“Well, it certainly beats walking.” You know that statement. You might have been told that line when you looked at your parents’ idea of a good first car…a Nissan Stanza in a lovely shade of Chocolate Pudding, anyone? I was lucky enough to get the rotted remains of a 1976 Camaro as a first car, and I didn’t make a peep in protest over my stepfather’s decision in the matter, because it could always be worse. You know what that means…for someone my age (low 30s) that could be the Geo Metro that they bought because the parental units wanted you to have airbags, no fun and absolutely no sex life. Or maybe they gave you Aunt Edna’s 1984 Buick, because it was nearly indestructible, slower than a grounded aircraft carrier and was worth maybe a thousand dollars, which wouldn’t be missed if you managed to do something wild with it, like take it off of a sweet jump. But if you were older, you ran the risk of getting a car like the Chevette that Regular Car Reviews got to check out: a knee-jerk reaction to the two Gas Crisis events, complete with Malaise build quality, vibrant colors and a horsepower figure that equals the powertrain loss in a modern-day car. It’s a bit pathetic, but at the same time a refreshingly basic set of wheels that you don’t see much of anymore. Ignore Mr. Regular’s acid trip in the middle of the film and revisit that tiny little three-door lump from the past:
Try and find one, mate!
This shining example of a woeful “grey porridge car” started life as Vauxhall in the UK where unfortunately it had to take on the Ford Fiesta. It failed miserably and as it inherited terminal rotting, most of them have thankfully disappeared by now. But check out the Chevette HSR which was bred for rallying. It had a serious body kit and suspension and to top it off was powered by a Lotus developed DOHC motor.
Believe me – that is one sweet car!
There were so many of these things in my home town. They never lasted long tho. They would rot out in months rather than years. A guy a know had one of the later models with the ground effects and graphics package…to be honest I kinda liked that one…but I also liked the T1000 and Cavalier of similar vintage.
I bought a 1980 Chevette for the bride. She loved it! I liked it as well. It was a simple car that was okay on gas and easy to fix. After ten years I took it over and used it as my daily commuter car. It got me to where I was going and was excellent in snow. In the 1990’s after a big snow storm I bolted a piece of plywood to the front bumper and plowed not only my driveway but all my neighbors as well. At first my neighbors thought I was nuts but when they saw the ease of a simple Chevette plowing out their driveways, they rewarded me with several jugs of my favorite drink. All worth the effort. The Chevette could easily out plow any four by four with a real plow! As time went on I ran the heck out of it and could not kill it.
The old Chevette died when the floor finally rotted out. I donated her engine to a friend who transplanted it into his Chevette and got another five years out of it. If they still made them I’d buy another.
Drove my 78 for 11 years. Paid off my mortage in that time and have lived like no other ever since. You could take this car apart and rebuild it in one day with a torque wrench and an air gun. Cheapest car to run I ever owned. Amazing.
A buddy of mine bought two different Chevettes out of the same junkyard. Walked around with a battery and carb cleaner a few years apart and found two $500 cars that just needed minor work. He used them to deliver pizzas in during the mid to late 90’s.
They early cars had a smaller 1.3L engine here in America, that engine went away around 1980 with the 1.6L gas or the 1.8L diesel being the two engines.
Automatic Chevettes lose a good bit to the transmission.