I was recently back home in Flint for the annual Back To The Bricks car festival, which brought over 250,000 people downtown for Saturday’s big show. That event is the culmination of nearly a full week’s worth of activities in Genesee County, Michigan. Last Saturday, downtown’s main artery, Saginaw Street, as well as many other surrounding streets, were cordoned off from regular traffic and densely packed with all sorts of interesting cars. Most of them were domestics, but there was quite a bit of global representation, as well. This little, white Chevette stood out from many of these cars with its humble, endearing presence.
I’d be willing to bet money that: a.) it is the most pristine ’86 Chevette in all of existence; and b.) it was the slowest of all running, like-condition cars featured at the show. It is a Chevette in the least-lightweight body style (five-door hatchback), in an upscale trim level (CS) with added niceties, diesel-powered by a 51-hp, 1.8L four-cylinder engine, and with a five-speed manual transmission. One source cites an as-new 0-60 mph time of close to twenty seconds for a car like this one, which sounds about right. Granted, my 2.3L-powered ’88 Ford Mustang LX 5-speed was no Indy racer, but realistically, one would have to turn off the A/C in either car to inspire any level of confidence on an inclined entrance ramp to an expressway.
I was positively floored last spring (April 2016) when I had spotted a 1980-or-so Chevette (pictured above) in the parking lot of a local grocery store in my Chicago neighborhood, in decent, apparent condition. If the above, gold example was in astonishingly good shape for an un-pampered, disposable econobox from the year your forty-something-year-old author was just starting grade school, the titular, mint-condition ’86 CS could be considered the “Holy Grail” of Chevettes, perhaps second only to a first-year, ’76 “woodie” with Di-Noc on the sides. Yes, indeed – I’ll bet the interior of our featured car has never dealt with the likes of a QP hamburger or Boston Cooler (Vernor’s ginger ale with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) from Flint-area fast-food favorite, Halo Burger.
Don’t even try to understand the “why” or how the featured, privately-owned Chevette still exists, over thirty years from the factory and looking like it time-warped just last week from the 1986 showroom of nearby Applegate Chevrolet. Save your brain cells. Instead, think back to a person or thing that was (or possibly still is) the object of your affection, for which no one else seemed to understand your affinity. (As for me, I’ll offer up personal examples of Chicago-based Malört liqueur, Corn Nuts, and reruns of “The Ropers”.) That someone else has so lovingly cared for this Chevette makes me love it, too. Its existence in such beautiful condition should be enough to merit, minimally, even just a little of your respect.
Downtown Flint, Michigan.
Saturday, August 19, 2017.
Note: A rerun of an older post.
Related reading from:
- Paul Niedermeyer: CC Outtake: Is This The World’s Best Preserved Chevette?;
- Keith Thelen: CC Capsule: 1980 Chevrolet Chevette – A New Contender Emerges; and
- One of my own, previous finds (also from the Flint area): Cohort Outtake: Chevette – Still Haulin’ the Groceries.
I learned to drive with this vehicle, the exact model is Pontiac Acadia if I remember correctly. It had a gasoline engine coupled with automatic transmission. That was what driving school used for the students. I was at my early 20s, second year in college— I went to college much later than others. I found the car was easy to operate and quite good although I actually had driven any vehicle at all. No comparison and no complaints.
For the record, the first vehicle I tried to drive was was 1980s Toyota HiAce 4-door pickup version in China, it was very popular vehicle back then in Southern China, it had gasoline engine with 4-speed column shift manual transmission. I was able to operate it on the open street for few hours. Learning to operate a manual transmission vehicle was a bit challenging for me.
Had a 78? Chevette and it won the title of worst car I ever had. Seals were bad and leaked oil like crazy, Had AC but put out heat and the dealer told me that was normal. Kinda like the boat story, best day of my life was the day I totaled it. After that I had a Regal and in 80k miles the water pump was the only repair. Following that(it was totaled) was a 87 Delta 88. Bought it at the beginning of the model year and got the extended warranty(thank goodness) The alternator, starter, battery and air monitor was replaced. Later on GM gave an extended warranty on all cars and as a result it was under warranty till 90k miles. That did it as a GM guy, no more!
A drag race between the author and a chevette diesel. The owner of the Chevette Diesel leaves tbe show and begins accelerating to 60 mph. Simultaneously our intrepid Joseph Dennis walks home, makes a sandwich, flips through his photos, writes this article, proofreads and posts it just as the chevette hits 57 mph…can it even hit 60? Joseph Dennis for the win!
This made me laugh – thank you!
I owned a 1980 Chevette. I am not proud of it but I have admitted it. I learned from my mistake.
Had a 82 Pontiac T1000, it was my first new car, it was a little slow but it drove great, went to Florida and back with no problems, put 185000 miles on it, I thought it was a good car
0 to 60 in 20 seconds is not that bad. My Mercedes W115 200Diesel does it in 31 seconds. The same car with automatic transmission does it in 37 seconds. For the Hindustan Ambassador with the 1,5 liter 36HP Diesel the 0-60 time would be over 50 seconds.
My family bought a ’76 Chevette new, not a Woodie though it did have the interior decor group option which included woodgrain trim on the dash, door panels, and console in 1976 only, and was included in the Woodie package so there was DiNoc inside and out. The Chevette was a decent small car by 1976 standards, better than a Pinto, Gremlin, or Datsun B-210. But the competitive landscape had changed drastically by 1986, with most alternatives being about two generations removed from what was offered in 1976. These included the Sentra, Corolla, 323, and Civic. Even the aging homegrown Escort and Omni/Horizon made the Chevette look like the antique it was.
The “1980-or-so” Chevette photo is indeed a 1980 model; the 1981 had new wheels and center caps replacing the dated hubcaps that had been used since 1976. The car in the attached photo also has the rare exterior trim group (chrome moldings around the windows, rocker panel, and wheel trim rings) along with also-rare two-color paint. Most Chevette buyers weren’t willing to spend extra for such frills.
As Chevy’s jingle said, the Citation was the first Chevy of the ’80s. I don’t recall it in a jingle, but I believe the Chevette was the worst Chevy of the ’80s. Primitive, not particularly reliable, and WAAAAYYYY past its sell by date.
But, it is kinda fun to see this oddball, a high trim diesel. It can’t be said that the Chevette lacked for variants.
Now, corn nuts, that is a whole ‘nother discussion!. I recall them being a product of the ’70s, along with the Chevette. My mother was a fan of them (of corn nuts, she drove a Caprice), and I had a certain appreciation of them (the Caprice and corn nuts).
When in rural Spain a few years ago, we stopped for gas and light refreshments. I found a Spanish version of corn nuts, and they were rather good, and the teeth breakers that I remembered.
A few months ago, I found the current American version on the shelf at Wally World. Made by Hormel, the canned meat people. I don’t think they have the same product as 50 years ago. Underwhelming, much like a Chevette.
Chevettes were popular fleet cars and did pretty well all things considered .
Too many American consumers fail to grasp that a basic automobile isn’t supposed to be fast and if you drive it pedal to the metal it is reasonable to find it’s then not reliable .
My sister bought a new, red Chevette in 1979, knowing her it was prolly the cheapo version with cardboard door cards . (? Scooter ?)
-Nate
Nice thing about Chevette Diesels (and the LUV pickup with Diesel–same engine) is that they didn’t need to install a horn.
The Diesel wouldn’t go fast enough to get into trouble, and you could hear them knocking and rattling two blocks away. Plenty of time for Junior and his friends to pick up their ball or hockey-puck and get out of the street.