The most epic race I've ever had involved me in a Chevette and some random person on the highway in a Pontiac T1000. We hit speeds of nearly 65mph, both cars shaking violently, but I pulled out the victory in the end. A few decades later I watched an old Motorweek review of the T1000 and found out the key to my victory - apparently Pontiac just took a Chevette and made it heavier - and even less powerful.
My first car was a vette. A Chevy chevette. I remember being pulled over for doing 62 mph in a 45. I laughed at the police officer and informed him the car wouldn't go over 53. Without a word he turned around, got in his car and drove away... Great review. Took me back.
53 really??? i can finally feel fast! as a teen i reached 85 with my red 5 speed festiva! ...savage torque of the 1.3 was amazing =D haha 60 hp at 5000 and 74 lbs of torque. half or full throttle didint make any difference
No, that is when a reviewer uses second hand information about someone who supposedly tested a car with a 40 year old engine. I'm guessing he didn't ask if they did a compression check either. I've driven the car and it reaches highway speeds and has decent acceleration for a small car. Of course, it was manual transmission.
Around 1978 when I was a kid, Grandpa ( having grown up during the depression and raised seven kids ) drove one, it was maroon. I remember him doing a valve job on it and me as a kid thinking why?what a piece of crap car. After driving it for some time, traded up for the speedy blue diesel version. Couldn't pealout on the gravel driveway. Did not matter to Gramps, he was in to it for the mileage and to ask the ladies if they like to "take a ride in his vett". Miss you Gramps!
That's not how it works. You know that peak power output of a horse is about 20HP or more? But because you have to let it rest, it's 1HP on average. While you could make a single strong fart, you can't just keep farting all day long like a car engine can.
Hm... ...seems like they DO still make them like they used to. After 2 years of ownership, my fathers 2002 GMC Yukon (which he bought new, so it was only 2 years old) had its transmission go out too. He had to drive home in reverse for about 2 miles. Not exactly 3 hours though, that’s impressive. Your mom had mad skills! I remember asking my father if it was covered under warranty. I believe he claimed it wasn’t. 🤷♀️
An old lady in a wheelchair with one good arm, holding a small lap dog wearing broken flip-flops chewing taffy daydreaming about Regis Philbin could beat this car in the quarter mile
Ah, the Shitvette. A friend of mine had an '84 'vette in high school... Diarrhea brown with poop brown interior. We beat the hell out of that thing. I remember he had to start it in the morning before school about 15 minutes before he left and put a brick on thce gas pedal to get it to idle down. And yes, slow and weak as hell. I lived at the top of a big hill, and it could not make it up the hill with 5 passengers. He would have to drop a couple of them off at the bottom, bring me up the hill, and go back and pick them up. Fun times.
I had forgotten the Diesel!! My nephew had one that we put a gas engine in. I had a 79 Cutlass diesel that I put a 70 350 Rocket in. Good times!!! I blew many 3rd gen base Camaros and Mustangs off the road with that Cutlass ( and more than a few IROCS and GTs)
Of course not all BL stuff was bad. Some of it dated from WWII or shortly thereafter. You could say they got the bugs out of it. But the Morris Marina? Garbage. Funny thing was it didn’t end there. We never had the Marina or any BL stuff in Canada but we had the Hyundai Pony which was based on it. It was banned in the States because it didn’t meet safety regulations but became the cheapest and best selling car for a year or so. And like the Marina... almost every one was scrapped. You can’t find them even in junkyards.
There's a local legend of somebody wedging a 454 into a Chevette. (It was probably a 307 or 350: these stories have a habit of growing!). -the moral of the story is the light turned green, he stomped on it and broke his windshield!
My 61 Corvair took 34 seconds, maybe even longer if the speedo was reading fast like most cars did back then. But that was with 2 people aboard and about a million miles on the engine. It still got me between Virginia Beach and Philly every weekend for 2 years. Got a ticket once for doing 78 in a 60 zone in MD.
I fucking love the randomly thrown-in segments that make you sit back and go "...what the fuck did I just watch?" before it resumes like nothing happened. Classic RCR right there.
My mother drove one of these things for years. Eventually the hood popped open going down the highway and then the engine(probably from the filter) set fire. Teenage me said "when was the last time you changed the oil on this thing?" noting the flashing oil indicator. And she looked at me deadpan "change?" We made it home that day, driving 4 miles with the front end of this fucking car ON FIRE. I never got back in that deathtrap and mom drove it for a few more months until the floorboards started to rot away and you could literally flintstone the fucking thing up the street.
@@wildman510 The sad part is all her brothers(my uncles) her dad and her Grandpa were all greasemonkies to some degree or another. There was no excuse for any of what happened to occur , other than just laziness.
I had one in the eighties with a cranking sound system. It ran great. I took great strides in maintaining it, because I really liked it. Always changed the oil and kept the coolant topped. NEVER overheated it. And yet still blew the head gasket and cracked the head. Really a wonderful car.
@@NickyvMLP yes but the model T doesn't have all the newer parts like better diffs, and gearbox, etc. so all these things add up to make it better then say a lawn more with 30 hp or a model T, consider all this and the chevette is way faster then the model T
I was starting to loose faith in RCR. They just weren't the same as they used to be. But now... Thank you Mr. Regular for returning to form. This sort of stuff is why we subscribed to you.
Rated 53-60hp when new, depending on model. Top end models were eventually rated at 70hp. All those figures were undoubtedly at the crank, not the wheels.
Not just at crank, but with no accessories and with cold water pumped by an external pump. It's an industrial application way of measuring power figures, like that engine would be powering a pressure washer or a cement mixer...
It's not that bad. Well i'm not gonna say what i allegedly did or didn't do, but it's really synaesthetic, not hallucinogenic, like you'll have larger issues before you really start seeing things.
i dont think the intermission was vaporwave. it felt like this creepy ghostly rustbelt post-manufacturing almost apocalyptic vibe where death of an economy left towns abandoned, video game consoles and family photo albums in attics. it's a sterile and anachronistic representation of the past - a lost nostalgia where the tapes been recorded over by the ghosts of memories that capitalism killed.
We don't wonder. A Motor Trend columnist wrote in 2008, when it looked like the Big 3 might all go bankrupt, that if this is finally the end we can't say the companies hadn't heard and ignored repeated warnings since the late 1960s.
In Brazil, it existed as a station wagon, sedan, and pickup, and was sold (restyled) until 1992. It was a bestseller, and even co-existed with Kadett (his successor)
In the UK, we also had the Chevette, which had a slightly restyled front and rear. My grandfather had one in this exact colour. Memories of it include rust, clattery motor, and more rust..
23 HP!? That makes my 2010 Chevrolet Aveo (the chevette's great grandson) with its 1.6L Gen III Ecotec DOHC four cylinder engine (108 HP and 105 ft lbs of torque) look like an ABSOLUTE HOTROD!!
Id honestly rather drive a trabant. 3 more horsepower and easier to fix and if you had that "kombi" version there'd be much more interior room RCR should review a trabant. If you think of it the trabant is the ultimate regular car a car that was literally the only car for an entire country
My parents' Chevette totaled itself in repairs before they could finish paying itself off. I remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table, in tears, trying to figure out how they were going to pay for it all. That is one of my formative memories of American automobiles.
I took my driving license test with this car, borrowed it because my car was a 1978 Pontiac Grand Safari wagon, 6.6 Liter. I used it because I was concerned that the immense wagon would challenge me in the parallel parking test. The Chevette did not disappoint. The unpowered brakes and steering gave me a good workout on the emergency stop and 3 point turn, but I nailed the parking.
gonnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(A e s t h e t i c references)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(pianomusic)aaaaaaaaaaaaaa(drugrefrences)aaaaaaaaaa(poopjokesreferences)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(sezualloolrefereces)aaa find a way around their limitations. This 1976 Chevetteeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(drugs)(swirls)(DrugAftermath)ee
This is pushing so many buttons for me. My maternal grandmother had one of these when I was nine years old, also in yellow, and it made our '73 Vega look like a Ferrari Daytona. It could barely make it up a hill. A Model T had better performance. I knew better. When I was nine. And the vaporwave middle - you've actually touched on the one "new" AESTHETIC I actually care about, as a forever teenaged electronic musician. Nicely done. Really. Really, really nicely done...
My grandfather had an early 80’s Pontiac version with optional anti sway bar. He loved to show off how well it took corners much to the fear of everyone else in the car.
@@cobra29935 nothing wrong with that, I remember all those old Snap On calandars my dad had from the early 80's, with the big teased out hair. Also on their head, and that awkward smile as they laid over a fender holding a tool the wrong way.
holy fucking shit kill me, that pice of piano with the voice was not good. it was AWESOME BRILLIANT. please consider making a longer one pleeeeasee please please
The X-body debut was 1977 (Olds Cutlass). A year after the introduction of the Chevette, so YEAR, not "years". A HS friend's parents bought one new in 1980. 1.6L engine, cloth interior, am/fm, 5-speed tranny. It was a nice car. I wanted one, after riding around in that one.
Finally my car is mentioned on Regular Car Reviews! I drive a 1978 Opel Kadett Coupe. It is indeed my first car, and I am still a teenager, as in 19 years old. But I love the thing, prefer to drive it over anything else. But this review is spot on. However, my air filter is serviceable. I guess the Opel Kadett is a little better than the chevette :P
I'm surprised the Chevette lasted so long. I read about one with a 500ci Cadillac engine in it. My mom had one for her first car in 1980. She said it would shake when she hit 80kp/h on the highway and my grandad said the drum brakes weren't very responsive and the automatic hampered it. I read somewhere it was supposed to come with a manual. She told me she paid $6,000 new and that's just over 12k in 2020.
+Nabeel Rahimpour I re-watched that part a bunch of times because it was actually kinda cool. Then I decided to watch it at half speed. OH GOD WAS THAT CREEPY!!! Def. recommend!
Good Lord! You are insane, dude! I've rarely laughed so hard in my life! I drove one of these things in 1979. Mom and dad in the back seat, salesman next to me. I left the dealership lot with my foot crunched to the floor. Went about half a mile, jammed on what was considered at the time as brakes, hit the shoulder and spun it around to head back to the dealership. Salesman grasping anything he could to survive (he even grasped my shirt at some point) eyes bugging out. Sorry dude. Didn't make the sale. My story and I'm sticking to it.
naw man gremlins are great and so are chevette's, and the best thing about chevette's is they're cheap and easy to work on and engine swap them. I had like ten in my backyard just waiting to be used for parts or driven
Some lasted a long time like a tough little truck. Others snapped the front pulley bolt (torqued too tight at the factory) or it fell out (...too loose...) causing mayhem under the hood
@@sammolloy1 Most died of boomerism, like most cars. Just feed it gas until it stops or too many people comment about the smoke, the noise, the permanently on dash light or the tape over the dash light.
Wikipedia spreads the myth that it has an Isuzu engine but it's actually the Opel Family 2 engine used in Brazil. I don't think it was a partnership with Isuzu but with Opel.
Both my parents had one of these. My dad hated his primarily because he was essentially forced to buy it from his parents when what he really wanted to buy was his grandparents' Plymouth. He admitted that despite being really basic it was pretty reliable. It got him from A to B. Though it only had an AM radio, no AC, and the heater sucked. Sold it the first chance he got and bought a TC3
I swore I would never own 1 of these... ended up with 6, people kept giving them to me. It's funny you mentioned Wegmans, I was working for them at the time :)
I bought a used 1981 Chevrette in the mid 80's. I thought it was a fun little beater car. I found a header for it and an adapter for a bigger carburetor in a JC Whitney catalog, it helped a lot with performance. It had no A/C (living in Florida, ugh), no power steering and it was noisy and crude, but I loved that damn thing.
How dare you! How dare you! The Chevrolet Chevette is one of the finest cars ever made. It imbued quality inside and out and it was one of the most Innovative designs ever.
You know, the funny thing about the Chevette is that GM was so unbelievably proud of it. I remember the summer of 1976 and seeing mysterious ads from Chevy about their "new small car" that was going to revolutionize... something or other. They literally broke the bank trying to build up buzz about...this thing. Now, in truth, it wasn't a great deal worse than many of it's counterparts. And unlike some of the larger 'small' cars of the 70s that topped out around 25mpg, the Chevette could get a real world 30++. Think of the Dodge Omni, or the Toyota Corona, the Datsun 510 or the earliest of the Honda Civics. They were all extremely basic transport, though I would not rank the Chevette (I owned an '84) anywhere near the top of the list. They were all cramped, noisy, underpowered and uncomfortable. For my money, the first gen Golf was the best of them, followed by the Civic. But they were all pretty bad cars.
My wife drove a diesel chevette in college. A diesel automatic four door hatch. this car was so cheap it did not even come with a door on the glove box from the factory. Had a/c, sorta. No real heat to speak of, because diesel. Oh and the best part were the brakes. If you used them too much, like 4 or 5 times in the space of a couple of minutes like in rush hour traffic you would run out of vacuum assist. What an incredible piece of shit
Must've been a Scooter. THAT was the ultimate bare-bones car. No back seat, no glove box door, no armrests (door or middle), and the passenger seat didn't slide forward and back. lol
My aunt had a Chevette. She was driving down the street one day and the transmission fell out of it. A friend had one. She got to work one day and the drivers door fell off.
There were 3 of these things in my driveway in the way back. Mine, my sisters and our lady roommate. All did fine for what they were. I commuted from Columbia SC to Augusta GA in mine for two.5 years. No problem. But when my yard boy pulled it in the back yard to mow the grass the gear shift came off in his hands. Not just the knob but the whole stem. LOL. So glad it didn't happen on the interstate at 95 mph. Yes they could go that fast and a bit more with a tail wind. Love your work. Keep it up!
My late '70s model Chevette was fly. It was the hottest car in the community for a good year, or so! Six of us packed in and headed down to Florida one summer. Thing was a beast on the expressway!
The most epic race I've ever had involved me in a Chevette and some random person on the highway in a Pontiac T1000. We hit speeds of nearly 65mph, both cars shaking violently, but I pulled out the victory in the end. A few decades later I watched an old Motorweek review of the T1000 and found out the key to my victory - apparently Pontiac just took a Chevette and made it heavier - and even less powerful.
Weird, You'd think that the "excitement" division would have been "hotter".
2Slow2Steady
I think you experienced the American equivalent of that one James Bond chase where he was in the Citroën.
Uz a funny guy
Like two steamrollers drag racing...
My first car was a vette. A Chevy chevette. I remember being pulled over for doing 62 mph in a 45. I laughed at the police officer and informed him the car wouldn't go over 53. Without a word he turned around, got in his car and drove away...
Great review. Took me back.
Suboptimus Lime the assholes are called corrupt cops
53 really??? i can finally feel fast! as a teen i reached 85 with my red 5 speed festiva! ...savage torque of the 1.3 was amazing =D haha 60 hp at 5000 and 74 lbs of torque. half or full throttle didint make any difference
You don't expect anyone to believe that. A cop pulled you over for speeding then drove away because you told him your car couldn't speed.
You probably should have asked me for a copy of the ticket should you prove to your friends
I love how the headlights pop on in time with “23!”
You wana ride in my "Vette"?
+Nathan Mofield '' but honey thats not a corvette''
''its a chevette baby!''
+TheAwesome 80s (Reinis Ūdrēns) Part vette... part... chevy? Nevermind...
+Nathan Mofield This is my dads anthem he had one of these to get through college and would always say this
+Nathan Mofield THIS IS MY VETTE
NOT YOUR VETTE
THIS IS MY VETTE.
+Nathan Mofield Which vette is best vette?
23 hp. that's when the car maker just gives up.
A Ford Model T probably makes that much
For 1976, that's just terrible
One wonders if it's from wear that it is so low.
160 HP
No, that is when a reviewer uses second hand information about someone who supposedly tested a car with a 40 year old engine. I'm guessing he didn't ask if they did a compression check either. I've driven the car and it reaches highway speeds and has decent acceleration for a small car. Of course, it was manual transmission.
Around 1978 when I was a kid, Grandpa ( having grown up during the depression and raised seven kids ) drove one, it was maroon. I remember him doing a valve job on it and me as a kid thinking why?what a piece of crap car. After driving it for some time, traded up for the speedy blue diesel version. Couldn't pealout on the gravel driveway. Did not matter to Gramps, he was in to it for the mileage and to ask the ladies if they like to "take a ride in his vett". Miss you Gramps!
Tenn Wilcox i thought you were calling your grandpa a moron... but I misread maroon
Wouldn’t peel out on gravel lol
LOL only calling mine Vett from now on
Point A to Point B.
a violent fart can have more hp than that
That's not how it works. You know that peak power output of a horse is about 20HP or more? But because you have to let it rest, it's 1HP on average. While you could make a single strong fart, you can't just keep farting all day long like a car engine can.
Siana Gearz Hmm... that makes sense, but an instant violent fart can have at least 10lb/ft of torque tho.
Siana Gearz you're probably a ton of fun at parties.
People tend to underestimate my partying talents. Which are not the same as RUclips comment section trolling talents.
you made my evening dude hahaha!
I GUESSED 40HP, LIKE FUCK I GAVE IT A CHANCE
Mr. Rude me too
Unbelievably, i did too.
I can't believe I guessed 50... I mean, I guess I thought, "hey, you know, it can't possibly be any worse!" I was so very wrong.
I thought it might at least have another 10 more horses behind it than a Trabi.
I thought wrong.
Mr. Rude I guessed 30 but damn 23hp.
My mom had one of these in the 90s. I remember distinctly the transmission going out in it and mom having to drive it home in reverse for three hours.
The same thing happened with my moms!
@@jessecuster5877 guys i think you two are possibly brothers
Fuck that, throw a damn Honda Civic engine into it.
Hm... ...seems like they DO still make them like they used to. After 2 years of ownership, my fathers 2002 GMC Yukon (which he bought new, so it was only 2 years old) had its transmission go out too. He had to drive home in reverse for about 2 miles. Not exactly 3 hours though, that’s impressive. Your mom had mad skills! I remember asking my father if it was covered under warranty. I believe he claimed it wasn’t. 🤷♀️
@@ChanMan-mm7fe Throwing a GOOD engine into a POS would just be a waste of a GOOD engine!
I think my legs make more horsepower than this car
I think my Horse makes more horsepower than this car.
just get 24 horses on a sleigh and then you can be faster
An old lady in a wheelchair with one good arm, holding a small lap dog wearing broken flip-flops chewing taffy daydreaming about Regis Philbin could beat this car in the quarter mile
Chett Husky Try LS swap it
@@HidraClorolic that would turn it into an actual 'Vette
I REALLY was not expecting the sudden turn this video took...
+WillThePlank I was stoned and just started laughing like an idiot
+adj789 I wasn't stoned and just started laughing like an idiot
I fucking loved it! I was sober and I was laughing like an idiot. I appreciate Mr. Regular's type of humor.
+WillThePlank RegularCars: Expect the unexpected! ;-)
+WillThePlank you must be new here, welcome to RegularCars.
Ah, the Shitvette. A friend of mine had an '84 'vette in high school... Diarrhea brown with poop brown interior. We beat the hell out of that thing. I remember he had to start it in the morning before school about 15 minutes before he left and put a brick on thce gas pedal to get it to idle down. And yes, slow and weak as hell. I lived at the top of a big hill, and it could not make it up the hill with 5 passengers. He would have to drop a couple of them off at the bottom, bring me up the hill, and go back and pick them up. Fun times.
Gosh, like someone put a toilet in there!
I would not want to drive a car this small with five people in it anyway. Hell I don’t even know five people.
I'm surprised this thing even has space for five passengers. Sounds like some of your friends have the misfortune of being 'fun sized' like me.
My folks had an '84........Chevette........4 door........DIESEL ! Wanna talk 0 to 60 acceleration measured in MINUTES? Yeah, it was that bad.
0-60 *min.
Sounds like my semi when I'm pulling a full 44,000lbs load lol
@@FirebirdCamaro1220 but once a semi gets going though.....
I had forgotten the Diesel!! My nephew had one that we put a gas engine in. I had a 79 Cutlass diesel that I put a 70 350 Rocket in. Good times!!! I blew many 3rd gen base Camaros and Mustangs off the road with that Cutlass ( and more than a few IROCS and GTs)
Friends had a diesel 79 or 80 VW "Rabbit"... believe me, it wasn't.
23whp floored it myself! lol
Dude Turbo a Chevette! A bone stock 4cyl p.o.s
+Sloppy Mechanics i hope you watched out not breaking those rear wheels loose whit those 23hp
+Derek Joon been done, in europe its Opel Kadett theres guys with v8's in em drifting lol
i could see you running your faimont 5 drivetrain in one of those and go high 8s in a 1/4 mile lol
+Sloppy Mechanics I thought I guessed low with 53whp but NOPE.
I love when you were saying 'Teenage boys are just gonna" and start tripping balls, I just understood
"This is right there with British Leyland"
Oh god, you just put it into perspective for me.
That was a very effective descriptive phrase.
@R Herman Yep. This came to Blighty with a Vauxhall badge on it, and nicknamed the "shove it" by Brits at the time.
this is a "look-at-me" comment
Lord Epping, same Chevette name, different front, rear and probably engines of slightly smaller displacement...
Of course not all BL stuff was bad.
Some of it dated from WWII or shortly thereafter. You could say they got the bugs out of it.
But the Morris Marina? Garbage. Funny thing was it didn’t end there. We never had the Marina or any BL stuff in Canada but we had the Hyundai Pony which was based on it. It was banned in the States because it didn’t meet safety regulations but became the cheapest and best selling car for a year or so.
And like the Marina... almost every one was scrapped. You can’t find them even in junkyards.
There's a local legend of somebody wedging a 454 into a Chevette. (It was probably a 307 or 350: these stories have a habit of growing!).
-the moral of the story is the light turned green, he stomped on it and broke his windshield!
It was a 220 Buick I think.
We shoehorned a 400 in one.
I remember buying an issue of Hot Rod that had a Chevette with a Cadillac 500 on the cover 😎
If someone did that the axle would take off and leave the car sitting.
There's a few that are big block chevy swapped
Motorweek did a road test of its twin the Pontiac 1000 and it had the slowest 0 to 60 ever tested of 30 seconds
My 61 Corvair took 34 seconds, maybe even longer if the speedo was reading fast like most cars did back then. But that was with 2 people aboard and about a million miles on the engine. It still got me between Virginia Beach and Philly every weekend for 2 years. Got a ticket once for doing 78 in a 60 zone in MD.
Called the 'Pontiac Acadian' in Canada. PFS model standard, not an option. "Piece Of Fuckin' Shit".
Sledge Patrick I think “garbage” is a massive understatement
They timed the 0-60 with an egg timer.
I feel like a Tata Nano would run laps around a Chevette
23 hp...... most cars have more drivetrain loss than that.
+Martijn Bruggers I bet some cars (with massive engines) have stronger starters than that...
+NDentertainments 23hp? Do you have any idea how big a 1hp motor is lol?
+Martijn Bruggers ALTHOOOOUGH he said it's at the wheels, so who knows - it might have 300 BHP for all we know.
Skylar Garrett Okay, it might be an exaggeration, but at least a few ships should have stronger starters
*****
most car starters actually have more than 1 hp. I know more about motorcycles, they usually come around 1 kW
I fucking love the randomly thrown-in segments that make you sit back and go "...what the fuck did I just watch?" before it resumes like nothing happened.
Classic RCR right there.
My mother drove one of these things for years. Eventually the hood popped open going down the highway and then the engine(probably from the filter) set fire. Teenage me said "when was the last time you changed the oil on this thing?" noting the flashing oil indicator. And she looked at me deadpan "change?"
We made it home that day, driving 4 miles with the front end of this fucking car ON FIRE. I never got back in that deathtrap and mom drove it for a few more months until the floorboards started to rot away and you could literally flintstone the fucking thing up the street.
Perfect example of people thinking "well if it's cheap it doesent need maintenance right?"
@@wildman510 The sad part is all her brothers(my uncles) her dad and her Grandpa were all greasemonkies to some degree or another. There was no excuse for any of what happened to occur , other than just laziness.
@@Diceman82 Or they WANTED the car to self destruct. Chevettes didn't receive much love back then.
Isn't this part of why the Yugo failed here in the states as well?
I had one in the eighties with a cranking sound system. It ran great. I took great strides in maintaining it, because I really liked it. Always changed the oil and kept the coolant topped. NEVER overheated it. And yet still blew the head gasket and cracked the head. Really a wonderful car.
is this vaporwave
+Rafni Corvani My attempt at it
+RegularCars you need to make a separate video of just that and maybe put the song on iTunes
i'd buy it
+RegularCars
This is SOOO GOOD!
nope it's better
BHAHFDA:LKHFHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
This is one of my favorite RCR's ever, I re-watch it at least every 3 months. Why this doesn't have 5 million views is beyond me!
Too many Chevette haters?
I agree. The beginning cracks me up every time I watch it.
>guess how much horsepower
>"40's" (was thinking 43 in specific)
>23
>nearly choked on mac 'n cheese
wew
tkdking1000 Dear god you have the most amazing profile pic
+Steven Zettel exactly the same as me.
I was shocked and appalled !!
I would’ve said 50
ah, my dad likes calling them the "Shitvette"
This was my first car!! lol My mom had a custom license plate made to put on it that read "Billy's Poorvette" Oh the memories.....!!!!
We called mine a shove-it
To measure the 0-60 time they had to use a calendar.
Legend has it the 0-60 test is still being done... Any day now
this thing makes Daewoo Lanos look like a rolls royce
The perfect car for security guards. If you worked enough OT, you could buy s new one with help from Mom and Dad. LOL
.
*pineapple express intensifies*
PLEASE, don't compare this POS to a fine LUXURY automobile like a Lanos!!
I love how there's a perfectly good looking red Chevette in a lot of the shots, but nope we gotta have the shit one!
+lotto77102 probably been modded, and they wanted to do a stock one
that o e makes 990hp to the rear wheels and close to 120lbfeAt of tourk.
the one in the background runs 7s on all weather tires.
+lotto77102 gotta be realistic, for a 50 year old car
TheTastyDuck Are you kidding? It wasn't 1976 50 years ago.
That car sums up everything that went wrong with Detroit.
lol
Still better than a Chrysler product.
23 HP? There are lawn mowers with more horsepower than that!
Before Rebuild: 23
After: I forgot the number but it's at least 45. It doesn't exceed 70, though.
According to RCR, that's as much as a MODEL T FROM THE 20s
@@NickyvMLP yes but the model T doesn't have all the newer parts like better diffs, and gearbox, etc. so all these things add up to make it better then say a lawn more with 30 hp or a model T, consider all this and the chevette is way faster then the model T
Literally. My Cub Cadet has 23hp and it's one of the smaller models.
I could swap in my snowblower engine in this and it'd be faster
I was starting to loose faith in RCR. They just weren't the same as they used to be. But now... Thank you Mr. Regular for returning to form. This sort of stuff is why we subscribed to you.
+Josh A agree
agreed
+Josh A Loose faith? You should tighten it!
+Ugh-Fudge Bwana Loose faith just means *you can fit more in there.*
*lose
Rated 53-60hp when new, depending on model. Top end models were eventually rated at 70hp. All those figures were undoubtedly at the crank, not the wheels.
Not just at crank, but with no accessories and with cold water pumped by an external pump.
It's an industrial application way of measuring power figures, like that engine would be powering a pressure washer or a cement mixer...
Did someone sneak MDMA in my cereal?
wcm5150 no but probably into his
It's not that bad. Well i'm not gonna say what i allegedly did or didn't do, but it's really synaesthetic, not hallucinogenic, like you'll have larger issues before you really start seeing things.
No, I see it too
LSD perhaps....
@@BCaldwell Too weak. Probably just 2CB
i dont think the intermission was vaporwave. it felt like this creepy ghostly rustbelt post-manufacturing almost apocalyptic vibe where death of an economy left towns abandoned, video game consoles and family photo albums in attics. it's a sterile and anachronistic representation of the past - a lost nostalgia where the tapes been recorded over by the ghosts of memories that capitalism killed.
It's post-post-post modern Vaporwave.
Vaporwave is weird.
Almost more like lofi over liminal space
Disposable air cleaner.
0 - 60 in less than an hour.
Crappy quality.
And people wonder why how GM fell from grace.
They had grace?
@@TylerScranton yup
why how
We don't wonder. A Motor Trend columnist wrote in 2008, when it looked like the Big 3 might all go bankrupt, that if this is finally the end we can't say the companies hadn't heard and ignored repeated warnings since the late 1960s.
Shal we go through Ford's issues... I didn't think so
Aww you got yerself a compewtor!
A comPYOOOtor!
CumPooter*
In Brazil, it existed as a station wagon, sedan, and pickup, and was sold (restyled) until 1992. It was a bestseller, and even co-existed with Kadett (his successor)
And to this day is THE drift car of choice
In the UK, we also had the Chevette, which had a slightly restyled front and rear. My grandfather had one in this exact colour. Memories of it include rust, clattery motor, and more rust..
23 HP!? That makes my 2010 Chevrolet Aveo (the chevette's great grandson) with its 1.6L Gen III Ecotec DOHC four cylinder engine (108 HP and 105 ft lbs of torque) look like an ABSOLUTE HOTROD!!
A Porsche 2018 991 GT2 in comparison (727 bhp)
Great great grandson, actually.
I'm pretty sure we have a saw at my workshop that makes 25 hp. Jesus fuck
Just put a chainsaw under the hood, Give it a horsepower boost.
Me: Wanna ride in my “Vette”?
Girl: A CORVETTE????
Me: No honey a Chevette
*sound of wet panties landing on the floor*
"ssip-ssip" gets me every time XD
Thelonious Swope 😂😄
Aww precious little squirt
YOU GOT YORE SELF A COM-PEW-TOR
Bald band leaders marching in the pink parade XD
23hp!? Good god, I think my ninja 300 makes that!
on a dino it made 23
kickblake but here in brazil chevette is a 67 to 98hp
Thats what they told us Americans too... lol
Arne Hurnik prrtty sure the r3 is a 321cc not 1.6 L
6900 horsepower i dont think so
that aesthetic break! i have seen the more surreal cuts in your older videos and they are always great, would love to see it again in newer videos!
I had a Chevette just like that one. It broke down so many times I changed it's name to Shove-it.
this thing is barely an upgrade over a Trabant.
Simon Coles 😂😂😂😂😂
Id honestly rather drive a trabant. 3 more horsepower and easier to fix and if you had that "kombi" version there'd be much more interior room
RCR should review a trabant. If you think of it the trabant is the ultimate regular car a car that was literally the only car for an entire country
The trabant didn't rust
The trabant was cool and beautiful. This thing is just a dog.
Andrew mcgibbon kind of. But kinda not, yes it was mostly plastic, but the few metal parts, oh boy do they rust.
"Something as delightfully uncomplicated as the honeymoon phase in a lousy relationship."
I had to pause it on that 🤣🤣🤣
My parents' Chevette totaled itself in repairs before they could finish paying itself off. I remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table, in tears, trying to figure out how they were going to pay for it all. That is one of my formative memories of American automobiles.
I request a full song be released of the segment at around 4:08.
I took my driving license test with this car, borrowed it because my car was a 1978 Pontiac Grand Safari wagon, 6.6 Liter. I used it because I was concerned that the immense wagon would challenge me in the parallel parking test. The Chevette did not disappoint. The unpowered brakes and steering gave me a good workout on the emergency stop and 3 point turn, but I nailed the parking.
UUUAUSUGHGHHGGHGHGHGH That Air Cleaner!! Theres someone who drives a 1980 chevette at our school. Its white.
Aaron Ries you know he's gonna...
gonnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(A e s t h e t i c references)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(pianomusic)aaaaaaaaaaaaaa(drugrefrences)aaaaaaaaaa(poopjokesreferences)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(sezualloolrefereces)aaa find a way around their limitations. This 1976 Chevetteeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(drugs)(swirls)(DrugAftermath)ee
Just swap it for an aircleaner with a cheap replaceable element...
The car or the person
I had a 77. Second shittiest car at school. Surely the most uncomfortable. Had to run heat all summer or it would over heat - I'm in the south
Makes the AMC Gremlin look practical
This is pushing so many buttons for me. My maternal grandmother had one of these when I was nine years old, also in yellow, and it made our '73 Vega look like a Ferrari Daytona. It could barely make it up a hill. A Model T had better performance. I knew better. When I was nine. And the vaporwave middle - you've actually touched on the one "new" AESTHETIC I actually care about, as a forever teenaged electronic musician. Nicely done. Really. Really, really nicely done...
My grandfather had an early 80’s Pontiac version with optional anti sway bar. He loved to show off how well it took corners much to the fear of everyone else in the car.
The fuck is up with the beginning... I'm scared.
u must be new
It's the film director on acid and helium.
"Meant for the guy who's favorite food is sandwiches"
"and whose favorite sexual kink is naked women... smiling"
@@cobra29935 nothing wrong with that, I remember all those old Snap On calandars my dad had from the early 80's, with the big teased out hair. Also on their head, and that awkward smile as they laid over a fender holding a tool the wrong way.
holy fucking shit kill me, that pice of piano with the voice was not good. it was AWESOME BRILLIANT. please consider making a longer one pleeeeasee please please
hahahahahahaa I feel u brahh this kill me too was awesome so fuckine funny!!
I had one when I lived in the Philippines. When I drove over mountainous areas I’d have to pay locals to push me up the steep parts. True story.
The X-body debut was 1977 (Olds Cutlass). A year after the introduction of the Chevette, so YEAR, not "years".
A HS friend's parents bought one new in 1980. 1.6L engine, cloth interior, am/fm, 5-speed tranny. It was a nice car. I wanted one, after riding around in that one.
Damn I was off by 5 horsepower, I guessed 28hp.
Finally my car is mentioned on Regular Car Reviews! I drive a 1978 Opel Kadett Coupe. It is indeed my first car, and I am still a teenager, as in 19 years old. But I love the thing, prefer to drive it over anything else. But this review is spot on. However, my air filter is serviceable. I guess the Opel Kadett is a little better than the chevette :P
metaldemon52 and even the 1.2n made more power than this thing lol
I'm surprised the Chevette lasted so long. I read about one with a 500ci Cadillac engine in it. My mom had one for her first car in 1980. She said it would shake when she hit 80kp/h on the highway and my grandad said the drum brakes weren't very responsive and the automatic hampered it. I read somewhere it was supposed to come with a manual. She told me she paid $6,000 new and that's just over 12k in 2020.
You've got yourself a Ceemppppuutorrr
+collind328 A KOOOMPJUUUUTOOOOR
A KAWWWNNPEWWWWWTEHRRRRRRRRR
SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWW FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUHNSEEEEEEEEEEEE
4:18 was actually eerily beautiful. Especially the Piano.
Indeed.
+Nabeel Rahimpour
ive watched this for like 7 times today just to listen to that part.
+Nabeel Rahimpour I re-watched that part a bunch of times because it was actually kinda cool. Then I decided to watch it at half speed. OH GOD WAS THAT CREEPY!!! Def. recommend!
Good Lord! You are insane, dude! I've rarely laughed so hard in my life! I drove one of these things in 1979. Mom and dad in the back seat, salesman next to me. I left the dealership lot with my foot crunched to the floor. Went about half a mile, jammed on what was considered at the time as brakes, hit the shoulder and spun it around to head back to the dealership. Salesman grasping anything he could to survive (he even grasped my shirt at some point) eyes bugging out.
Sorry dude. Didn't make the sale.
My story and I'm sticking to it.
I love the A E S T H E T I C from 4:00 on, so retro, so crisp, so real.
Crappier than the Gremlin. That's saying something.
naw man gremlins are great and so are chevette's, and the best thing about chevette's is they're cheap and easy to work on and engine swap them. I had like ten in my backyard just waiting to be used for parts or driven
Gremlin is my religion. I'm triggered. Help.
@@ロータリーエンジン-b9o
You'd love the Trabant and Zaparozec then ^-^
Hey i liked my gremlin
The term rust bucket was invented for this baby...
This show is just fucking awesome
I had a mid-80s Escort that I loved. It looked especially good sitting next to a Chevette
billiondollardan me too. I had an ‘86 Escort. Good little car
Chevy Chevette-the vehicle to makes the Pontiac Aztek look like the best vehicle ever made
But the Azetk was the best vehicle for camping...
as long as there was no off-road section :P
I would have the chevette
My first guess was 34. But 27? Holy ship!
+Cory Sennett 23
+Cory Sennett My first guess was 27, actually. I was like, no, I'm being way too cynical. NOPE! I was optimistic!
+Cory Sennett I guessed 29, so I was 6 off the target. And even 29 felt like nothing to me.
My guess was 20, not far from it.
+Cory Sennett I thought 40. A weakass Ninja 250 could spank that thing.
That air cleaner cost $24- back in the day.
most didn't buy the shell either, chopped with tin snips
But it lasted a long time, like 60,000 miles.
@@sammolloy1 the life of the car
Some lasted a long time like a tough little truck. Others snapped the front pulley bolt (torqued too tight at the factory) or it fell out (...too loose...) causing mayhem under the hood
@@sammolloy1 Most died of boomerism, like most cars. Just feed it gas until it stops or too many people comment about the smoke, the noise, the permanently on dash light or the tape over the dash light.
Wikipedia spreads the myth that it has an Isuzu engine but it's actually the Opel Family 2 engine used in Brazil. I don't think it was a partnership with Isuzu but with Opel.
Shame it's such a lemon. The styling is really nice.
The yellow paint doesn't help
Yeah. It's literally a lemon. It's yellow and leaves a foul sour taste in your mouth.
The Modern Time-Ghost no just no
The iron duke inline 4s in them ran forever
Just need a engine swap
4:18 Trent Reznor returns to Nine Inch Nails with their new track “Æsthetic” off the new album “Pink Parade”
Can I get it in vinyl ?
Both my parents had one of these. My dad hated his primarily because he was essentially forced to buy it from his parents when what he really wanted to buy was his grandparents' Plymouth. He admitted that despite being really basic it was pretty reliable. It got him from A to B. Though it only had an AM radio, no AC, and the heater sucked. Sold it the first chance he got and bought a TC3
I almost thought this was a runforthecube video
I miss the dirty and poopy jokes... Please Mr. Regular, don't let the loud minority change your channel and what it stands for!
I agree!! on with the defecation humor! :P
+Gareth Bowen WE DON'T LIKE POOP JOKES.
I think us old guard of the channel are the minority here, he toned it down to get more viewership.
+Gareth Bowen I concur. I miss the turd humor.
+Gareth Bowen real fart
I swore I would never own 1 of these... ended up with 6, people kept giving them to me. It's funny you mentioned Wegmans, I was working for them at the time :)
This guy isn't on TV, why? He'd find himself an interesting spot on a legitimate gear head TV station. Yes I'm new here.
+Neurosis A.D. Too much censorship on tv, not as much freedom
+DUMBERTHANYOUTHINK or rather, too much of a risk for stations to take him and he is not trying to get on TV
I think like MCM it would ruin it
+Neurosis A.D. welcome to the fucking show
+Neurosis A.D. He would be on local TV and would get like 0 viewers, so yeah, internet it is.
Holy shit, some /r/fifthworldproblems parts.
I bought a used 1981 Chevrette in the mid 80's. I thought it was a fun little beater car. I found a header for it and an adapter for a bigger carburetor in a JC Whitney catalog, it helped a lot with performance. It had no A/C (living in Florida, ugh), no power steering and it was noisy and crude, but I loved that damn thing.
How dare you! How dare you! The Chevrolet Chevette is one of the finest cars ever made. It imbued quality inside and out and it was one of the most Innovative designs ever.
You know, the funny thing about the Chevette is that GM was so unbelievably proud of it. I remember the summer of 1976 and seeing mysterious ads from Chevy about their "new small car" that was going to revolutionize... something or other. They literally broke the bank trying to build up buzz about...this thing.
Now, in truth, it wasn't a great deal worse than many of it's counterparts. And unlike some of the larger 'small' cars of the 70s that topped out around 25mpg, the Chevette could get a real world 30++. Think of the Dodge Omni, or the Toyota Corona, the Datsun 510 or the earliest of the Honda Civics. They were all extremely basic transport, though I would not rank the Chevette (I owned an '84) anywhere near the top of the list. They were all cramped, noisy, underpowered and uncomfortable. For my money, the first gen Golf was the best of them, followed by the Civic. But they were all pretty bad cars.
My wife drove a diesel chevette in college. A diesel automatic four door hatch. this car was so cheap it did not even come with a door on the glove box from the factory. Had a/c, sorta. No real heat to speak of, because diesel. Oh and the best part were the brakes. If you used them too much, like 4 or 5 times in the space of a couple of minutes like in rush hour traffic you would run out of vacuum assist. What an incredible piece of shit
Must've been a Scooter. THAT was the ultimate bare-bones car. No back seat, no glove box door, no armrests (door or middle), and the passenger seat didn't slide forward and back. lol
My aunt had a Chevette. She was driving down the street one day and the transmission fell out of it.
A friend had one. She got to work one day and the drivers door fell off.
GM quality. 💙
This came to the UK with a Vauxhall badge on it, and nicknamed the "shove it" by Brits at the time.
Scary. Keep more of this GM history coming, it's good content. It's like a REALLY slow trainwreck.
There were 3 of these things in my driveway in the way back. Mine, my sisters and our lady roommate. All did fine for what they were. I commuted from Columbia SC to Augusta GA in mine for two.5 years. No problem. But when my yard boy pulled it in the back yard to mow the grass the gear shift came off in his hands. Not just the knob but the whole stem. LOL. So glad it didn't happen on the interstate at 95 mph. Yes they could go that fast and a bit more with a tail wind. Love your work. Keep it up!
Darn 14K in today's money Now you can get a much safer and more reliable(more Horsepower)car for 14Grands.
Most dirt cheap used cars are better than a brand new Chevette.
You can buy a used CORVETTE.
Ok boomer
Almost nailed it - I guessed 20 HP
Same!
I guessed too high, 60 hp
same i guessed 22hp :P
i looked down at the calender on my comp and it said its the 23 so im like eh.... 23? and BOOM! nailed it
I think this might be the best shot car you've done so far. The cinematography feels really professional, which this chevette doesn't really deserve
"Modifycations"
My first car. Bought used in '86. POS. Nightmare.
This is actually based on a Opel kadett city and not a Isuzu this was originally decided by Opel
Not enough poop jokes. 10/2
The Chevrolet Chevette is the finest car ever made, bar none.
Mate, put the pipe down.
My late '70s model Chevette was fly. It was the hottest car in the community for a good year, or so! Six of us packed in and headed down to Florida one summer. Thing was a beast on the expressway!
He sounds like Pickles from Metalocalypse at the beginning