The Chevy Vega is a car whose reputation is solidified and earned. A car that General Motors had envisioned would be the machine they could use to turn the tide against a sea of Volkswagens and Japanese imports turned into one of the largest black eyes the company has ever given itself. Rust, self-destructing engines, quality control issues…name it, the Vega had it. Which was a shame, because on the surface the car was actually a neat looking machine and had GM gotten everything right, it would’ve been a home run out of the park. But that’s hindsight for you…always in 20/20, in perfect clarity. The Vega GT would be the perfect sport model to have if it wasn’t for a ruined reputation.
Over the years the Vega population has been whittled down to race cars, a few restored or resto-modified examples, and a few rough holdouts and parked cars that haven’t moved since the first Regan administration. You don’t see a Chevrolet Vega that has been left alone and is still moving under it’s own power…and if you do, you may want to go buy a scratch ticket. That’s why this 1974 Vega GT is such a surprise…it’s all there. No small-block resides under the hood, just the 2.3L four cylinder. The dash hasn’t been hacked. There aren’t steamrollers in the back in tubbed wheelwells. It’s just as it’s been since 1974, down to it’s California blue plates.
The only problem with this car as a Rough Start: Could you bring yourself to add onto the 53,000 miles on the clock?
I must be getting soft in my old age as I love this car!
Chevrolet missed a golden opportunity to boost sales by not making it available in the UK and Europe. With Vauxhall badging it would have taken on the Ford Capri and was not much bigger. But a 2.3 litre 4 cylinder? That’s suspiciously like the Vauxhall motor that was eminently tunable and won loads of races in cars driven by the Late Great Jerry Marshall. A properly developed Cosworth Vega would have sold in its thousands and you can only guess what a Vauxhall Vega V8 would have been like1
When that thing was new it was a force in SCCA Showroom Stock–It came with 70 series tires ( big plus then) It ran with Toyota Corollas, VW Rabbits, Izuzu and would hang right in there—I came to have a better opinion of those cars after that–Still……what a piece but really they were indicative of the times back then
Showroom stock was a great idea–shave the tread down on the tires —add cheapo roll bar hoop, window net and go racing for real! But like always it spiraled out of control we would bend the crap out of the rear axle tubes on the Corolla to gain negative camber in the rear –unit would go a couple wk ends before failing but man it sure helped her out! Ahh..the good old days…..
I learned to drive standard in my Mom’s red with white stripe Vega GT. She turned me loose on the roads at night when I was 14 years old, and no, we did not live out in the boonies.
White like the non GT Vega I owned. Started off as a nice car with a four speed. Had it rustproofed. A few years later when rust started to show, the rustproofing firm would not do anything other than refund my original cost. Had motor rebuilt with steel sleeves due to smoking. Decent car but left a bad taste in my mouth.
Unfortunately the motor in those was, engineering/manufacturing-wise, an experiment that should have gone into the trash can and not an otherwise OK vehicle (once the other bugs were mostly worked out). My orange/black ’74 GT 4-speed was a very nice driving car, even on 3 cylinders most of the time. The first of three I swapped 215 V8s into…there ya go, Geordie, pop in an old Rover motor then go enjoy.
I still occasionally look around at Vegas, not that I expect to actually buy one, so I can tell you that car has been sitting there on CL at it’s “firm” price for around six months.
I had a 74 Vega hatchback 4 speed that I drove the wheels off of for 2 years. One of the best cars I’ve ever had, the 4 speed made it fun to drive. The only time it let me down was one 10 degree morning before work. CRANK, CRANK, CRANK, THUUNKK, busted timing belt. Took $135 and 4 hours to fix at the local shop, not sure if that included the tow. I didn’t wanna go to work that day anyhow. Understand that I was waaay more into Harleys at the time so my expectations were rather low, carwise. My criteria back then was one cylinder per wheel and a 4 speed. Even managed to get laid in it once. The one in the article is nice but with an automatic it would be a complete snooze to drive.
Whatever they say, I like this car.
As far as I know, in April 1973, an ad for the company Group 7 Filters appeared in Car & Driver magazine, where the “1973 Yenko Turbo Stinger” was announced in the prize draw. The exact origin of this car is not known for certain, but it is known that Yenko did not officially order the new Vega in 1973, which, however, did not prevent them from remaking any suitable car, including those available in their own car showroom.
And in general about this car how many wrote in the different newspaper and magazines.
By the way, Don Jenko turned off the Stinger release, generally describing the project as follows: “The car was a good driver, but I didn\’t feel a whip strike from its power”