Text by Patrick Bell.
When Chevrolet introduced the subcompact Vega for model year 1971 it was an entirely new design on a new platform. With a sporty version called the Monza in the works for MY 1975, they passed the torch to the General Motors Badge Engineering Department for further consideration. They came up with four other names and passed them on to the other three mainline divisions. Today we have some examples over the ten years of production of these cars that have all but disappeared from the highways and byways.
On our opening image, a brand new looking 1979 or 1980 Chevrolet Monza Sport 2+2 Hatchback that was equipped with Sport mirrors, rear spoiler, front air dam, and white-lettered tires. There was a dealer tag on the front license plate bracket that I cannot read; perhaps someone will recognize the logo. I have always thought this body style was a looker and it wears this shade of blue very well.
Here was the first model of the “H” body platform; the Chevrolet Vega that was introduced for the 1971 model year. This one was a Hatchback Coupe from the 1971-1973 era, and it was a basic edition with an aftermarket side stripe.
This gentleman seems pleased with his 1978 Pontiac Sunbird Sport Coupe with a New Jersey license plate. It also had the Landau style vinyl roof and a driver’s side sport mirror. The pinstripe and body side moldings both look aftermarket.
1977 was the last year for the Vega, so in 1978 Chevrolet expanded the Monza line and added a less expensive hatchback with the Towne Coupe’s front and rear body treatment along with a wagon. This 1978-1980 2+2 Hatchback may have been new with a buyers tag in the quarter window. It had the optional body side molding, wheel opening trim, and color keyed Deluxe wheel covers. The Vega engine went out with the Vega, so the 151 cubic inch “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder was now standard, with 2 V6’s and the 305 V8 optional.
Pontiac rebadged the Vega and introduced it as the Astre in Canada for the 1973 model year. In 1975 in came to the USA, and was produced through 1977. This one is a Canadian 1974 GT Hatchback. In the background was a white Ventura 2 door and a brown full size 4 door sedan, likely a Catalina or Laurentian. The featured dealership also carried Buicks.
In with the new and out with the old. The back lot of dealerships are a fun place to explore and they can hold some constrasts. In the center a 1978 or 1979 Monza 2+2 Sport Hatchback Coupe with the Spyder Appearance Package. It could have been a trade in or a customer’s car waiting on parts or service.
To the left was one of three Chevettes along the fence line. This one was a 1975-1978 model, but it looked new with no license plate and no dirt behind it. On the right was a new red Citation 2-door Hatchback Coupe. The Citation was introduced in April of 1979 as an 1980 model, so perhaps the Chevette was a leftover and the Citation was a very early one.
This one was a 1975-1977 Monza 2+2 Hatchback Coupe from Michigan with an aftermarket stripe, wider wheels and tires, and rear mudguards. The 1975 was available with a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder motor borrowed from the Vega, as well as a 4.3 liter V8, except in California where the 5.7 V8 was used. Transmission choices included 3, 4, and 5-speed manuals along with the Turbo Hydra-Matic, though all transmissions were not available with all engines.
Buick’s version was the Skyhawk, and they only had the Hatchback Coupe body style and used their own 3.8 liter V6 for the sole engine offering. It was in production from 1975-1980. This one was a 1977 model, and had the one year only NightHawk package, which was an appearance option. Available only on black cars, the decals apparently were gold when light was shown on them. The Skyhawk sold the least amount of cars in the six years with Oldsmobile Starfire a close second. Their total sales together amounted to about 66% of the Monza hatchback only sales for the same period.
A 1978-1980 Monza Coupe with Sport Mirrors and Rally II Wheels was posing in the driveway. The rear spoiler and lower body two tone may have been aftermarket as I see no such options in the sales brochures. It could have been a dealer installed package.
Posing in the middle of a cul-de-sac was a 1974 or 1975 Vega GT Hatchback with the Sport Stripes, which were a separate option with the GT package. In the background was a pale yellow 1969 Chrysler Newport 2 door hardtop.
The photo notes state this was the photographer’s new 1978 Buick Skyhawk along with their 4 year old (1974) Pontiac Grand Safari wagon. The Skyhawk was equipped with the optional Deluxe Wheel Covers and the Appearance Group, which consisted of a left side Sport Mirror and wheel opening moldings. It was available with your choice of 4 or 5-speed manual or automatic transmission.
The Monza Towne Coupe was the formal edition, and this one represents the 1975-1977 style. It had the full vinyl roof and a license plate I can’t read.
Parked on the left was a 1974 or 1975 Ford Maverick, and otherwise Chevrolet Chevelles ruled the parking lot. In the lower right was the left taillight of a 1964, further up a red 1969, and in the center a dark blue 1966 Malibu Sport Coupe.
Since the Astre went away after 1977, like Chevrolet, Pontiac expanded the Sunbird line for 1978 and called this model the Sport Hatch. This one was a 1978-1980 model, had the Custom Wheel Covers, likely an aftermarket stripe, and some minor body damage on the front corner. By now the 2.5 liter “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder was standard with a 3.8 liter V6 optional, with 4 and 5-speed manuals and an automatic for transmissions. In the background was an 1983 or 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Coupe.
The photo notes indicate this Sunbird Coupe from Texas was a 1980 model, and was dressed up with aftermarket pinstripes and wheels. On the other side of it looks like an 1980-1985 Buick Skylark sedan. The lady and baby girl appear to be enjoying the sunny day.
A final year 1980 Monza Sport 2+2 Hatchback Coupe with the Spyder Equipment Package, which did include some suspension upgrades along with the appearance items such as a lot of black out trim that does not show on this black car. Engine and transmission choices were both down to two; the “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder and 3.8 V6, and 4-speed manual and automatic. It is interesting they dropped the 5-speed.
And another Monza Sport 2+2 Hatchback Coupe, this one a 1978 model with both the Spyder Equipment Package and the Spyder Appearance Package, as well as one of the optional motors and a damaged front lower air dam.
This one was a final year 1980 Sunbird Sport Hatch with the optional Formula Package and Removable Sunroof. The Formula Package included upgraded wheels and tires (which were replaced with aftermarket on this one), a Rally Gage Cluster, otherwise it was all appearance items. The engine/transmissions choices were down to the same two as the Monza. The blue car on the right edge was a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring or Sebring Plus.
We have one Oldsmobile Starfire, which like Buick only had the hatchback body style. This tired one was a 1979 model, and had the optional Firenza Package. There were three engines and transmissions available for this year; “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder, 3.8 V6, and 5.0 V8, along with 4 and 5-speed manuals and a 3-speed automatic. The image was dated 1990, and notes indicated it was a 4 cylinder model and on its way to the junk yard.
To close we have one more 1980 Sunbird Formula Sport Hatch, this one in silver with the Removeable Sunroof and the sharp looking Cast Aluminum Wheels, plus an aftermarket louver for the back window.
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
Interesting look at forgotten ‘sub-compacts’ of my HS years! However one model was missing but i’m not surprised; in `76 Buick marketed their Skyhawk with an optional and VERY rare fixed glass roof. Not many were made, and in all those years I only saw one! It covered the whole roof forward of the rear hatch and was heavily tinted. The only ad I ever saw of this rare bird showed a yellow one with a white interior—an eye-popper for sure. Something tells me there couldn’t have been more than maybe 1K or so built? Never found a breakdown in production #’s to tell.
The one-year-only 1976 Skyhawk with the Astroroof option is fascinating in how Ford would bring it back as a $1995 option for the 2009 Mustang, then Tesla would make it a standard feature across the board on all their vehicles.
I don’t know how many of today’s vehicles have the damn things (typically only on the highest trim models) and I really wonder if there’s some kind of cost-benefit of a fixed glass panel roof versus a conventional painted steel roof, with an example being how Tesla’s new, lower-cost ‘standard’ Model 3/Y retains the glass roof but, in the case of the Model Y, gets a fabric headliner to cover it while the Model 3 weirdly keeps the open view.
Personally, I much prefer an opening sunroof. Even then, they have lost their previous luster since modern vehicles with their severely sloped windshields (aka ‘tumblehome’ in industry parlance) means the sunroof is set so far back as to lose its benefit for front seat occupants, with a similar demerit to convertibles where the windshield extends far into the interior.
I still think the first iteration of the Monza was a great looking car, and looked like nothing else on the road.
Except maybe a Ferrari 365, but you weren’t likely to see that on the road.
Later ones were nowhere near as attractive, one of my university roommates had a brown notchback coupe. It was a bad looking car but it was pretty reliable.
I got my license in a 79 Sunbird.
Picture it, Connecticut, 1986,
My mother had a “used” 79 Sunbird for a few years. (Hatchback/ 4 cyl, Blue similar to the 1st Monza pic). The 79 was well used by then.
This was a time when nobody I knew ever wore seatbelts. But for a Driver’s Test, you bet your But I’m wearing one, and so did the “Test officer Evaluator type Guy” (whatever there called). Went on my test, parallel park, back into spaces etc, cruise around town and such. Pull back up to the DMV, remove MY seatbelt,…. I forgot to mention, the Sunbird’s Passenger seatbelt (that wasn’t used often) had a BROKEN release button, so it clicked in just fine, but in order to release it, you had to JAM a Pen (or some such object) into the hole where the release button once existed…. Imagine my embarrassment when I had to ask the “Test Evaluation Guy” to Borrow his pen, so I could release him from his Passenger Seat Prison.
(He let me use the pen), I jammed the pen in the hole, The buckle immediately released my Passenger prisoner, I then retuned the pen, he said thanks, opened the door and exited the Sunbird post haste.
After that was all said and done, He DID pass me for the driving portion of the test. They took my photo, and I received my driver’s license.
That’s my most memorable Sunbird experience.
GM did recover somewhat from the truly craptacular OG Vega with the improved, rebodied Monza. While in today’s context not even close to being good, for the mid-seventies, it was about right for anything domestic at the time, particularly given the very nice, Ferrari-esque styling. I mean, I’d have been hard-pressed to take a Mustang II over an equivalent Monza.
And performance when equipped with the 231 Buick V6 (especially when they created the even-fire version for 1977), while nothing earth-shattering, was at least adequate.
Note the alignment of the “MONZA” lettering on the front of the new (?) blue Spyder in the sixth picture. As the past owner of a ‘73 Vega and an ‘81 Firebird that trim assembly quality brings back memories.
I always thought the Monza was a good looking car. Back in college circa 1980 had a girlfriend who had a 79 Monza hatchback with V6 and 5 speed. This girl had a certain “zest for living” and as such drove that car like it was stolen.
Seemed like it was pretty quick and nimble but maybe that was because I was holding on for dear life while she drove at ridiculous speed thru campus.
I can only imagine how terrifying that thing would have been with a 305 or 350 V8 in it!
Obviously the J car was the replacement for these. I wonder why GM made a new name platform, then brought back the H platform name a few years later as a totally different size class car.
Also I find it interesting that the J body Skyhawk (especially the later ones) looks more like the Monza 2+2 than the H Skyhawk itself.
On both the coupe and hatchback, I think the rear spoiler adds a lot to these cars, in a good way. I don’t care much for the lines of the original Vega, but I like the more upright window of the 78-80 Monza coupe. I knew a couple people in high school who had these, one a Monza, one a Sunbird, both hatchbacks.