The Tragic $8 Mistake That Destroyed Chevrolet's Vega

Comments · 48

• TH

  @TheFoundryArchives · 1 month ago · pinned

  So, did you have one? Which year, which colour, and how long before something went. If you worked at Lordstown, or turned a spanner on these in a dealer service bay in 1973, I'd particularly like to hear it. And if there was a father in a cold garage swearing at one of these on a Sunday morning, tell me about him too.

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• RO

  @rogerb5615 · 1 month ago (edited)

  This is a good story of what happens when bean counters finalize car design.<br>Lordstown workers were known to drop empty pop bottles into the gas tanks before welding them shut. &nbsp;Customer&apos;s warranty claims read, &quot;find and repair clunking noises in rear of car.&quot; &nbsp;That&apos;s what happens when management pisses off men on the line.

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• DA

  @Dave24078 · 1 month ago

  I always thought it looked like a Ford Maverick made a kid with a early 70&apos;s Camaro. Shame they scrapped it instead of fixing it.

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• TO

  @toddbaginski5722 · 4 weeks ago

  Cosworth Vega is a collectors item!

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• OL

  @oldgrumpyhunter · 1 month ago

  I had a 1973 Vega. I paid $1275 for it new and drove it off the lot. By the time it was dying, every tank of gas was also a quart of oil. &nbsp;Driving it in the rain was a disaster; the air intake sucked the rain into the carburetor, and the MPG dropped like a rock in water.

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• JU

  @JustHerefortheLolz-again · 1 month ago

  I had one of these. I think the best reaction was when I told an older lady I owned one, she said “you poor thing”. Let’s see: bottomed out on every rut in the road, had to run premium through, but the worst part was that the wire holding the O2 sensor in would constantly disconnect and kill the engine &nbsp;immediately and you’d have to pull the car over to the shoulder.. crawl underneath it and plug it back in.

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• DU

  @DuaneBettger · 1 month ago

  I had a red 74 Vega GT camback wagon, a four speed standard transmission with the big 74hp engine.<br>Liked the car but it slowly developed electrical shorting problems along the firewall.

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• JE

  @jeffcole2008 · 1 month ago

  Dad had a Pontiac Astre. Same car, different badge. A fun little car until the engine ate itself. No power one morning and the oil looked like a milkshake.

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• MA

  @mattk8936 · 1 month ago

  Got a used 75 Vega in 1980. Looked great! It had been painted to look like a Camaro SS. &nbsp;it ran OK for about a year before the engine started spewing black exhaust. Heater /defroster didn&apos;t work.<br> Then the rust started. Car started dissolving. Sold it for $200. &nbsp;Liked the hatchback. At least it wasn&apos;t to hard to push.

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• TO

  @toddbaginski5722 · 4 weeks ago

  The coolant tube would suck down on the bottom of the coolant bottle setting off the Add Coolant light! &nbsp;Cutting off a half inch of that tube solved that problem!

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• AN

  @andrewsunell9107 · 1 month ago

  The Cosworth Vega was surprisingly cool and reasonably peppy.<br><br>My Late V Vet Father was given one as Shop Manager for a large GM Dealership in MD back then.<br><br>It didn&apos;t make sense but my Older Brother and I liked the black and metallic gold paint.

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• AL

  @AlanJohnson-df4zn · 1 month ago

  I had an pontiac Astre &nbsp;bought it cheep , thru in a re sleeved motor and it was not a bad little car compared to say a datsun 510 trouble was it handled &nbsp;like shit and i kept sliding into curbs .Many of these cars ended up with a V8 in then

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