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!
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