasted and were reasonably reliable.
Mom bought a used 76 metallic brown Vega Kamback wagon in 1978 with the automatic and AC no less, in mint condition and it was STILL in nice shape when we sold it in 1983, I don’t recall any rust on that car either.
It was reliable, though slow, the biggest thing was the carb went bad around 1980, and that was it as far as I can recall, though we did get it fixed, and performance, and mileage improved. It WAS still slow though.
Maybe we just got a super good one, I dunno.
My ex BIL bought a used ’72 sedan, silver with black interior and the 4spd in ’76 and he and my oldest sister took it to Oconomowak Wisconsin where he went to seminary school, and by ’79, the wheel lug nuts had rusted to the studs, as he found out one morning after a cold winter as he tried, unsuccessfully to change a flat tire.
It was replaced with a used ’74 Nova that Dad bought at a GSA Gov’t auction that fall after my late mother and her late mother drove it out to them.
I would end up with that Nova in ’83, driving it to 1985 before selling it myself.
Total B.S. write up. Plenty of cars rust like a Vega. In fact most anything 40 years old has rust issues, including Porsche and Jaguar. Besides, where’s the all the rust on this car? One square inch and you call it a rust bucket? Those images hardly qualify that Vega as rusty!!
Come to think of it, where are all those pristine 1973 Porsche and Jags you claim?? Apparently they are as rare as the infamous Chevy Vega!!
I am tired of the same old predictable stories on the Chevy Vega. Those rust jokes grew old 20 years ago kid. You just parroting what everyone else has said over and over and over again.
Please, enough with the same ol’ Vega stories already!!
Yeah, where is the rust? Wish my classics had this little after that long. A better write up may have been how this unit managed to survive. Nice looking car IMO.
See the other pictures in the article (4, 6, for examples). BTW, By SoCal standards, this car is an absolute rustbucket.
P.S. A majority of the left rear fender/quarter panel is made of bondo.
Now if this article was titled “Beaters Cars Of Southern California” it would be correct. Sorry to hurt some feeling here, but it’s time we set the record straight. There are and have been plenty of rust buckets in SoCal!! I have lived beach side my whole life and know better.
Personally I find it refreshing to see a 40 year old UN-restored car still on the road, even if barely. Fact is, most all cars from this era were rust buckets including imports. You would be hard pressed to find anything of this age that hasn’t been restored, had the fenders, doors or floorboards changed in 40 years.
As for this Vega: Rust as in paint color, yes. Rust in terms of metal corrosion, no. Sorry but, body filler in the rear quarter panel does not equate to rust. It may be ugly, worn out and in poor condition, but rusty it is not.
Crap article, but kind of a cool little car.
Very cool find. You don’t see many of these running around. I own a 72 hatch, and it still has its 140 engine. Ported and polished head, aftermarket cam and pistons , upped compression and a weber two barrel side draft carb make it move. Its a stick, so shifting the high winding four is fun. Its orange and has black metal flake stripes, rear spoiler, and four lug cragers . I wish these were more plentiful, i would grab up a ton of them.
Ha. That was the Orchard in Torrance at pch and anza. Grew up right there. Kudos to that owner driving it.