(first posted 3/25/2011) A found Vega is a terrible thing to waste, so even though we’ve done one already, let’s indulge in a little Take Two. But let’s do it a bit differently. Instead of prattling on about all of its ills, how about its thrills? In 1974, the Vega was a sexy little beast; it was guaranteed to attract at least two Vega Girls, sometimes three, according to its maker’s brochure. With the help of oldcarbrochure’s time capsule files, let’s intersperse my dull and dreary images with the memorable scenes that a Vega buyer inevitably found themselves in, having signed on the dotted GMAC bottom line. That is, if they bought the right model and color scheme.
Yes, every Vega buyer instantly had two beautiful Vega girls at his disposal, thanks to the irresistible appeal of its handsome interior, but you did have to fork over extra for the “Rainier” cloth upholstery. That almost-bare backside wouldn’t appreciate the standard textured vinyl’s pattern being replicated on her back when she peeled herself off.
No wonder this owner kept his Vega so long; the memories of his two babes frolicking with their flowers on the front seat of his Vega in 1974 were just too much to part with. That explains the seat covers; need to protect the proof of those memories.
Maybe there was a bit of wishful thinking involved: that girl in the brochure is fondling the four-spoke GT steering wheel. That’s what it took, my friend. You were too cheap to order the GT panel.
Perhaps the GT four spoke wheel was made of higher quality plastics too, more sensitive to the touch, unlike the biodegrading polymers on this cheap two-spoke wheel.
Possibly you just bought the wrong body style. If you’d bought the hatchback, you too would have a snapshot of your two well-dressed honeys figuring out where the hell the highway is. It’s always better to have two navigators along, especially if you’re fooling around while on the road. But that open field was just so inviting…
No, you bought the Kammback, thinking of course that ultimately it was the best one for the real act of sex, not just those dreamy images in the brochure hinting coyly at it. But first you have to attract those Vega Girls; they don’t actually come with the car. Certain legalities, it turns out, prevented Chevy from doing so, although it was seriously considered as an option.
Let’s not forget that no less than John Z. DeLorean was running Chevy at the time, and given that the Vega wasn’t exactly a GTO, something new had to be concocted to move the metal in those Monday morning marketing meetings. What else is going to be on the minds of a bunch of guys on Monday morning?
Yes, that could have been you there, gazing up at your adoring Vega Girl #1, if you’d just bought the hatchback with the Sports Decor Package. Uh oh; looks like someone is after your Vega Girl #2. Best to stay away from that rough and tumble motorcycle crowd; they’re like cavemen. They just grab em and bolt…
Back to the Sports Decor Package: lots of tough choices. I recommend the lime green with orange myself; a very sexy combination indeed. Clearly it sends out the right signals to potential Vega Girls.
I guarantee you, if you’d ordered that lime green-orange combo, the back of the come-back would have been put to much better use than transporting the passenger side door panel, which keeps falling off. No, it wasn’t because you kept squeezing two girls in the front seat.
Now there’s absolutely nothing sexy about this Vega brochure picture, but Chevrolet did want to point out that sometimes two squirters are better than one. That’s just what it takes, for a really dirty job. And she looks so appreciative of it too.
If you’re into multiples inside your Vega, it’s good for everyone to know what they’re going to get into, literally. That, and preferably be of small stature, because it does get a bit crowded, especially in a hatchback. So just to make sure everyone knows what’s they’re going to be doing, it’s best to draw up a detailed written plan, kind of like the plays the football coach drew on the blackboard. Hurry up and memorize it; those Vega Girls look so eager!
If only the Vega’s engine was half so eager as those Vega Girls. Well, it certainly knew how to grind and vibrate; when it ran, that is. But just not with much enthusiasm. Even ordering the “higher output” two barrel engine only bumped the horsepower from 75 to 85. But hey, by 1974 the Vega had a genuine three-speed THM automatic! No more Powerglide to suck away all the driving thrills.
Here’s an encouraging tidbit: every Vega comes with a 94 page Do-It-Yourself Service manual detailing how to R&R the valve guides, reline the cylinders, rebuild the carburetor, rust proof the front fenders and cowl…Chevy was thinking beyond its scant warranty!
Does someone want to decipher the VIN to make sure this is really a ’74? Otherwise I’m going to have to pull all those sexy pictures. The 1975 Vega brochure is a very dull affair; all about how Chevy had finally made the Vega truly more durable, instead of just sexy. Right. Well, sexiness is such a fleeting thing. The next time you look, there’s holes in your front fender.
Forget about 1975, we’re still in innocent 1974. And look at those Vega Girls! See how excited they get when you stick that gas nozzle into the Vega’s orifice. Fill ‘er up! Once again, you see, it’s a hatchback. And with stripes too. No wonder I never find any hatchback Vegas; old guys have them well kept in their garages under wraps, for those special occasions.
Nothing sexy about this Kammback’s el-cheapo molded door panel. That’s what you get for not paying extra for a proper up-grade interior; this is the one that started the whole tired Rubbermaid comparison, seriously.
Now that’s no Rubbermaid. Those are genuine in-the flesh Vega Girls; and now there’s three of them. More just keep wanting to hop in. Too bad that’s about as many as will fit comfortably in an orange striped Vega hatchback. Four would be a blast!
It will take a Kammback for that, and here it is. Just hustle it over to MAACO (do they still have orange?), head to an upholstery shop and ask if they have any “Rainier” fabric left over, and you too can re-live the fabulous sexy 1974 Vega lifestyle. Don’t delay; I’m not sure I’ll ever find another one again. And those Vega Girls aren’t exactly getting any younger.
What a great article! Now I’m going to have the term “Vega girls” rolling around in my head all weekend.
Was there some sort of rule in the 1970s that the crappier the car, the younger and sexier the women featured in the brochure had to be?
The young lady in the driver’s seat in the first brochure photo almost looks as though she is topless.
Holy moley, that was fun. I’ll take the orange hatch, please, the one the girls in the fur are driving to Stonehenge.
“Two Squirters are better than one”
And that my friends…. is why it’s called car porn….
That second picture from the top looks like the stuff dreams are made of…
Actually it is not a bad looking car, and probably could have been a much better performer with minimal tweaking. Pity.
Our neighbors bought a brand-new 1974 Vega hatchback in a pale, somewhat sickly yellow color. Even in that color it was a handsome car for that time. It reminded me of a mini-Camaro.
Problem was that within two years it was showing signs of serious rust. The body literally looked as though it had big, ugly scabs on it as the rust broke through the paint in some very odd places.
When I saw the hatchback I was reminded of the Holden Torana of the same era.
Funny that but the Torana was a good car. Chevrolet should have looked at what other divisions were doing like Holden & Vauxhall were doing to Opels and copied them coz that Vega is truly putrid.
I agree Bryce, the Torana was a good car, except for the HB model that was a badge engineered Vauxhall Viva. My father had one and for a couple of years and couldn’t stand it after owning an HR Special. When he could afford to, he eventually traded it for a HQ Holden Kingswood with the 202 and 3 speed trimatic which we kept for 7 years, followed by an XD Falcon – both were good cars.
At least it was better than the truly HORRENDOUS Alfa Romeo Arna/Nissan Cherry
For its day, the Chevy Vega was a hoot to drive, at least if you had a 4-speed model. Mine was a black ’72 wagon, it was fall ’75. The previous owner swapped the GT 2-bbl carb and it would bury the speedometer if desired, at least downhill.
So I’m out with two teenage cousins and after peeling away from a stop sign, I said, “Watch, it’ll get rubber in second gear too”.
Shift…BANG!
Steam started pouring out of the front. After a mile or so, I pulled over to the side of the road…hood up, steam everywhere, coolant dripping onto US422, and naive little 18-year-old me trying to figure out how a single 1-2 shift could do all THAT.
Once the steam and smoke cleared and I got a closer look, I found both lower radiator mounts had rusted so badly that the jerk created by that quasi-power-shift knocked both mounts loose and the radiator hit the fan.
Did I mention the car was THREE years old?
A trip to the local junkyard yielded a used radiator. (and yeah, they had several Vegas!) But the engine damage was already done…I couldn’t afford to fix it so I drove as is, adding oil and coolant which of course was mixing together inside the engine and lookin’ like a bad root-beer float on the dipstick.
Several months later I traded it on a ’68 Chrysler convertible that needed its 727 Torque-Flite and a soft plug replaced. But it had its own problems, the 383 had a blown head gasket between two cylinders, and had been run long enough to cause an arc to develop in both head and block.
By this time – fall ’76 – I had moved 500 miles back in with my parents, my limited finances devastated and two years left on a loan originally taken for the Vega.
Paul, you compellingly make the argument about GM’s failure to bring the Chevrolet Cadet to market in 1948 as being the beginning of its downfall. I think the 1971 Vega was when the downfall shifted into overdrive.
For anyone reading this who can’t remember those days…it would be well worth checking out, if you’re interested, Paul’s other Vega accounts on this site as well as Aaron Severson’s outstanding Vega history at http://www.ateupwithmotor.com
Sorry about your Vega travails, but they make a great story. No one could even imagine such a thing in modern times, eh?
No kidding. If any car built in 2008 was rusting like that today the lawsuits would fly!
Paul, it’s indeed a great story. And no car company could get away with it today. Just sad that Detroit went down that road at all. But arrogance has always been part of the human condition and if GM in those days didn’t stand for arrogance they stood for nothing.
It also points out how even a genius like Ed Cole can lose his way once you get too far removed from “street level”…as he headed up the “XP-887” project.
If it weren’t for my ’68 Chevy Truck and ’57 Handyman projects I’d be tempted to look out there for an early Vega, and slap an Ecotec or maybe even a 4.3 V6 out of an S-10.
Whereabouts on 422? I’m from Northeast Ohio.
That explains the seat covers; need to protect those memories, literally.
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…. Another reason to NOT buy a used Vega. Yuck! 🙂
That girl in the last brochure pic who’s fending off the advances of the guys with flowers in his face, is that Suzanne Somers? I know she was a model before her Three’s Company days.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I think that’s her again in the ‘two squirters’ photo.
Never mind the Vega Paul.just want to thank you for the link to Oldcarbrochures. I’ve been checking out the front suspension of the 1931 Cord, and it’s awesome.
Never mind the Vega?? As long as you don’t get lost there permanently, or we’ll have to send a search and rescue party 🙂
Paul:
From the trim tag it’s definitely a ’74; built (pooped out?) the fourth week of April at Lordstown, Oh.
I was rather hoping for another groovy Brendan Spleen sales video.
The Vega Kammback (especially the panel version) was a cooler Vega to use as the basis for the ubiquitous (for a while, anyway) small-block V8 conversion.
The guy in the 8th pic is getting on his Yamaha to go to a Pay Phone ( kids, ask your parents) to call a tow truck again.The girl in the car looks really bummed.
The only way to get the those sexy 70’s chicks with a wagon was to go for the cruising wagon. Pinto had the lead there! That porthole really gets them going!
Here are my street finds for the week… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3uqENJsYzM&feature=channel_video_title
A woody Mercury fastback! A most worthy find indeed! Congratulations.
Wow, hard to believe that at one time driving a 20 foot-long two-door car was considered normal. That IS one heck of a find!
I understand that Vegas are scarce, but I still don’t see $1,495 worth of value here. For the money you’d spend on an interior for this wagon, you could buy someone’s low mileage Cosworth Vega that only needs to be traded in for a car that is more fun than it is painful. While regular Vegas are mostly a memory, there are more surviving Cosworth Vegas than there are people who want one. That’s because people stashed them away expecting future collectibility that never happened. Meanwhile, the one special feature became ubiquitous, except that everyone else made 16 valve heads work better.
I can’t speak to what color this was known as, only that a neighbor owned a 74 hatchback at that time in the same hue. At that point he was already married, so no Vega girls. Notably, the original hatchback panel for some reason had been replaced with a light blue one. It made for a distinctive car not to be confused with anyone else’s, certainly not a car to use to rob a bank (for many reasons!), and probably not alluring to the typical Vega girl.
You’re killing me Paul!
That Vega and a turbo Ecotec power plant would make a sweet grocery getter!
The last time I saw as much “vintage” iron as you’ve shown to date on the streets was around 1985..
Around here most of these jewels were reclaimed by Mother Nature or they got turned into washing machines!
As a proud 1974 Vega owner I just had to chime in. I bought mine new right after the ’74 came out. A 4 speed GT in beautiful beige. Had the cream vinyl interior with the mystery “wood” dash. It lasted until ’77 as our family car and was replaced by a ’77 Buick Custom. By then it was burning a quart of oil every 500 miles. Got worse from there. I then used it as my drive to work car until ’81. I carried 4 or 5 quarts of oil in the back. When the oil light flickered I would pour in another couple of quarts. Worked for me. It almost killed me when the hinges on the hatchback broke and the hatch knocked me down and pinned me to the driveway. I fixed that with barn door hinges from the hardware store. A punch and 6 big metal screws per side and all was good . I got about 80,000 miles out of it before the crusher ate it, good riddence. Probably would have lasted longer, but, I loaned it to my brother twice and his wife wrecked it twice, both front and back. I refused to let them borrow the Buick. Even after all that I would like to have another one. The seats were good and it was a good drivers car for the time.
Wow Paul, that’s our Vega right there, the white one with the orange stripe! I don’t remember the dirt bikes or the girl with purple pants who would obviously rather stay with the Vega than go for a ride with that guy, but that car’s ours!
Anyway, Dad bought it brand new in 74, replacing the 66 Rambler 4door.
We really liked the Vega, it a lot sportier than the stodgy brown Rambler, it was Dad’s commuter and also the car I learned to drive in. You could fit a ton of stuff in the hatchback with the back seats down. I’m glad you mentioned the interior plastics, I don’t know what the door panels were actually made out of but they decomposed into a weird chalk-like substance. We also had cloth seat fabric with a seizure-inducing plaid pattern, maybe that’s what happened to the guy lying on the ground in the photo.
Our Vega lasted until 1981 which was astounding longevity for a Vega in salt belt Canada, it probably helped that it was rarely driven on the highway and Dad had it maintained carefully. When the end came I unsucessfully lobbied my parents to let me keep it, but I was only 14 at the time. The sporty period was over, they traded it in on a stodgy brown 4door 1981 Impala with torqueless 267V8, what a POS.
Dad had his old home movies from the 70s transferred to DVD, and last weekend we were watching them and there was that white and orange car. Everyone yelled “VEGA!!” so at least in our family that car is associated with happy memories. Too bad GM couldn’t have made them just a bit better, maybe more families could have had happy Vega experiences.
Even new the pattern from the wiper nozzles was cattywompus. Fantastic!
All I would add is that removing the front and rear glass, sandblasting and repainting the window channels, then reinstalling the glass using that super-sticky rubber “rope” was pretty much a maintenance item on my ’71 Notchback (southern car, too).
Until we sleeved the engine, I was burning, no, dripping about a gallon of oil every two weeks. “Hey mister, check the gas and fill up the oil whydoncha?”
Don’t want to give the wrong impression – I loved the car. Handled great, good mileage (28-30, at least until I did a 3.8l engine swap), looked good, too. I had over 200,000 on it when I traded it in on a Samauri (of all things).
In 1971, GM claimed that the ’75 Vega would look the same as first year. But in reality, buyers do want new looks every 4-6 years. The Japanese perfected ‘planned obsolesence’ and their fans brag about the new designs, even if on same platforms.
So, when the ’74 Vega came out, it looked more futuristic and modern, even if it had the junky ‘everything’ underneath. So, sales went up, and a gas crisis helped.
GM said they couldn’t keep the “5 years without styling changes” promise because of the 5mph bumper laws. But can you imagine any automaker making that promise today? (even though it’s not uncommon for it to actually happen). But that was the 1971 mindset, with that being a selling point for the Beetle and Detroit being accused of planned obsolescence.
Me gusta las vegas chicas! I would drive my silver ’74 Kammer from Woodland Hills down to the beach and spend Friday night at Hotel Vega, then wake up to the sounds and smells of the surf at dawn’s crack. I miss my car, want another to modernize–to use as a travel capsule to Oregon, New Mexico, etc. It’s no Dodge Magnum, but that’s the point. . . .
Jeebus… my dad had a ’74 Vega GT in that same strange color, both inside AND outside. Didn’t think that at least TWO people had such poor taste in color. What a turd that car was… that car didn’t rust… it decomposed. Quite rapidly. I turned 16 in January of ’79… and I never drove that car. It was sold for scrap that winter, having lost all structural integrity by that time.
That’s Suzanne Somers fresh off her ‘American Graffitti’ days. She was the girl in the Thunderbird. How’s her last name spelled, anyway?
Fond memories of driving my Kammer from the San Fernando Valley to a beach (often Venice or Malibu), parking nearby on a Friday night…..then awakening and stolling right onto the sand for a day in the sun! Nevermind the plume of blue-white smoke following me down the freeway…. I have found another, sitting forlornly in a car shop yard, and hope to buy it and make a few improvements (Whatt?? …IMPROVEMENTS??)….then relive some of those golden days…… BC
Just think, those young women in the ads are grandmothers by now, if not great-grandmothers. Perhaps one only got the Vega girls if you bought one new; I don’t recall that even being discussed when I bought my (lightly) used Vega GT. The Vega had many flaws, most of which could have and should have been addressed before going on sale, but they were entertaining vehicles to drive.
Great-grandmothers at 63-65 years of age?
Not very common nowadays, but possible if each generation reproduces in their late teens or early twenties. About a year ago I was having lunch at a small diner, and the waitress had a small infant with her who she was caring for in between serving customers. People kept asking her if that was her son, and she kept telling them no, it was her grandson. She was at most in her early forties.
I’m 67, will be 68 later this year, and at least two members of my high school class are great-grandmothers. One of them has a great-grandson who is 7 years old so she was a great-grandmother by the time she was 60. Granted she did marry at a young age and then so did her daughter and her grand-daughter but this is hardly unheard of.
“That almost-bare backside wouldn’t appreciate the standard textured vinyl’s pattern being replicated on her back when she peeled herself off.”
LMAO…
I don’t know what to say Paul……………i’m going home to see the wife and put the little 1/64 blue Vega hatchback on the night stand:)
Skinny teen girls in halter tops, long hair and hot pants.
Sunbathing on the campus lawn, drinking Coors, listening to Fleetwood Mac, sharing a doobie.
Asking if you can fix their leaky Vega.
Nope. Don’t remember it at all.
Youth is wasted on the young, isn’t it?
Between the ages of 13-28, and living in San Diego, I spent the summers at Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, or La Jolla Shores. Went to SDSU from 71-76. What I remember are acres of bikinis, kegger parties along the boardwalk, and bonfires into the night. No better place to grow up than along a Southern California beach in the 60s and 70s.
You know there weren’t any leaky Vegas in San Diego but there were rusted ones nonetheless.
My Vega girl at the time never seemed too happy with my car, at least compared to her RX3. Serious question: Was the wood grain on the dash changed for 1974? I seem to recall that my ‘73 GT had a more subtle pattern than what’s in the brochure picture here. Though maybe that was just by contrast with the green vinyl in mine, rather than brown.
GM was still using those cheap plastic door panels as late as 1990. I know, they’re on my Cavalier. First they faded, they they developed that tell tale dusty residue that never seemed to go away. I ended up painting them. I think they reused those flimsy Vega door handles too.
Every small Chevy was like that – you had to order the custom interior option to get a normal door panel, otherwise it was that cheap decomposing plastic with a softer pad only for the armrest. Was like that for Vega, Monza (later models), Chevette, Citation, and Cavalier.
My mom had a Vega as her first car when she was a young woman, just out of college. She apparently liked her Vega so much she replaced it another Vega. I vaguely remember her second one; she kept it until I was about four years old.
I can’t believe I never figured it out until just now — Mom was a Vega Girl in her youth!
Instead of the Cialis bathtubs, I’m now picturing a couple in matching Vegas, fingers entwined while steam wafts gently from their cars’ radiators and a cloud of oil smoke drifts across the sunset.
All a Vega wagon needed was immediate, bumper to bumper Ziebart rustproofing and a SBC V8 engine transplant.
My high school Vega Girl was 4’-10” and drove a Buick Riviera… we did donuts in a rural gravel parking lot after the prom (in the Vega, and ‘donuts’ should not be construed to be a euphemism), and it impressed her so much she wrote in my yearbook a long note in a spiral. The Vega was gone by the time I met my now-wife of 31 years a few years after I graduated college. We had four, mines the notch. The fourth was a parts car, natch.
My Dad bought a new Vega in ‘71, a green, 4-speed manual, paneled kammback. I drove it to take my drivers license road test. Exactly the wrong vehicle to parallel park for a nervouse kid, but I passed. We had it for a couple of years, and he liked it enough to trade it in for a ‘74 Vega GT wagon, green with the white GT stripes on the hood. The only trouble we had with either of them was a random uneven idle. We kept it for a couple of years, when he traded it in on a new…’76 Seville!
The Vega girls are now collecting Social Security. That is if they aren’t taking a dirt nap. Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think!
OK, please no more Vega CC reruns for a bit, Paul. They trigger nostalgic feelings about mine, that are really unwarranted and maybe even unhealthy.
Yes, let’s do some Chevettes to get my nostalgia going 😆
Hi Bob,
My nostalgia for my Chevette exists only because it made everything after feel like a step up. ’83 Escort L (the really nice one!), better. ’83 Cavalier rustbucket., better. ’87, ’89, and ’93 Tempos, all better. ’79 Accord with the wheels falling off, better. 1977 Sears Free Spirit 10-speed… just kidding. I haven’t wanted to pedal since I got my first scooter at 14.
Just ragging on the Chevette. A lot of people liked theirs. I did not.
I am quite sure my fond memories are tinted by the passage of time. 🙂 Them being so damn cheap and easy to fix – that I miss. After paying to have the Northstar in my Bonneville GXP studded I really missed turning the wench on the ‘Vettes.
Is that Suzanne Sommers (sp?) holding the flowers?
Loved her in the pool scene in “Magnum Force”, before the shooting of course. And in The Rockford Files. Even Step By Step. Even as a kid I thought Three’s Company was dumb. But she was always pretty. If that’s her in the old blurry photo.
I see what I want to see…
Oh yeah there’s a car there too isn’t there? They were mostly rusted out even in the ’70s when I remember them. They really didn’t make it to the 80s here in Rustville. Sharp little car looks-wise, before the giant bumpers. With rally wheels and white lettered tires they looked like a littler Camaro. In the way Mini-Me resembled Dr. Evil…
That steering wheel photo! Even the turn signal lever is rusting!
The two squirters picture just made my day.
I was always a big fan of Farrah Fawcett’s Cougar ads from the 1970s. I think Cheryl Tiegs did some car ads, too.
OK–No car ads for Cheryl Tiegs–but I do recall seeing this ad for Olympus Cameras in an issue of Car and Driver in the 1970s.
How did I miss this post?
Okay I’m late to the party. Totally missed the Vega Girls even in 1974 when I bought my new GT hatchback. Don’t recall any hot babes in Vegas but I did have the occasional young female in my car that looked cute!
Ah, the 70’s where you could apparently dirt bike anywhere.
Nothing says quality like painted louvers for a grille.
I tried to figure out from Wikipedia if the Kammback or Hatchback ever came with a V6 or V8 like the Monza did. It does not appear so. Pretty bodies with a dark heart.
My brother bought a new Vega in February, 1971. At two years old it was burning oil like crazy and was rusting everywhere. It had 40,000 miles on it. I went with him in 1973 as he was going to buy a new car and he actually was considering another Vega! I talked him into a Nova instead. It was twice the car. My girlfriend bought a new 1974 Vega after we graduated from high school. She was extremely hard on cars and the poor little Vega didn’t stand a chance!