Another great video. These were such promising cars but were junk from every aspect. The later one were damn good looking too. Even with such impressive sales, GM lost money on this model. They. Built special train cars for delivery, they shipped them standing on their nose. Quite a few things needed engineered for this… all this can be an episode on its own
@Project_Low_Expectations Yeah...I Remembered later the new shipping method they used, but I was too far in production at that point to get into it. So much to chat about on these! And thank you!
They were so close. I always felt it was the best looking of the small cars. My brother in law bought one; a 1972 red GT. What a steaming pile. I don’t think he kept it one year. Too bad. Great video
@@Mr6384 Thank you! Yeah one thing they got right was the appearance. I agree they looked better than any competition then. But a pretty face doesn't mean you can rely on it to get to work.
Very thoughtful Vega history! I am surprised you didn't mention the special railroad cars developed for shipping the Vega. the cars were shipped standing on end, as opposed to standard railcar horizontal (wheels down)!
@recoveringnewyorker2243 It certainly didn't do the Domestic auto industry any favors. The Japanese competitors then may have cost a bit more, gave you less equipment, and were cast as a unpatriotic choice...But quality matters, and by the 80s, the imports were making serious inroads.
The Vega looked great, especially the kamback. I almost bought a new one but bought a Super Beetle instead. Good move. Too bad. That car could have saved the American subcompact.
@@garyscheiding5012 I have a friend who was selling them new. He would tell me if the engine made it past 40k miles, it was a "good one", and would run a long time.
The beginning of the end of GM started right here. Americans still wanted American cars, but only foreign makers were making what they wanted, and GM didn't understand that one of the reasons for the overseas shift in the market was because those cars were good cars, not just cheap cars. Ford hit the mark with the Pinto and GM- or more exactly Ed Cole- wanted to upstage them. John Z nearly begged Cole to drop the Vega and focus on Pontiac's design which could be switched over to Chevy, but Cole would have none of that. Worse was that he continued to use his 'political' clout to force bad decisions on the Vega in every way, ignoring all input from everyone from engineers to marketing. Later on Cole would blame John Z for the Vega's failure and use that to push him out of GM. That's what happens when one person has too much power. The Vega wasn't such a bad car other than the rust issues as long as you used it gently and maintained it well. There was a solution to the engine bore wear problem with the engine- "Nikasil" plating- but Mahle from Germany held the patent on it and wouldn't share it without being paid a lot more than Cole wanted to pay. That left only iron cylinder liners as an option; something that GM wasn't the best at doing but eventually they got it right. American people didn't understand aluminum engines or heads and the overheating aspect; they were used to cast iron which could take abuse and that continued for at least a decade after the Vega. Same as the Pinto, the problems were finally all solved well enough for what kind of car it was but by then the marketing damage was done and many buyers wouldn't consider a Vega, fearing something else would arise as a major ownership problem. In addition to the problem with Cole's demands the UAW was adamant in remaining in the past with production techniques and the extra manpower they took. They wanted a powerful position and got it through strikes which in the end didn't get them or anyone else what they wanted. Throughout all that GM really cared about was their profit margins; by now the 'beancounters' were in control of the corporation by Cole's desire, and the necessary balance between all the different parts of the corporation were lost. Cutting costs in any way they could became GM's norm which also hurt the Vega badly since it had already been pared down to the lowest possible point. Resale value fell faster with a Vega than any other American car, especially with high mileage examples. On the used market even the lowly VW held it's value better then the Vega. The Vega would have probably died a whimpering now-obscure death had it not been for American hot-rodders being able to buy one cheap and drop a V8 in it to make some very quick street cars. Some of those were well-built, but most weren't and ended up crashed or scrapped by twisting the unibody meant for 4-cylinder power apart. With rust taking the rest of the Vegas, about all you'll come across now are those well-built V8 conversions which have joined in with muscle cars as being overpriced and too big a risk to drive on the streets regularly anymore. To find an original Vega is nearly impossible now, as nobody cared enough to keep one that way when there was no sound economic reason to do so. Throughout all this there was somebody watching and taking notes; Lee Iocacca would use those notes to bring out the "K" cars which saved Chrysler with advanced engine designs, low manufacturing costs, and low selling prices but this time with enough build quality and features for the cars to be desirable and to hold their value well. From GM's failures he created success but that's a different story.
@@P_RO_ I will never tire of your fantastic posts! I may have scratched the surface on some of what you wrote, but you dug a little deeper, and I thank you for it!
@P_RO_Ive always welcomed comments, and yours is certainly no exception! Don't know what the character limit is, but by all means try to reach it when you have info to share! Historically, I find the Vega interesting.
Like many GM cars in that era (and since), the idea was fantastic, the styling was spot on (until the 1980's through now), and the engineering was horrific. I so want to like the Vega but I cannot get past the sound of rust and the smell of burnt oil nor the image of a childhood neighbor prancing out to his dark green vega hatchback all while wearing black leather pants.
You really put some detailed information and effort into this video. I thank you that went into detail about GM and how the car the car came to be. I liked you discussed the H body cars and how they replaced Vega. I saw Oldsmobile Starfire and you talked about the other GM brands. I liked the fact you discussed Pontiac Astre and how that was connected to Sunbird. Talk about GM using leftover parts with the Vega(1977). That was not the only time GM used leftover parts on cars. That Vega had all those issues and by the time they got it right, it was too late. GM struggled at making small cars. Thank you.
@OLDS98 Thanks Olds! This one took a little planning beforehand..Should I just include the newer H platform cars too? But the Vega itself had plenty of ground to cover!
@@autochatter You did plan and it showed. It was thorough. Vega was a lot of ground to cover. When I was watching and was like wow. That was interesting how Chevrolet was thinking up something different and GM came back and said you will do this and Pontiac gets a version too. The H Body of the 1970's is different from the front wheel drive downsized H Bodies cars of the 1980's and upsized H Bodies of the 1990's. It was still a good video.
I had 3 Vegas (2 '72 & a '75 - All GTs), a '77 Monza with a V8 and a '76 Pontiac Astre Station wagon, which I installed a '79 Monza V6 into. My second Vega, I replaced the engine with a steel sleeve block and took it to Germany. One thing not mentioned was that the GT's could handle pretty good. When driving around on the German back roads, it was a blast to drive!
I’m not a Chevy fan; I like Nissans. But I remember in my senior year of high school (1979-80) my friend had a 1972 Vega and he let me drive it. It was better than my 1966 VW Beetle.
@Alan-lv9rw I'm a fan of air cooled VWs and older Nissans myself. My inner fan boy and hindsight is 20/20 knowledge of Vegas, would make me choose the Bug.....But I'm sure that Vega drove better than a car which design goes back to the 1930s.
@@raymond_sycamore I'm well thanks, same to you. I'd say the Trax would be the closest equivalent now. The only Chevy car left after this year is the Corvette.
I've driven some very fast muscle cars and had heaps of fun doing it... but something that a lot of people don't understand is that driving a slow car to its limits can be even more fun! I think that the most fun car I've ever had was a '74 Karmann... 1600 cc boxer with maybe 70 hp and a bit more torque than my lawn mower... top speed ~ 80 mph/140 kph... but 10/10 for fun factor!
@@autochatter Don't dis the Iron Duke in my presence, Chatter! I'm a particular fan of that elegant little workhorse. I had a very high mileage one in an old S10 pickup with the 4 speed and she never, ever let me down. Even a run of over 450 klicks round trip in -35° weather when she had near 200K klicks on the clock. One durable - if rough around the edges - wee lassie.
My wife got a 72 Vega from her grand parents for graduating HS. Within 2 years the cowl that had the wipers coming through rusted out. We lived in Texas where cars dont rust. I had a body shop fix it but the Vega was a piece of crap. Her older sister got a Barracuda and her younger sister got a Z-28 for graduation. So getting a Vega was a real insult. The car was white with a vinyl top which likely had bad rust under it like the cowl.
The Puerto Rican family next door were my friends growing up, the son called his a " Bega"...... Later, he had a green 4 door 1969 " Borrvo", nice boxy Swedish car.
@@Jfleshman1209 The T platform cars (like the Chevette), were initially designed for other markets, but the 73 Oil Crisis led to Chevy offering their own version. It was a more down to Earth simpler car.
I know a ton of them were sold, but I never knew anyone personally who had one. Even in High School by the late 80s, Vega sightings for me were uncommon.
@@autochatter Very true. When I was little, I actually had a red toy of a 1977 Vega wagon. I still remember that toy even though I still hated the Vega itself.
@@johnnymason2460 I liked the newer Hatch H bodies when I was a kid. Prob was biased cause my folks had a 78 Sunbird. Looked like a Firebird in the front, which was cool.
I watch these and wonder if there were engineers or other employees who were scratching their heads and saying “nope, won’t work!” I recall going to a church where the pastor had worked for GM designing their steering wheels from 68-73. He shared walking down the Vega line one day where the cars were just rolling by, minus radios, interiors and steering columns. He was there to see the new steering wheel! He said the workers were playing poker!! Wow!
@@autochatter really worth it. It was hard for me to find a copy, but it should be readily available. When he wrote the book he actually at the last minute decided he didn’t wanna publish it. But the publishing company talked him into it.
I wrote about this car (although I didn’t actually name it) in my four book series about the decline and fall of the American work ethic. My dad bought one in 1973 because he refused to buy an import. He should’ve bought the import.
@@autochatter your report was very comprehensive. I knew it firsthand because I inherited a 1973 Vega from my father. How do I get in contact with you? I’d like to share my book series.
Another great video, Chatter! I learned some new stuff... for example: that the last crop of Vega's came with the Iron Duke. A lot of folks dis the 2.5 Duke but I think they're great! If treated properly - as in not abused or revved too high - they are one durable, elegant little workhorse. Two wee things - 1- In Québec slang we called the Vega "Le Degat" which means a spill or rubbish... and 2- The Pontiac version which you pronounced "Astree" is actually "Astrah" Anyway... such are my comments and my offering to the algorithm gods. So... to anyone reading this: Like, comment, subscribe and hit the all notifications bell 🔔
@@autochatter Yup... it is that... though I've never used the word even though I've spoken French for 50+ years. Something to do with celestial bodies.... perhaps an archaic usage for "etoile" - star. One of dem der frog words 😁
My 1st wife's first car was a Vega. We called it the Vejamatic because Popeel could've done a better job building it. It was a horrible car and it took a bunch of us to keep it running. You couldn't even buy an air filter for that car. You had to buy the whole air intakes steel assembly. To put a thermostat in it, that you could see right there, required half the engine to come apart. A maintenance nightmare like no other. Finally she slid the POS into a guardrail one winter and with all the hidden rust, it self destructed. A whole lot of people cheered that day. I won't even get into my sisters first car; a Ford Pinto.
@@autochatter LOL My sisters 2nd car was a Chevette. Lets just say it rusted out faster than it went down the road. And like all of them; you couldn't keep front springs in it.
Vega was the biggest POS to ever roll out of Detroit. Friends mother had the hatchback. They drilled the holes for the hatchback hinges in the wrong place, but instead of fixing the mistake they just left the original holes in the roof and mounted the hatchback with different holes. You had to see it to believe it. Leaking roof ruined headliner, mold and mildew, rust, etc.
Wow. What a crusty piece of ish. I'm aware of the Vega but as a child of the 80s, I didn't know much about it. Talk about Malaise era. It's amazes me what consumers put up with in such recent history.
@arieljones4595 Yeah..Being a kid in the 80s myself, it was amazing for how many sold, how few you saw running around still by then. Everyone I've seen in the last 30 years, had a V8 swap done.
I mean when you think about it they really just do this car together ... Just putting s*** together left and right 😂😂😂... And GM been cutting corners ever since 😂
@@autochatter yeah but they always came back to biting them later on down the line and it seems like they keep making it mistake even to this day they're better today than they was in the past but GM still be doing GM type s*** 😂😂😆
@@autochatter Had they spent that money on engineering and development instead of unproven innovation the Vega might have been the success story it wasn't.
You are pronouncing Astre wrong. It may be spelled tre, but it's pronounced tra. I had a '76 Astre, it was a terrible car. While improved, it still had horrible build quality and reliability. You are mispronouncing Monza too.
@danr1920 Yeah..I actually was reminded of such already, and didn't catch it myself untill I finished the vid. I always called them as I pronounced it LOL. Now Monza I didn't know I had wrong. I'm not even sure why Pontiac launched the Astre in the U.S. when it did.I mean the Sunbird came out a year later for 76.
Another great video.
These were such promising cars but were junk from every aspect. The later one were damn good looking too. Even with such impressive sales, GM lost money on this model. They. Built special train cars for delivery, they shipped them standing on their nose. Quite a few things needed engineered for this… all this can be an episode on its own
@Project_Low_Expectations Yeah...I Remembered later the new shipping method they used, but I was too far in production at that point to get into it. So much to chat about on these! And thank you!
Yep but made a shit car to transport. It's goofy
@@justinwhite9689 They should have spent the 10 bucks per car for iron cylinder sleeves, then whatever that transport system cost.
They were so close. I always felt it was the best looking of the small cars. My brother in law bought one; a 1972 red GT. What a steaming pile. I don’t think he kept it one year. Too bad. Great video
@@Mr6384 Thank you! Yeah one thing they got right was the appearance. I agree they looked better than any competition then. But a pretty face doesn't mean you can rely on it to get to work.
Very thoughtful Vega history!
I am surprised you didn't mention the special railroad cars developed for shipping the Vega.
the cars were shipped standing on end, as opposed to standard railcar horizontal (wheels down)!
Thank you! Yeah I was well into production on it before it hit me I didn't mention that. There was alot to cover for a relatively short lived model!
Wow so much great content on this channel. I can’t wait for your channel to blow up. Love the videos.
@kyledexter485 Yeah....I can't wait myself LOL. Thank you! This one was fun.
The Chevrolet Vega was the best advertisement for the Japanese auto industry.
@recoveringnewyorker2243 It certainly didn't do the Domestic auto industry any favors. The Japanese competitors then may have cost a bit more, gave you less equipment, and were cast as a unpatriotic choice...But quality matters, and by the 80s, the imports were making serious inroads.
@@autochatter I wrote about that as well.
@@autochatter How do I contact you? I’d like to share my book series with you.
@@recoveringnewyorker2243Email is in my description
@@autochatter I emailed you.
I built the "Grumpys Toy" 72 Pro Stock Vega Drag Car MPC model kit a couple of years ago and it came out quite nicely I think..
I bet it did!
The Vega looked great, especially the kamback. I almost bought a new one but bought a Super Beetle instead. Good move. Too bad. That car could have saved the American subcompact.
As a Type 1 fan, I applaud your decision!
My first new car was 1974 Vega I had it till 1980 when I got my Toyota 4x4 truck. I had no problem with my Vega.
@@garyscheiding5012 I have a friend who was selling them new. He would tell me if the engine made it past 40k miles, it was a "good one", and would run a long time.
another great vid 🙏
Thank you!
The beginning of the end of GM started right here. Americans still wanted American cars, but only foreign makers were making what they wanted, and GM didn't understand that one of the reasons for the overseas shift in the market was because those cars were good cars, not just cheap cars. Ford hit the mark with the Pinto and GM- or more exactly Ed Cole- wanted to upstage them. John Z nearly begged Cole to drop the Vega and focus on Pontiac's design which could be switched over to Chevy, but Cole would have none of that. Worse was that he continued to use his 'political' clout to force bad decisions on the Vega in every way, ignoring all input from everyone from engineers to marketing. Later on Cole would blame John Z for the Vega's failure and use that to push him out of GM. That's what happens when one person has too much power.
The Vega wasn't such a bad car other than the rust issues as long as you used it gently and maintained it well. There was a solution to the engine bore wear problem with the engine- "Nikasil" plating- but Mahle from Germany held the patent on it and wouldn't share it without being paid a lot more than Cole wanted to pay. That left only iron cylinder liners as an option; something that GM wasn't the best at doing but eventually they got it right. American people didn't understand aluminum engines or heads and the overheating aspect; they were used to cast iron which could take abuse and that continued for at least a decade after the Vega. Same as the Pinto, the problems were finally all solved well enough for what kind of car it was but by then the marketing damage was done and many buyers wouldn't consider a Vega, fearing something else would arise as a major ownership problem.
In addition to the problem with Cole's demands the UAW was adamant in remaining in the past with production techniques and the extra manpower they took. They wanted a powerful position and got it through strikes which in the end didn't get them or anyone else what they wanted. Throughout all that GM really cared about was their profit margins; by now the 'beancounters' were in control of the corporation by Cole's desire, and the necessary balance between all the different parts of the corporation were lost. Cutting costs in any way they could became GM's norm which also hurt the Vega badly since it had already been pared down to the lowest possible point. Resale value fell faster with a Vega than any other American car, especially with high mileage examples. On the used market even the lowly VW held it's value better then the Vega.
The Vega would have probably died a whimpering now-obscure death had it not been for American hot-rodders being able to buy one cheap and drop a V8 in it to make some very quick street cars. Some of those were well-built, but most weren't and ended up crashed or scrapped by twisting the unibody meant for 4-cylinder power apart. With rust taking the rest of the Vegas, about all you'll come across now are those well-built V8 conversions which have joined in with muscle cars as being overpriced and too big a risk to drive on the streets regularly anymore. To find an original Vega is nearly impossible now, as nobody cared enough to keep one that way when there was no sound economic reason to do so. Throughout all this there was somebody watching and taking notes; Lee Iocacca would use those notes to bring out the "K" cars which saved Chrysler with advanced engine designs, low manufacturing costs, and low selling prices but this time with enough build quality and features for the cars to be desirable and to hold their value well. From GM's failures he created success but that's a different story.
@@P_RO_ I will never tire of your fantastic posts! I may have scratched the surface on some of what you wrote, but you dug a little deeper, and I thank you for it!
@@autochatter No point in having what you know and not sharing it somewhere. Thank you for letting me do that here where it's a pleasure to do!
@P_RO_Ive always welcomed comments, and yours is certainly no exception! Don't know what the character limit is, but by all means try to reach it when you have info to share! Historically, I find the Vega interesting.
Like many GM cars in that era (and since), the idea was fantastic, the styling was spot on (until the 1980's through now), and the engineering was horrific. I so want to like the Vega but I cannot get past the sound of rust and the smell of burnt oil nor the image of a childhood neighbor prancing out to his dark green vega hatchback all while wearing black leather pants.
@@ultraviolettp3446 They were lookers, considering cars like the Pinto and Civic were competitors.
You really put some detailed information and effort into this video. I thank you that went into detail about GM and how the car the car came to be. I liked you discussed the H body cars and how they replaced Vega. I saw Oldsmobile Starfire and you talked about the other GM brands. I liked the fact you discussed Pontiac Astre and how that was connected to Sunbird. Talk about GM using leftover parts with the Vega(1977). That was not the only time GM used leftover parts on cars. That Vega had all those issues and by the time they got it right, it was too late. GM struggled at making small cars. Thank you.
@OLDS98 Thanks Olds! This one took a little planning beforehand..Should I just include the newer H platform cars too? But the Vega itself had plenty of ground to cover!
@@autochatter You did plan and it showed. It was thorough. Vega was a lot of ground to cover. When I was watching and was like wow. That was interesting how Chevrolet was thinking up something different and GM came back and said you will do this and Pontiac gets a version too. The H Body of the 1970's is different from the front wheel drive downsized H Bodies cars of the 1980's and upsized H Bodies of the 1990's. It was still a good video.
@@OLDS98 Thanks again!
I gotta say, I’d rather have a Gremlin😂 Great video as always man!!!
@GreenHawkDrive Thanks Hawk! Yeah, I dig a Gremlin too! Saw your Buick one yesterday, if you didn't see in the comments yet. Was awesome.
I had 3 Vegas (2 '72 & a '75 - All GTs), a '77 Monza with a V8 and a '76 Pontiac Astre Station wagon, which I installed a '79 Monza V6 into. My second Vega, I replaced the engine with a steel sleeve block and took it to Germany. One thing not mentioned was that the GT's could handle pretty good. When driving around on the German back roads, it was a blast to drive!
@@roberthampton8682 Took it to Germany? Were you in the Army by chance?
@@autochatter No, I was in the Air Force @ Hahn Air Base. About 90 miles west of Frankfurt. This was back in 76 to 79
I was close LOL. Seems like everyone I met who was in the Army, was stationed there.
We had a used 73 gt , 4speed that just jumped one day when the door shut. Moved about half an inch . No one was in the car. Nice looking in orange.
I've always love the first gen wagon wouldn't mind finding a good or restored one
I saw one at a Cars and Coffee recently. It was turned into a Hot Rod.
I’m not a Chevy fan; I like Nissans. But I remember in my senior year of high school (1979-80) my friend had a 1972 Vega and he let me drive it. It was better than my 1966 VW Beetle.
@Alan-lv9rw I'm a fan of air cooled VWs and older Nissans myself. My inner fan boy and hindsight is 20/20 knowledge of Vegas, would make me choose the Bug.....But I'm sure that Vega drove better than a car which design goes back to the 1930s.
Thanks Chatter, hope you're well. Wish they'd come out with a new Vega. Maybe the Trax? It's still $25k
@@raymond_sycamore I'm well thanks, same to you. I'd say the Trax would be the closest equivalent now. The only Chevy car left after this year is the Corvette.
I swapped motors. Put in a 283 v8.in my Vega. Badass.
@@MichaelStewart-y3u Oh yeah! That makes a Vega ALOT more interesting.
I had it's cousin, the 1980 chevy monza! Slow but fun with manual.
@J_J_Ander My Dad bought a new 78 Sunbird hatch. Loved how it looked, but it had a Iron Duke and a automatic.
I've driven some very fast muscle cars and had heaps of fun doing it... but something that a lot of people don't understand is that driving a slow car to its limits can be even more fun!
I think that the most fun car I've ever had was a '74 Karmann... 1600 cc boxer with maybe 70 hp and a bit more torque than my lawn mower... top speed ~ 80 mph/140 kph... but 10/10 for fun factor!
@@autochatter Don't dis the Iron Duke in my presence, Chatter! I'm a particular fan of that elegant little workhorse. I had a very high mileage one in an old S10 pickup with the 4 speed and she never, ever let me down. Even a run of over 450 klicks round trip in -35° weather when she had near 200K klicks on the clock. One durable - if rough around the edges - wee lassie.
@haggis525 So it's a great "truck" motor lol. I'll take a Yota 22R instead for that.
@@autochatter Don't start, Chatter! We Canadians can be a surly lot when challenged 😁
My wife got a 72 Vega from her grand parents for graduating HS. Within 2 years the cowl that had the wipers coming through rusted out. We lived in Texas where cars dont rust. I had a body shop fix it but the Vega was a piece of crap. Her older sister got a Barracuda and her younger sister got a Z-28 for graduation. So getting a Vega was a real insult. The car was white with a vinyl top which likely had bad rust under it like the cowl.
@gdonham1203 Its a shame about the rust!
The Puerto Rican family next door were my friends growing up, the son called his a " Bega"...... Later, he had a green 4 door 1969 " Borrvo", nice boxy Swedish car.
@@Burninhellscrootoob 😀
i like vega wagons.
They looked good!
Sounds like the Vega was a Chevette wannabe. I always learn something new in your videos.
@@Jfleshman1209 The T platform cars (like the Chevette), were initially designed for other markets, but the 73 Oil Crisis led to Chevy offering their own version. It was a more down to Earth simpler car.
@@Jfleshman1209 Oh..I forgot...Thank you!
The Vega was the first car I remember my mother once owned. I never liked the car. It simply gave me bad vibes all the time. Guess I was proven right.
I know a ton of them were sold, but I never knew anyone personally who had one. Even in High School by the late 80s, Vega sightings for me were uncommon.
@@autochatter Very true. When I was little, I actually had a red toy of a 1977 Vega wagon. I still remember that toy even though I still hated the Vega itself.
@@johnnymason2460 I liked the newer Hatch H bodies when I was a kid. Prob was biased cause my folks had a 78 Sunbird. Looked like a Firebird in the front, which was cool.
@@autochatter The Chevrolet Monza and its siblings were better cars than the Vega and Astre(Pontiac version). At least you could put V8s in them.
@@johnnymason2460Makes sense they would be improved, as they were pretty much Vega 2.0 LOL.
Why did the wagons have vents toward the rear, which resembled a Volkswagen?
@fearlesssquatcher5737 GMs flow through ventilation system.
I watch these and wonder if there were engineers or other employees who were scratching their heads and saying “nope, won’t work!”
I recall going to a church where the pastor had worked for GM designing their steering wheels from 68-73. He shared walking down the Vega line one day where the cars were just rolling by, minus radios, interiors and steering columns. He was there to see the new steering wheel!
He said the workers were playing poker!! Wow!
@@Mr6384 I'm fairly certain that was the case.John DeLorean's statements alone later showed that. He basically took the heat for Vega issues.
@@autochatter have you read his book on a clear day you can see General motors? He dedicated an entire chapter to just the Vega.!
@@Mr6384 I need to get around to it! Read some selections from it.
@@autochatter really worth it. It was hard for me to find a copy, but it should be readily available. When he wrote the book he actually at the last minute decided he didn’t wanna publish it. But the publishing company talked him into it.
@Mr6384 I'll have to look for it thanks!
1975 hatchback. Changed oil faithfully, but the engine froze at 64000 miles. I determined never to buy GM again. What a lemon!
A unfortunate but not rare thing with those!
I wrote about this car (although I didn’t actually name it) in my four book series about the decline and fall of the American work ethic. My dad bought one in 1973 because he refused to buy an import. He should’ve bought the import.
@recoveringnewyorker2243 Interesting! Well I hope my fairly brief Vega tale was up to par!
@@autochatter your report was very comprehensive. I knew it firsthand because I inherited a 1973 Vega from my father. How do I get in contact with you? I’d like to share my book series.
@@recoveringnewyorker2243 Email is in my description. Zcarnut04 at Gmail
@@autochatter I emailed you.
@@recoveringnewyorker2243 Tha ks! I'll check it out!
Another great video, Chatter! I learned some new stuff... for example: that the last crop of Vega's came with the Iron Duke. A lot of folks dis the 2.5 Duke but I think they're great! If treated properly - as in not abused or revved too high - they are one durable, elegant little workhorse.
Two wee things -
1- In Québec slang we called the Vega "Le Degat" which means a spill or rubbish... and
2- The Pontiac version which you pronounced "Astree" is actually "Astrah"
Anyway... such are my comments and my offering to the algorithm gods.
So... to anyone reading this: Like, comment, subscribe and hit the all notifications bell 🔔
@haggis525 Thank your for the pronouncination correction. Its a French word, so I figured you would know "aye" 😉
@@autochatter Yeah... the benefits, I reckon, of a classical education. 😎
@@haggis525That and I think "Astre" is one of them their French words 😅
@@autochatter Yup... it is that... though I've never used the word even though I've spoken French for 50+ years. Something to do with celestial bodies.... perhaps an archaic usage for "etoile" - star.
One of dem der frog words 😁
@@haggis525 Can't be a word that comes up often in casual conversation...Unless Starbucks starts selling a half caf,half decaf, Astre supreme.
Wasn’t John Deloreon driving the fall-apart Vega?!!
I’m pretty sure it was!
@Mr6384 It wasn't a creation of his, he just became the fall guy for it LOL.
My 1st wife's first car was a Vega. We called it the Vejamatic because Popeel could've done a better job building it. It was a horrible car and it took a bunch of us to keep it running. You couldn't even buy an air filter for that car. You had to buy the whole air intakes steel assembly. To put a thermostat in it, that you could see right there, required half the engine to come apart. A maintenance nightmare like no other. Finally she slid the POS into a guardrail one winter and with all the hidden rust, it self destructed. A whole lot of people cheered that day. I won't even get into my sisters first car; a Ford Pinto.
@dannysdailys LOL... Those " disposable" metal air filters were on Chevettes too! Maybe a Pocket Fisherman was better made?
@@autochatter LOL My sisters 2nd car was a Chevette. Lets just say it rusted out faster than it went down the road. And like all of them; you couldn't keep front springs in it.
@@dannysdailys I think rust was standard equipment on just about everything then.
Vega was the biggest POS to ever roll out of Detroit. Friends mother had the hatchback. They drilled the holes for the hatchback hinges in the wrong place, but instead of fixing the mistake they just left the original holes in the roof and mounted the hatchback with different holes. You had to see it to believe it. Leaking roof ruined headliner, mold and mildew, rust, etc.
@@trex860 Wow..was that one assembled on a Friday?
Wow. What a crusty piece of ish. I'm aware of the Vega but as a child of the 80s, I didn't know much about it. Talk about Malaise era. It's amazes me what consumers put up with in such recent history.
@arieljones4595 Yeah..Being a kid in the 80s myself, it was amazing for how many sold, how few you saw running around still by then. Everyone I've seen in the last 30 years, had a V8 swap done.
I mean when you think about it they really just do this car together ... Just putting s*** together left and right 😂😂😂... And GM been cutting corners ever since 😂
@jermainec2462 They spent enough trying to make somthing of it....But also did cut some corners that's true.
@@autochatter yeah but they always came back to biting them later on down the line and it seems like they keep making it mistake even to this day they're better today than they was in the past but GM still be doing GM type s*** 😂😂😆
@jermainec2462 So your saying...GMs gonna GM 😊
@@autochatter basically 😂😂✌🏽
@@autochatter Had they spent that money on engineering and development instead of unproven innovation the Vega might have been the success story it wasn't.
Like the results you get when you are making food and you have a good recipe but poor execution and you cut corners on ingredients & labor.
That is a fantastic "Food Network" way of putting it!
My mother had one if these. It was junk.
Gm making cheap shit. The beginning.
@@justinwhite9689 It is the start of the cooporate era and clones.
Aim for cheapness and that's what you'll get.
@@P_RO_ It seemed more like aim for the 21st Century,and then bean counters stepped in at the 11th hour. Worst of both worlds.
You are pronouncing Astre wrong. It may be spelled tre, but it's pronounced tra. I had a '76 Astre, it was a terrible car. While improved, it still had horrible build quality and reliability. You are mispronouncing Monza too.
@danr1920 Yeah..I actually was reminded of such already, and didn't catch it myself untill I finished the vid. I always called them as I pronounced it LOL. Now Monza I didn't know I had wrong. I'm not even sure why Pontiac launched the Astre in the U.S. when it did.I mean the Sunbird came out a year later for 76.