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101 Cars: Chevrolet Vega
Written by: SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com   
07/03/2008
Charlotte, North Carolina
 
An aluminum-block engine that began corroding about the time the casting cooled in the factory. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson) ยป More Photos

By the late 1960s, American carmakers awakened to the fact that the pesky German brand - Volkswagen - wasn't going away, and that the threat posted by Japanese upstarts Toyota and Datsun was real. So each responded with its own small car: Ford birthed the Pinto, AMC gave us the Gremlin, and GM's not-so-shining star was Chevy's Vega. The Vega drove pretty well and was available in a wide variety of body styles and trim levels. But its Achilles' heel was right under the hood: An aluminum-block engine that began corroding about the time the casting cooled in the factory. The engine overheated, mixed its oil and water (not a good thing), and generally ate itself alive. The body rusted nearly as quick. Fixes came along later - by the 1980s, nearly every carmaker knew how to produce long-lived aluminum engine blocks - but the damage to the Vega's reputation was done and the car was DOA after the 1977 model year. Pontiac offered its own version called the Astre, but it didn't help. The poor Vega was a crap sandwich: the doomed Corvair preceded it, and the lamentable Chevette replaced it.

Specifications
Engine: 2.3-liter OHC inline four
Horsepower: 70 (one-barrel carb), 85 (two-barrel carb), 110 (Cosworth)
0–60 mph: 12.0 seconds
Top Speed: 112 miles per hour (Cosworth)
Price New: $6,065 (Cosworth, 1975)
Value Now: Used, running Vegas start at around $500. The lowest-mileage, most-pristine Cosworth model is worth around $10,000.
Chevrolet Vega Photos



Claim to Fame

Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year in 1971 (guess their test cars hadn't started to rust yet)


Soundtrack

"Odd Sanity" by the Rust


Perfect Passenger

Anyone who can help you push


Behind the Wheel
America's junkyards and farm fields are full of them.


Did You Know?
There was a high-performance version called the Cosworth Vega, which employed a DOHC Cosworth Engineering cylinder head.


The Perfect Drive
Any one that leads to America's junkyards and farm fields



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