General Motors' most successful platform of the '70s
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2024
- Let me start by saying Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, wishing you all a wonderful New Year. Alright now for this week’s video. What was GM’s most successful platform of the ‘70s? It’s in the title, but if you knew beforehand then a toast to you! GM introduced the Vega for the 1971 model year and man was it a success. A few years later, Canada got the Pontiac Astre, a couple of years later, GM did what they do best and expanded the platform to almost every brand apart from Cadillac. Don’t worry, they did for the J-platform that succeeded the R-body. Thank you all for watching, I will see you all next week; unless you comment, I will try my best to reply and at the least read and heart your message.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 -Intro
0:43 -Vega Introduced
3:00 -Astre Introduced
4:28 -Monza
6:00 -Monza Cosworth
6:52 -Buick Skyhawk
7:46 -Buick Skyhawk Roadhawk
8:12 -Olds Starfire
9:27 -Pontiac Sunbird
10:28 -Closing Thoughts
11:15 -Tier List
12:27 -Future Plans
12:46 -Full Timeline 
Авто/Мото
Guys…..I am embarrassed by my mispronunciation with the Astre. ASS-TRA😂😂😂 Definitely will never make that mistake in my life again.
People called it the Pontiac Ashtray.
@@sableminer8133 I'm pretty well convinced the Buick and Olds versions were last-minute additions because of the 1973 gas crunch, the early ones were so minimally differentiated.
@@nlpntwe just called it “Ass”
You can add Iron Puke to that List!! Haha!! Iron DUKE...
Pontiac Asterisk would have been a more applicable name for GM to use. 😀
Crosley was the first American car company to make subcompact cars starting in 1939.
I can't tell you how many hours I spent as a child looking at the grille identification pages in those big heavy "Motor" books of my grandfathers. Thank you for bringing back those memories!
Oh God, I loved those pages too! The Motors Manuals had them, but the National manuals didn't. Wow, that takes me back to the good old days...
In 1971, Chrysler imported a small british car and named it the Plymouth Cricket to compete against Vega, Pinto, and 'where is the rest of your car, toots, ' AMC Gremlin.
Dodge did offer a Mitsubishi import as the Dodge Coit and Plymouth offer a rebated Hillman Avanger as the Plymouth Cricket. These were offered at the same time as the Pinto and Vega.
Don’t forget the Plymouth Arrow too. Lol
@@SeaTravelr123 i dated a person had that w/garish Arrow graphics on white! Cool, bit too small for my '71 98-riding ass!
@@SeaTravelr123 They used Harry Nilsson's "Me And My Arrow", which was originally used in the cartoon movie "The Point" as the ad jingle.
@@pcno2832 oh I REMEMBER. ❤️
I owned a 76 Pontiac Sunbird Town Coupe for several years. 231 V-6 4-speed. A drunk plowed into the back of it. I was bummed.
It was truly a fun car to drive.
The Pontiac Sunbird was a good little car. Had a friend who had one with a 305 V8 in it and it did pretty good on fuel usage so long as you kept your foot off the floorboard. It was a good car.
It was a terrible car, but I loved mine. Got me through high school, college and law school. The metal was heavier gauge, so it didn't rust out like the Vega and Astre. But it was so cheap they didn't even hide the weld seams on the roof. The 5 speed was horrible, with a clutch that felt like a leg press that you had to ride while revving the engine during takeoff or the carburetor would choke and cause you to stall. Thus it burned out every 35,000 miles. The "oddfire" 3.8 was reliable (if rough) in '76, but they messed it up when they reengineered it to run smoothly, so the '77 and '78's had problems. I think the 305 was fine, except the rear spark plugs had to be accessed from under the car (or so I've read). The "Iron Duke" 4 banger should have been relegated to farm use! I saw an unbelievable survivor for sale this year at Hershey for $4,800 but no takers probably because it was a 4 cylinder.
Another fun "feature" was that they used the same power steering units as GMs full sized cars, so you could swing it around with your pinky!
My first car was a Monza with the 305 back n high school. My dad would borrow it and race people. I had to tell him to stop. 😂
@@tonecapone8021 -- ha ha ha ha haaaaaa ... My dad did the same damn thing. Dad actually got speeding tickets in mine for racing.
These cars were everywhere when I was a kid. I lived 2 miles away from the GM Tech center in Warren Michigan, so seeing all the "unique" special edition cars was a daily event. Same with Chrysler and Ford. Had a friend with a Monza. He drove it as fast as it would go. Also dated a 36 year old waitress when I was 15, she had a Monza too.
Wow... Not sure what shocked me more... Being able to see all of those rare editions or dating a 36-year-old at 15...
@@GreenHawkDrive The 80s was a different time. Nobody would think she was a pervert at the time. If it was the other way around, it certainly would be a big deal, but not when the woman is the older one. Wasn't exactly common, but nobody would have seen anything illegal in it.
I also got to go into GM's secret squirrel room twice where they keep all the concept cars. It's always been by appointment only, not easy to get into, but it was not unusual for local schools to go on a field trip to the Tech Center and into the secret room. They had the modified Camaro with the Ferrari engine in it at the time, not sure what's in there now, it's been 35 years or so since I was in there. My former father in law also worked at the Tech Center so I got to see the "new" Monte Carlo around 93-94ish long before it was public. Things like the Dodge Lil Red Express, Cadillac Castilian station wagon, new Mustangs, all were common sights. There's was just tons of manufacturing facilities at the time.
My dad had a 71 Vega wagon, and a cousin had a 73 with a 350 swapped in. Always like the little buggers compared to the successors that came after.
Yup dailies with h body and alot of Vegas passed thru our yow company from 83 to 81, major concerns were engine and rust fails on it si i take the interiors. 4 speed trans wiring harness and gt interiors and make gt wagons 4 Speed. All plugs were there and pop out plugs and voila auto becomes speeder...only 350 8 i had was a 79. Monza wagon, cosworths came in colors. In 76 77..called malaise era of cars. Yuck
Great video. Can you do one about the most powerful/fastest American cars of the 70s especially during the oil crisis era. Will be interesting to see how much the oil crisis hit those hp and performance figures. Merry Christmas too !!
Great suggestion! Definitely in the future
I'm not sure of the year. But it was the Dodge Lil Red Pickup. It beat the Covette in the 1/4.
'78, the Lil' Red Express and Warlock, both Dodge half-ton pickups (as trucks weren't as strictly limited as other vehicles yet). But '71 Hemi MoPars existed, as did the '71-72 440 MoPars, and the '71-72 396 (402) Chevies and the '70 1/2-72 LT1 Camaros, and especially (since they made it longer) the '73-74 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am/Formula SD455s were surely faster, right? But year-by-year, they munched more and more performance, so the early '70s weren't really comparable to the later '70s, it's like different decades.
Yep, the muscle car era continued through to 1971 whereas the malaise era really started in 1974. '72's were still pretty decent, but '73's were weighed down with those ridiculous 5 mph bumpers.@@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney
@@GreenHawkDrive There are many channels already covered but if you do that do one more for stylistic angles
i. e. Like the end of the hardtop that never ever returned, or the convertible
Thank you for the video. It is appreciated. I did want to add a few things. That 231 V6 eventually became the famous 3800 V6 that was used in many GM cars. It was also the engine that was later used in the Regal T Type/Grand National/GNX and Buick Riviera and Pontiac Trans Am in the late 1980's. The explains what started getting GM in trouble especially by the 1980's( duplication across the brands). They needed fuel efficient small cars. You stay focused and keep learning and growing. You have a grand holiday and festive holiday season.
My apologies for the late response, OLDS. Thank you once again for commenting. I did not know that about the 231; I know those 3.8s are great motors though.
@@GreenHawkDrive No offense taken at all. Yes, you can go read up on the history of the engine. I own two Oldsmobiles( 98 and Toronado) with the 3800 V6 engine. The best ones started in 1988 model year. There are some before that are good, but they had to work the issues out of the in the mid 1980's( 1985-1987). That engine was used in some many GM cars and had so many changes over time too. There was the 3300 V6 which was a variant of the 3800 V6 that was quite reliable also.
How do you know all of this? It actually amazes me.
@@GreenHawkDrive I read and I am car enthusiast and I try to stay informed. I do not know everything at all in any way. Here is someone else's video on the Vega: ruclips.net/video/guANfhTLnms/видео.html
Thanks for turning back the pages to the years gone by. The 70's is when myself and my best friend started to be interested in cars, and made a yearly pilgrimage to the Auto Shows in NYC. And it wasn't just to see the models who posed in mini-skirts in front of the cars!
I had a 1976 Pontiac Sun Bird with the 3.8 V6 or in sq inch it’s 231 cub inch V6 , it was fast and fun ! It cost me $1.300 and I worked hard on making it a nice car and it had 80.000 miles on it when I got it.
Pontiac Astre' was also sold in the U.S. my sister had 1. I had a 78 Monza 2+2 . My engine, the 2.5 Iron Duke melted down. Reliability was crap on any but the Buick with 3.8 V6. I think your grade of C is fair. As much as the engine sucked, the Monza had some cool features. But it says a lot that I was happy to replace this with a Pinto ;)
I was a very young car enthusiast in the 70s, being born in '73. Mom had a Pinto wagon in powder blue with the hideous wood grain sides. Dad bought his first Toyota in '72, a Carina. Excellent quality except for rust. I remember these cars and always liked the Sunbird best. I did see a Cosworth twin cam a few times and thought it looked sharp, for the time anyway. Oh to roller boogie to Donna Summer at Skate n Space again 😅
You were more an 80s kid if born that year but i agree with your sentiments. First year Gen X here. Ironically i liked the Sunbird best because of the mini chrome split grill!
Also a failed car designer🤪
@@sableminer8133 I know I'm an 80s kid. What I was referring to was that even as a young child in the 70s I was still a car enthusiast. I learned how to shift including operating the clutch when I was 5. Car was my first word and I used to kiss the tires on VW Bugs. I even helped my dad do a valve job on the Carina in 1979. I can still remember being amazed at the pistons and valves.
@@RomanJockMCO Wow ok then! As a 3 year old i sketched out turn lanes and street lites on our driveway with elaborate lanes and signals. We got car crazy young but i got for xmas one of those red fire trucks styled like a '59 Plymouth to scoot around in! ! But yeah you really were more coming of age in the 80s all i meant...
@@sableminer8133 Cool man. I can't remember what my pedal car was modeled. I do remember tearing up a few Big Wheels in the cul de sac.
I now find woodgrain cool and most of my appliances have woodgrain finishes whether just the handles like the fridge/freezer or the whole body like my 40 plus year old dehumidifier. Easy to fix and so much better quality than the current junk plus I'm 54 so obviously I have some dain bramage.
The Dart may not have been a sub-compact, but as a compact, it came available with the 340.
The spider monza could be had with a 305 4spd. Although not very powerful 😅
Nova was a compact just like the Dart. It was available with a 396.
@@robertpoudrette4483 Darts came with the 440 Magnum in 69. 640 of them were built.
@@markdubois4882 Yenko 427
I learned to drive in my Dad's '75 Vega GT. Great handling little car, had absolutely the smoothest shifting manual box I've ever driven, but I went through 3 of those little 140cu in engines before he got tired of me blowing it up and sold it. Would love to have one like it today! My little sister's first car was a Buick Skyhawk, v6 5spd, it too was a great little car.
I had a 79 Sunbird in 1989. 4 cylinder stick. I know a lot of people give that little engine a lot of flack, but I must have had a special one. The thing would do endless burnouts with a clutch dump, and still never gave me any problems. Let my girlfriend at the time drive it ONCE, and she slammed us into a tree (and me through the windshield). I miss that car, as well as the Ford Maverick that replaced it.
Sometimes you get a freak engine, it seems. I had an 87 Buick Skylark with the 3.0 V6, and I could spin the tires like a musclecar, often for 10-20 feet.
Had a Monza Spider back in the day. Great car. Had a 305 V8 under the hood and she would move on out.
9:45 GM pawned-off some left over Vega bodies by sticking Monza nose-cones on them and selling them as the 1978 "Monza S". Also, the Monza and Subird wagons were more Vega than anything else. I do remember the jaw-dropping $6,000+ price of the Cosworth Vega; one interesting thing about it was the introduction of the "torque arm" rear suspension, which was soon carried over into all Vega and Monza models. The "torque arm" was brought back in the 1980s as the rear suspension of the all-new 1982 Camaro and Firebird.
Yeah, I was wondering about that when I read torque arm...
In 1973 GM in Canada also tested putting twin rotor wankel motors in some of these Vegas, but I don't think it went anywhere long term.
Never heard of those, can you explain?
The Buick 215 alloy v8 would have been a great match for the Vega, but it had been sold to Rover in the mid 60s.
Yes, and in fact, General Motors had a deal to supply American Motors with the Rotary engines for their AMC Pacer, which was designed specifically for the Wankle Rotary. The Cancellation of the Wankle engine project by G.M. really put AMC in a bind, and it cost them a lot of money to redesign the cars for other engines.
🚗🙂
The Monza was designed in 75 for rotary engine but GM. Bailed last minute and switched. To 2300 Vega 4
Also, in the early seventies the "Aerovette" Corvette was going to have a THREE rotor Wankel.
I was a GM dealership parts counter guy from 1980 through 1995 but I can't recall an R Body.
The parts catalogs listed the rear wheel drive cars as the H body. The front wheel drives were known as the J Body.
That's b/c R bodies were not GM , they were Chrysler
Vega and Monza made for nice pro stock and funny cars
My third car was a '78 Monza -- a notchback -- which I owned from 1981 to 1985. It was an emergency purchase because my previous car, a '75 Fiat 131 station wagon, was such a piece of crap (now there's a car that deserves a video!). I believe the engine in my Monza was a Buick V6. The car was decent once its ignition problems were ironed out. I sometimes wished it had a V8, but I'd heard that changing the spark plugs required lifting the engine off its mounts, which gave me second thoughts. One interesting model from this range was the 1977 Buick Nighthawk, which featured glow-in-the-dark graphics! One other note: Chevy offered a tent option for their 1973-74 Nova hatchbacks.
Good stuff man, I appreciate this. Yes I did read about how changing the spark plugs with the V8 was real headache.
Fun fact but GM also sold a car called Monza in Brazil as a Chevrolet model, which was based on the German Opel Ascona.
"Monza", as a Chevrolet model name, originated as the performance variant of Corvair and has been in or out of usage ever since.
I like how he say Pontiac -- Astray.
ash tray....lol
We had a Monza. Absolutely loved that car
Lived in the 70s and remembered all of the cars you mentioned. you did a fine job putting this together, well done.
I appreciate that man, thank you!
Great video Green Hawk! I had not thought about many of those cars for so long. I do remember reading about the Cosworth Vega and it looked great. My folks bought 2 Chevettes when they first came out and it's a good thing I was a kid then because they were pretty small lol. Hope that you are doing great!
My old coworker had a badass Cosworth Vega that he used to drag back in the day. Last I talked to him a couple years ago he still had it, but I dunno if he sold it when he moved down to Florida. He also had a pastel yellow 67 Camaro that he gifted to his son, the kid did some cool stuff with it.
Dude was an OG Long Island guy from the era, he's seen it all basically. He was around Baldwin-Motion, all that shit.
What a badass
My mother had 3 Chevy Vegas when i was a kid, the last one she had was a GT hatchback that had a cool livery for the time. And the video didn't lie, the motors blew up in every one she owned, my uncle was her mechanic and when the GT motor blew it got replaced with the 350 and it totally changed that car. I would have that car to this day if it hadn't been stolen in the 90s and lost forever.
Another fire video. I get so excited when I see these pop up in my feed. Merry Christmas to you good sir
I apologize for the late response. I just want to say thank you, I really appreciate that.
haven’t even watched yet, but I know it’s gonna be good due to your standards. I’ll watch tmw and I’m sure I’ll like so thank you in advance !
I really appreciate that man, thank you!
I loved these cars ...I wish I was able to buy one back in the day but ended up with a Chevettes which I adored .
3:23 Holden also did a factory tent add-on for the Torana hatchback in 1976.
Pontiac. Aztek had a tent option tooo
@@user-ht1xu4gv2uthe Aztek ten was mentioned in the video.
Don’t think either of the Pontiac ones was called anything like Holden’s marketing team calling theirs the Hatch Hutch though.
Mid gas crisis, I remember my Dad looking at a Sunbird coupe for my Mom. Totally impractical for a 70s family of seven, but she loved how it looked! Never happened. She kept driving her Catalina wagon for a few more years. 😂
When I was 12 (1979), one of my daily chores was to check the oil in our red '73 Vega hatchback and add more if necessary. It was ALWAYS necessary. We were adding oil MULTIPLE times a week as she was a finely tuned oil burner. Always a great quality in a six year old car at that time. I should point out that this was during the old school 'stab-in pour-nozzle' in the top of the oilcan days.
Ok, on with the story. Our Vega had an extensive rust problem (many of them did) so one of the things that gave way due to the insane rust issue was the orig. engine hood bracket mounts. So, we came up with the option of jamming the remaining hood bracket screw hole onto a protruding screw that was left behind from the old bracket mount on the inner fender, to keep the hood open.
The Vega was parked out in the street in front of our house, nearly 50 feet from the house. One February night while adding oil, my efforts in 'securing the hood bracket to the protruding, rusty screw' did not hold and the hood suddenly slammed down on my hand/forearm and latched just as I had flipped the oil can nozzle into the fill stem. Boom!!! I'm trapped in the Vega hood! and holy wow, did that hurt! I could not reach around the open driver's door to pull the hood release in the driver's footwell. So my only option left was to yell out for anyone to help and hope to be heard. This is New England in February, so there's two feet of snow on the ground, houses are buttoned up tight. Voices don't travel well in those insulated conditions. I feel like I was out there for a good 10 minutes before anyone responded to my yelping. The savior was our next-door neighbor, Mr. Valley. He popped the release and got me free of that rust diseased oil-burner. I survived with a couple bruises and a story. No major injuries, so that was good.
That's my Vega story.
Wow, man. Thank you so much for sharing that. That was one heck of a story, that's for sure! That must have hurt like h e double hockey stick!
My favorite year for cars was 1977 with the personal luxury two doors from GM and Ford. The Pontiac Grand Prix, Olds Cutlass and Buick Regal looked especially nice along with the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar. I longed for the Lincoln Mark IV, Cartier edition.
I got a 1979 Pontiac Sunbird notchback coupe for my high school graduation present. It was a butter beige vanilla color, it had the 305 V8 with a two barrel carb and three speed auto, AC, AM 8 track stereo, the Rally appearance package consisting of tri colored gold side stripes, rally mag wheels with the chrome trim rings, rear decklid spoiler and chrome body trim, and the Trans Am style black steering wheel and high back bucket seats. My buddies nicknamed it the "Baby Trans Am" - it looked like someone had left a Trans Am Firebird in the dryer for too long. It wasn't a very refined driving vehicle but it handled reasonably well and was quite fast. I ruined my driver's license in that car. I've never seen another one like it. I loved that car.
Man... It's hard letting go of your first car; your story especially. "Baby Trans Am," what a great nickname!
I was born in 92 and I've never heard of these before. But they're pretty cool
My dad had a 79 Sunbird wagon. Very spartan but for long road trips from southern Maine to central upstate New York, I would get picked up from school on Friday, and a twin mattress in the back with the rear seats folded down…..made a decent place to stretch out. My dad was the only driver so sucked to be him, but my stepmother and I would trade out in the back to stretch in the back. We even took it out on the lake near my grandmothers and had a whale of a time…..once I got over the anxiety of the ice being too thin and us falling through!
Thanks for sharing this man!
Merry Christmas!!
You summed it up great,And yes..Local junkyard owner had a beast of a Vega in the 80s roaming around,Lots of pintos had been beefed as well.
Thank you man!
Great job. I've never seen anything so complete covering the Monza, etc. I agree these were GM's answer to the Mustang II.
You're becoming quite the expert on old cars. You'll be covering the 1960s soon
Merry Christmas to all.
Thank you, Michael! I appreciate the positive feedback. You never know, I probably will😃
Another great video 😁 have you ever considered also doing some truck videos from that era
For sure man, for sure
In 1970, Dodge had the Dart line, whereas Plymouth had the Valiant line; the Aspen was Dodge's replacement for the Dart.
Chrysler got into the subcompact game for the 1971 model year by importing a Mitsubishi, calling the Colt.
Although the Nash Metropolitan was the first "American" subcompact, they were made in England. (BTW...the doors are symmetrical front-to-back, so they could be used on either side.)
The V8s were crammed into the engine bays, and the fit was so tight, that getting to the back two plugs required some ingenuity: either loosening up the back two motor mounts, or drilling holes in the inner and outer fenders to get sockets on them.
The Vega 2300 engine suffered from a lot of misunderstanding. First, Ed Cole, President of Chevrolet, initially pushed for there to be no radiator as the aluminum would air cool the engine. Engineering won out and made it water-cooled, but used too small of a radiator, assuming the cast aluminum block would dissipate enough heat to work. The small radiator did work if coolant level was maintained, but in heavy traffic on hot days, or running air conditioning, they overheated and that warped the engine. It took about 3 years to make the optional large radiator and coolant recovery system standard on every Vega. Another curse was the bean counters in Chevrolet won, going for extended maintenance schedules to emphasize "economy". However, the iron rings on the silicone-impregnated aluminum cylinders required a break-in period which they didn't receive. Also, it was necessary to change the break-in oil shipped in the cars at 500 miles and no later than 1000 miles, but the extended maintenance schedule called for first oil change to be 7500 miles. Even with the 3500 first change on severe service schedule was too much, and so engines were doomed in the first few thousands of miles. I changed the oil in my original engine at 600 miles and then drove it to around 60,000 when a piston disintegrated. The oil in the warranty replacement engine was changed about 500 miles and I drove it about 100,000 miles before selling.
The second engine I installed a Blackjack header on, rejetted the Holley-Weber carb, and would put my friend's '75 Cosworth to shame. The Cosworth was 2000 cc with a shorter stroke, so it could rev higher, but was strangled by the Bosch EFI system. If you wanted a fast car, replace the EFI with twin Weber carbs on a Cosworth.
The 262 Monza was nose-heavy and the 262 had very little power. The only good that it was was in that you could pull the 262 and drop in a 327 or 350 with very few changes necessary.
Sadly, the oil crisis was going on from the early '70s and so everything was done to these cars based on what they thought would provide good economy and good emissions.
My mans back! Merry X-mas homie
Merry belated Christmas, Jack! Apologies for the late response/
@@GreenHawkDrive haha, I'll forgive you this time ;)
Great video. New to the channel. A subscriber now!
Welcome aboard man!
One thing not mentioned about the "Monza" was they were originally supposed to operate a "Rotary Engine" which was "Shelved" by GM at the last minute, and placing the 262 v8 in its place.
Good video. Good idea.
Interesting video, thanks very much. My first car way back when was a '77 Vega hatchback, which I did a V-8 swap on, during my senior year of high school. I had a friend in those days who had stockpiled a bunch of these things in his Dad's back field. A little later on, he talked his Dad into buying a Cosworth Vega. I don't know if he still has it or not.
My pleasure man, thanks for sharing that information!
My first car was a 1980 Chevy Monza Coupe. It was in perfect condition when I purchased it in 1992 for almost nothing. It was red with the red wheel covers identical to the one you see at 5:12 in the video. It had the 3.8 V6 3-speed automatic air conditioner car ran like a top had it for a few years sold it with 138,000 Miles on it.
For the Monza there were three special editions I can remember. The Mirage, the spider, and the scorpion.
The original Vega 4 cylinder engines had an aluminum block. If anything at all regarding the cooling system failed (and the cooling was failure prone) the aluminum cylinder walls would wear quickly which translated into burning oil and destroying the engine. It was for this reputation that the Pontiac iron block 2.5L 4 cylinder was named the Iron Duke. "Iron" to separate it from the aluminum disaster it replaced and the "Duke" part was to make you think of John Wayne, aka The Duke...a tough hero movie star of the day. The Vega was a very attractive small car for the time, and when it came out I really wanted one. It looked like a small scale Camaro. The aluminum engine reputation and being rust prone killed the Vega. As a side note, when the Vega was introduced, standard equipment was a 3 speed manual. The Pinto and most of the other subcompacts came standard with a 4 speed manual. Good job on the video, too.
Like the tier list thing also. Would say that my experience with these cars is restrained to a first year Vega, and calling that a piece of junk was an insult to junk yards around the country. The vehicles probably got better (it would be hard to get worse). This wad had the really bad rust issues. Within 6 months of purchase is was possible to run a finger across the head liner come up with fine rust. I seem to remember it also had a number of engine problems, but it was hard to notice something as minor as a 6 month old car that could almost not be started. Watching the thing actually converting itself to rust was a full time spectacle.
I've developed a very annoying new habit of smiling all the way through your videos. Haha. Love seeing all those old print and TV ads. You should consider doing a whole video on them , LoL. Thanks again for another enjoyable video.
Merry Christmas!
Stinger! What's up man, apologies for the late response. I really appreciate that feedback man, that is really nice to say.
Great video. I used to own a 1979 Buick Skyhawk with a Roadhawk package. 3.8 V6 2 barrel carb . Not very fast but it did look fast. Cops would follow me all time 🙄
I owned a three year old 73' Vega. It was fun to drive til it started using oil. Later I bought a new 80' Monza coupe. "Lemon" yellow. I opted for the 231 V6 over the iron 🤮. Again, fun to drive til things began to go south. Those vehicles had very poor built quality. Unfortunately, some manufacturers are still making troublesome cars. Thanks for covering this car segment.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Had a 74 Monza in the US. Vega engine but I didn’t know it being a teen graduating high school. What a disaster. It died a few months after getting it when it suddenly ran hot and warped the valves and had to be replaced. A common problem I later learned. . It was devastating to me financially . I never owned another GM/Chevy after that. The car barely had 50k miles at the time. I switched he to Euro Cars after experience.
I’m sorry man, that’s honestly terrible. Euro cars are great!
1977 Monza I had a 454 5speed in one with 2 four barrel carbs. couldn't keep tires on it. Originally the Monza was supposed to have a rotary in it. The Pacer was supposed to get the same engine as well.
can't wait for the 90s and 00s
Yuckkkkk!!!!!
@@user-ht1xu4gv2u I've got a set of rose tints for the decade
My current Vega is a 74 kamback GT wagon with a 6.0 out of a 08 tahoe and a TH350 with a ford 9inch out back my dad has a 71 hatch back with a 355 roller small block and a 671 weiand on top my little brother is building a 72 delivery wagon with a big block and a four speed really fun cars and fast when you put some power in them great for projects for any auto sport i know of one that races SCCA locally with a 70s hatchback and many other drag cars and street machines around here
My friend’s cousin had a Cosworth in the ‘90’s.
There was a glass top option on the Buicks too.
I love the videos subscribed yesterday and I’ve watched everyone already. Would love for you to turn out a a lot more faster if possible. Keep up the good content merry Christmas
Wow, thank you so much. I am a full time student as well so unfortunately time is not on my side. I do wish I could make more videos more often.
The Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon wasn't the first subcompact from Chrysler, only their first in-house design in the subcompact niche. Chrysler's first products in the subcompact entry (which weren't true Chrysler products, but captive imports) were the Dodge Colt (which came from Mitsubishi) and the Plymouth Cricket (which came from the Rootes Group - a British automaker that was affiliated with Chrysler), both introduced in the 1971 model year.
Monza 2 + 2 was an outstanding looking car. Looks good even today. I test drove the later Olds variant called Firenza back in 85, but it was too expensive. I ended up with a new Escort GT (yuk) instead.
Iron Puke? Something you heard? Were you even there? I was.
I will defend the Iron Duke. Built by Pontiac, essentially a 4 cylinder version of the Blue Flame six, it was equally durable and reliable. The one in a 1990 Grand Am, TBI and 110hp, served me twenty years without fail. More complex and powerful engines aren't worth much when they quit.
Actually the Iron Duke was one half of a Pontiac 301 V8. At the time it was the most successful American 4 cylinder engine in racing.
I will be honest, you are one of very few to defend those motors. I was not there; however, my dad, my audience, forums, other youtubers, and personal reviews, all say those motors were/are junk.
They were the beginning of widespread usage of 4 cylinder engines in American cars. They weren’t powerful in stock form, kinda ran rough at first until they put EFI on them. During this time the V8 engines weren’t much more powerful to be honest. The Iron Duke was rock solid reliable. It mainly gets its poor reputation due to GM in its ultimate wisdom offering them in early third generation Chevy Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds. The car I took my driver’s test in was a 79 Pontiac Sunbird (RWD Chevy Monza clone) that had a carbureted Iron Duke. It wasn’t fast at all but was reliable. When improved with EFI they were fine for light FWD cars.
That is a very good point. Weren’t foreign
companies making that amount of power as well (77-83)?
@@GreenHawkDrive I would guess so. Growing up in the rust belt foreign cars didn’t really begin to show up in mass until the late 80s or early 90s. Until then about the only foreign cars were VW bugs and its replacement the Rabbit when VW opened a plant to build them nearby. I’d see an occasional Datsun 280Z but that’s about it except for the foreign cars domestic automakers imported and rebranded as their own like the Buick Opel and Dodge Colt but even they were rare. I’d guess the Iron Duke in its early days was at least on par with the foreign cars in terms of power output. I think 2.5L was larger than most foreign engines at that time.
The Cosworth engine in the Vega had lots of power potential built in. It just had to be desmogged to let that power come out.
At 9 minutes, 28 seconds shows part of a commercial that I have been trying to locate. Any tips on how to find this commercial?
1977 Pontiac Sunbird commercial - This Man Is
Not Getting Good Mileage-Title
Good idea.
Thank you man!
I enjoyed your video I noticed you mentioned the Monza with the 262 V8 for 75 and 76 I actually built one of these engines out of a monza and put it in my Chevy Nova it's a 3.671 bore with a 3.10 stroke engine block casting number 355909 I installed heads off of a 350 Chevy V8 with 194 valves in it casting number 3927186 I made a lot of power with this engine presently I have the 267 V8 out of a 79 Chevy Malibu in my 1980 Malibu which is a 3 50 in bore with a 3.48 stroke
I had a Monza; I think it was a seventy-six coupe. It was my first car, and It was so under powered with a four cylinder in it. It was both of my older sister's first car as well. I guess it was pretty damn reliable, even if it could barely do fifty-five.
Wow
The Cosworth Vega is collectible now but it did not come with either AC, power steering, or power brakes. It was hard to live with in the South as a daily driver. I was around one growing up.
G.H.D. ,, YOUR TRYING HARD WORKS OUT GREAT!!!! THESE CARS ARE GREAT,,, THE 70S .... THERE BIG RIDING BOATS THE CHEVY IMPALAS SMOOTH,,,,, SOME BLOW UP!!!!! VEGA,, PINTO...THE PICTURES AND VIDEO'S FROM TV .. FIT THIS VIDEO YOU MADE GREAT!!! LEARNED ALOT ABOUT THE VEGA,, THE 1978 SKY HAWK CAME OUT WITH IN TIME WITH OUR CAR 1978 BUICK SKYLARK,LANDAU IF YOU YOU HAVE INFO. ON,, AND THE 1978 BUICK REGAL..IF YOU EVER DO VIDEO'S ON THE 1950S MY SON MAX 8 YR.S WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIS CAR 1958 DODGE CUSTOM ROYAL, SWEEP WINGS ... 1957 PLYMOUTH FURY CAME OUT AT THAT TIME TOO.. THANK YOU ,,, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A GREAT NEW YEARS... AND MAKING THESE VIDEO'S FOR US ALL!!!
HECK YEAH MAN, RIGHT ON🤝
@@GreenHawkDrive YA!!! HA!! HA!!! THANKS ,,PEACE ..
I remember the Cosworth Vega, but the car I've never heard of, at 7:30, is the "Opel Isuzu". 🤔
Also, I am apparently the only one who ever drove an Iron Duke that was perfectly reliable and smooth, it was just gutless.
2:24 Don't forget the Crosley, the American Bantam, the Henry J....
The Metropolitan was built in England as a reskinned Austin.
The Monza and it's corporate siblings were originally developed to use a rotary engine (like the Mazda RX-7). Those engines are much more compact and led to a very low hood line. When GM cancelled the rotary engine, they needed to be redesigned to accept a conventional powertrain. Without any great choices, they became a car without an engine.
Yeah, I remember reading about that when researching this car.
Honda Element had a factory optional tent as well.
The Chevrolet Avalanche also had a factory tent as well. Because of the Midgate of the Avalanche it is absolutely cavernous and perfect as a camper. Very comfortable! You should do a video on the Avalanche too.
The 1973-74 Nova hatchback was also available with the "tent".
I did not know this, thank you for bringing this to my attention!
My mom's car was a mid 70s Buick Skyhawk. It had an all glass roof. My dad replaced the 400 cu in 75 Country Squire Ltd with the Skyhawk in what I consider the worst automotive decision in history. Mom liked it though. A few months later I got my own car, so it didn't matter as much.
Great vid! Was planning on a Vega/Monza one myself soon. The Vega had so many problems I think the Monza and its clones were a do over. My Dad bought a new Sunbird hatch in 78 with a "Iron Puke". The Cosworth Vegas were ridiculously expensive. Curious Cars reviewed a survivor not too long ago.
Thank you man! You definitely should, would definitely be a great video. Curious Cars makes great videos, he’s hilarious
@@GreenHawkDrive Yeah he's great! Complains about our weather for a good 10 minutes before going into the car, and I still watch every minute!
@@autochatter You’re in Florida as well?😂
@@GreenHawkDrive yep..West Palm Beach area...Aren't you in FL too? Curious Cars is Fort Meyers.
@@autochatter Awesome! I’m in Tampa 🚗
77 Monza 2+2 was my very first car😊
I had a 75 Vega GT as my first new car had a 4 speed I didn't have any of the problems others had, the engine never burned oil, nor the fenders rusted at all. Only major part was the fuel pump quit at 22K miles. My mom also had a 75 base model with an automatic, it made a few trips to the dealer for dumb stuff but it didn't burn oil either or rust out. I traded mine for an 81 Monte carlo that gave me more trouble than the Vega did!!!!
More trouble? I' surprised!
@@GreenHawkDrive that monte carlo never ran right from the day I picked it up and god help me if it was under 20 degrees out..that damn car would flood itself out and took forever to start if it did finally start.
@@markscott5421 Sorry man, that is such BS
My grandfather always referered that the gremlin was a 1/2 a car ! Lol 😛
That's hilarious man!😂
Kudos on proper apostrophe placement.
Thank your sir.
The Firebird-Camaro platforms were the best for GM, both style and profit wise. The 77 Impala and it's clones would be 2nd best. For Cadillac, the Seville. I guess for Olds, the Cutlass line.
Next cars from 90s good cars
The Astre was not exclusive to Canada. It was just the Pontiac model.
The very first American compact car might be the American Bantam which was a version of the British Austin 7. in the 1930's
The first oil crisis was in the fall of 1973, 3 years after the Vega was introduced. I don't think they ever put a V8 in the wagon (too bad). It had a narrower engine bay. Detroit profit margins were very small on cheaper cars--that's why these and the Nova variants shared so much sheet metal across divisions.
2:04 Chrysler was able to offer small cars to its buyers by importing cars made by its European divisions. In the 1960s, they imported the Simca 1000, then the Simca 1100, one of the first small FWD hatchbacks, both of which were featured on a few episodes of Mannix. They also imported the Hillman Imp in small numbers. Starting in 1971, they imported the Hillman Avenger, a competently designed but badly assembled RWD car from the UK, calling it the Plymouth Cricket. They even ran adds showing Crickets running off the assembly line as the narrator boasted that "90% of Chrysler cars are built by Americans", never mentioning the fact that the assembly line shown was in Linwood, Scotland. If there were an award for deceptive advertising, that would have won by a landslide. By 1973, with buyers souring on the unreliable Cricket, they shifted their emphasis to the Mitsubishi-built Plymouth Arrow. Between emissions requirements and CAFE economy averages that wouldn't include captive imports, it was getting harder to casually re-badge imported cars, so the Omni and Horizon (which were originally designed, and sold in Europe as replacements for the 1100 and the Avenger) came just in time.
GM had such a good opportunity with these cars... I had a Chevy Vega Hatchback and loved parts of it. GM needed to fix some issues and then the Japanese would not have been such an attractive option...
Great video! My father had a '72 Vega Kamback(wagon) that he bought used around 1980. It was an automatic with a/c. It was incredibly slow, the tops of the fenders started rotting and eventually it succumbed to engine failure. From '74-'80, I believe, Holden, Australias GM, had a car in its lineup called the Torana that looked a lot like a vega and very near in size with a slightly longer wheel base. I'm not sure if there is any relation as I cant find any information about the 2 being related. Anybody know if they are the same car?
Thank you man and unfortunately, I can't help with the question.
A guy named Roberto here in Italy built a big block Vega, its an early model year maybe a 71
Does anybody else remember the 3.8 V6 being offered in '75-'76 Buick LeSabre models? I had a neighbor who bought one of those. Calling it sluggish would be defamatory to slugs, and this was before the even-fire split crank throws so it shook like a wet dog.
"iron puke" 🤣
The engine was Iron Duke - not Iron Puke. Love your vids!
Oh, I know. I was just making fun of the motors. I have only heard bad things about them!
UH-OH Green Hawk...don't I feel foolish! I guess I didn't get it because I thought those were good engines. But I don't know everything. Keep posting. Love your vids.
Thank you man!
GM + Successful = *ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT*
They’ve come out with great motors and great cars my guy. All companies have their flaws at the end of the day
@@GreenHawkDrive
BUT, some were more flawed than others.
The design of the original Vega engine was more than just “flawed “ in a minor sense. Aluminum blocks and Iron heads , design had major serious issues, and in very low mileage. Only the X body Citation, and derivatives were worse. Both cars gave G.M. a horrible reputation that took many decades to change. [ I was there ]. The Citation IS the most recalled American car.
The “Iron Duke” engine was what “saved “ it. The engine was not all that, but all Iron, so no sudden catastrophic failures.
No warping of the blocks,….
That bad engine is also, in part, what lead to the many engine choices.
, as the Aluminum engine blocks were un-repairable.
Still , an awesome video. I’m subscribed.
🚗🙂👍