Lil’ Man and I walk by this house three blocks from mine every morning at 7:10 AM on our morning constitutional. One day recently, this green Chevette appeared. And then a few days later, the F100. New genuine CC neighbors!
New Chevettes don’t exactly grow on bamboo, so this was a rather pleasant surprise. I’m not exactly sure of the year, as I didn’t go and look at the front end, but it’s from before the 1981 re-fresh (although that didn’t exactly make it any fresher). But it’s still doing what it was intended to do, and that’s saying something after 35 years or more.
I’ve written up quite a few Chevettes over the years, so I don’t really have a whole lot more to add, except that for the fact that it made my morning. But then it doesn’t take a whole lot to do that at 7:10 walking the dog on the same route every morning. Beats picking up dog shit, in any case.
The Ford, which I peg as a ’79-’80, unless I’ve goofed (again), is a bit less surprising, although these are starting to get thinner on the ground. Well, that goes for just about anything old, vintage and with four wheels still turning. The old car market is at least as hot as the real estate market, and seemingly everyone wants an old car or truck that is still in half-way decent shape. Or not, as patina is of course also in great demand. Is spotting genuine curbside classics going to become an endangered sport?
Yes, this would have been a common sight 15 or 20 years ago, but certainly not now. I still see the occasional Ford pickup of this generation here in Rustopia, but have not seen this kind of Vette in a long time. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the color on that Chevette marks it as a 1979.
These Ford pickups were everywhere some years back, and seemed to be much more loved than the generation that followed, at least by those who worked trucks hard.
These and the next gen F are still common sights over here. It’s the 87-91 models that seem to have disappeared.
For me, it’s the opposite. The eighth-gen (87-91) and sixth-gen (73-79) are still around, but all the seventh-gens are nowhere to be seen. Which is a shame, because they’re my favorite.
There never were many in Aussie, local assembly probably stopped, the earlier models were Aussie built and fairly common, quite a few of my mates ran F series Ford with varying success, the steering assembly is a weak point so if your on annual inspections the $400 or so for a regular new draglink gets old quick and Thai sourced parts often dont last well but genuine stuff is really expensive and pre web hard to get Ford support of older models is nonexistant.
Chevette gas door flap instead of round cap paired with pre-facelift rear = 1978 or ’79. The front view would easily indicate which of the two. If that’s that kermit green color they used in ’79-80 it may be a ’79.
Still everywhere around the Richmond metro area, and I trust in the Research Triangle region of NC as well (they were when I lived there until 2012). This generation is extremely common, as are their 67-72 predecessors and the 87-91 generation. The 80-86 are less common, but it’s still not hard at all to find one.
Was at the Madison Classics Car Show in Elkhorn, WI yesterday and saw a blue 4-door Chevette in the show area (I know, a Chevette as a show car is unusual!)…the owner had posted a sign on it that said “If you just said ‘I had one these’ you must throw a quarter on the front seat as penance for admitting it.” Made me laugh out loud!
That sounds like fun. A Chevette ‘show car’ . . . who woulda thunk it?! Was it parked next to a Gremlin, Pacer, Pinto or Vega? 😀 I think Chevrolet introduced the Chevette in ’76 so it could have been a 40-year-old sub-compact mini-beastie!
I’ve never owned a Chevette but had I been there I’d have tossed a quarter on to the front seat just for the hell of it.
Also, I wonder what possessed your neighbor to pick up the Chevette and the Ford truck Mr. N? Interesting choice of vehicles to obtain. It looks like the lock is missing off the back of the Chevette hatchback; I hope the new owner gets that fixed.
Every now and again I run across another old car and/or truck from 1980 or before, but it’s few and far between even though rural GA isn’t exactly the ‘rust belt’. Who knows . . . maybe there are more around here and I’ve just missed ’em!
I was there on Saturday and saw the Chevette. Got a good chuckle out of it.
There was also a ’74 Vega wagon in the For Sale Corral with its original engine!
Definitely a 79… the only year this body style had rectangular headlamps. Ford changed to a new style body for 1980.
My memory is that top-trim 78s could have the rectangular headlights too. My grandparents owned a ’78 (I’m pretty sure) Bronco with ’em.
That’s it. In ’78, Custom models had round headlamps, and Ranger, Ranger XLT, and Ranger Lariat models had rectangular. All ’79s had rectangular headlamps. So if you see a round headlamp model, you know it has to be a Custom from 1978.
http://www.fordification.com/library/main.php?g2_itemId=4150
The fact that the hood appears to have been replaced with a used hood makes me question if the grille is original to the truck too.
The “F150 Custom” badge on the side of the cowl is accurate to 1978-79, so at least if the grille is a swap-in, it’s period correct.
Breathes there a man whose wallet is so thin and whose soul is so impoverished that he says:
“F**k it, I’ll settle for driving a frog green 1979 Chevette every day”
in the Year Of Our Lord 2016?
Whatever his ancestors did, the bad Karma residue lies pretty heavy on this poor dude.
There are lots of reasons a person who could afford something “better” may choose to drive this old Chevette.
It was inherited from Grandma and driving it reminds the current owner of her.
They would rather spend their money on something other than a depreciating asset that will see minimal use because see below.
They ride their bike/bus to work most days and the only thing they need a car for is the weekly trip to the supermarket or when the weather is to nasty or they get up a little late and miss the bus.
Because it is hip in an ironic hipster way, but with shoulder harnesses and disc brakes unlike the hipper Falcon or Valiant.
At least if it’s a stickshift with the F41 suspension option (or the parts swapped in) it’s basically a German Opel, RWD and well under a ton.
Looks like a friendly little car. Kermit The Frog and the Muppets were a big hit in ’79. If I remember right THE MUPPET SHOW ran from 1976-81.
I wonder if Jim Henson bought a Chevette with this color? Hmm . . .
I saw one a while back…faded gray paint, funky looking 15″ alloy wheels…and powered by a complete 3400 V6/4L60E from a 1995 Firebird. 200HP in a Chevette will MOVE!
I just bought a 30 year old Camry to practice stick shift on, but if I was looking for a vehicle I actually needed to rely on I would have gone with something newer. People have their reasons and by now I assume people who drive Chevettes actually seek them out when looking for a car.
…..driving two of the dullest vehicles to ever come out of Detroit….
Oh come on, the Chevette is still doing what it was built to do, move people around inexpensively. 🙂
Considering how closely related it is to the Vega, it’s amazing how good they turned out.
A friend had one in high school, I welded some floor patches in for him and got to drive it for a couple of days, it was kind of fun in a slow tinny sort of way.
There was a stoplight in town where if you nailed it when the light turned green the transmission would shift into 2nd on the crown of the road and it would juuust squeak the rear tires. Who needs a new Camaro when you’ve got that?
My Camaro would only spin the tires if the road was wet, so you got a point!
I think the main reason why the Chevette turned out better than the Vega is because the Chevette wasn’t designed from “scratch” in the U.S. Germany and the U.K. did most of the design work before it was adapted to the U.S. market…..IIRC?
There are 2 or 3 of the mid 80s Chevettes here in North Florida, I see one (a 2 tone silver over red) 4 door when I visit the nearest Target and there is at least one other 4 door here abouts. Apparently, having an automatic transmission saved these cars from the crusher.
Not a car you ever see in “like new” or in “better than new” condition. Their owners pampering seems to extend no further than an occasional washing.
The Chevette was based on the T platform – part of GM’s world platform for subcompact cars. Think Opel Kadett, Vauxhall, Holden Gemini, for example.
I’m one of those fools who likes the 1/4Vette….
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This old Fords were nice too, sturdy and reliable as anvils if stodgy .
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I had a Govt. issue ’79 F150 with 302 and ‘ heavy duty cooling ‘ that turned out to be mostly just the larger 351 radiator and hoses…
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A good old truck that ran hot in L.A. Summers going up hills , even enpty .
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-Nate
Any CC article with a Chevette makes me smile. 🙂
I’d gladly toss a quarter on that gentleman’s front seat.
Has Eugene become America’s Cuba? Nothing but old bombs and not a single new car ever sold in that city? Are there any actual new car dealerships? If so, who buys them, or are they only for “export” out of town?
Amazing time capsule.
I would say the average age of vehicles in Oregon is about 15-20 years old based upon what I have seen.
Love the green! It looks like they’ll fit right in…
It seems the few surviving Chevettes are all in colors representative of the era. No black or silver or white, no sir. This green one. I’ve seen a beige quite recently, and a yellow one some time ago. And I’m sure some decent number of the survivors must be orange.
(Then again I wonder if they even came in silver for that matter? Maybe not.)
’79 had this shade of green at GM’s brands. Not really Lime, like in ’71 or ’76, but very ‘Kermit’. Grandmother’s last car was a ’79 Malibu this color, so it’s etched in memory.
I had a 78 Chevette the same color green in college. Mine was a four door. If it has square headlights the Chevette is a 1979. If it has round headlights it is probably a 78. The 78s had round headlights 4 slots in the grill that were divided 3 ways.. The 78 had the four slots divided in the grill. The 79 were the first Chevettes with square headlights but they had the same 76-78 taillights. The 78s were the years the 4 doors came out.
I would happily drive that Chevette. Make it a diesel please. Nothing wrong with doing without a huge car payment, higher insurance rates and higher registration rates. Missing the biannual smog check here in CA is an enormous bonus also. My M.O. to a T. I currently own nothing newer than a 1971.
Seems like any domestic vehicle that was designed and/or sold in the seventies is going to be tough to keep running this many years later. Even a slow-moving, cockroach-of-the-road like the Chevette is going to have stuff break like, say, the window cranks, windshield wiper motor, etc.. Those are the sorts of parts that would drive me nuts trying to find (and it would probably be a regular occurance, too). Not to mention finding routine maintenance parts. Hell, it seems like it’s tough to even find sealed-beam headlights, anymore.
If I were going to drive something nearing forty years old on a daily basis, I’d try finding a Corolla.
Is that Chevette a Scooter? I don’t see a back seat.
Doesn’t look like a Scooter to me. I see an honest to goodness badge on the front fender (Scooter would be a decal) and glue where the chrome strip used to be.
Good finds and any Econobox that old has earned my respect. There are a few Chevettes in Portland, OR including one owned by a cheery looking couple in their twenties. Ford Pickups are the most common pickups around here though the 1980s and older ones are getting thinner on the ground. During a hot day I saw 3 similar vintage Ford Pickups broken down on the roadside during my commute home.