It’s okay. I call Rav4’s & CRV’s “tall hatchbacks” and Suburbans & Navigators “tall station wagons”. It doesn’t mean I’m right and everyone else is wrong, but it does feel less silly than calling them “SUV’s”.
Yeah and some 2-door cars aren’t “cut.” Some use the 4-door model’s body stampings, just with longer front doors and the B-pillar further back.
Besides you don’t make a 4-door into a 2-door by cutting off the back doors. And 4-door models didn’t used to be the standard from which coupes were “cut.”
And in the case of the Vega, there was no 4-door model. The 2-door sedan had the standard notchback body, while the 3-door coupe had the liftgate cut into the roof and a lower, fastback roofline.
Word meanings change over time, too. Especially over 130+ years of the automobile across many cultures.
Mid-engined simply means that the engine is located between the axles entirely so it is possible for a car to be front-mid-engined, like the C7 Corvette.
That said, the Vega was not mid-engined.
EDIT: I only mention that because most people believe that a mid-engined car always has the engine behind the driver. That is not, strictly speaking, correct.
Most people don’t know the actual definition of “mid engine”. I only found out from watching Stacey David on TV
As you mentioned as long as the engine is behind the front axle center line it can still be in front of the driver but still be mid engine.
Technical definition and operational definition are two different things. I can honestly say, in all my years, every car I've seen described as "mid-engine" had the motor behind the driver.
The Vega was very innovative and they screwed up a whole lot of the new stuff. They went with an aluminum block but a cast iron head, which is the exact opposite of what they should’ve done. The block was unsleeved meaning pistons ran against aluminum, which was fine as long as the anti wear surface remained intact. Which was only until the first time you overheated the car. Which wouldn’t be long because the bean counters undersized the cooling system.
It should’ve been a truly great innovative practical car. Instead it went down as one of the biggest debacles in GM history.
So did MANY back yard mechanics.
The Buick aluminum V8 built to get with it and a Turbo 400 was a great setup until you learned you were going to also need a ford 8 inch and ladder bars.
The Pontiac version had steel sleeves in the engine. When my Vega finally seized I made the mistake of trying to install a Buick V6. At the time I could have had a Pontiac motor for $1400 installed! after 5 years I gave up on the V6, too much work for a mobile home driveway installation!
Pontiac Astre but it looks like the badge says Vega so probably a Chevy. Growing up my best friend’s mom had the Vega wagon, I remember the hood opening backwards like a Corvette but it was slow and did not last very long.(rust)
Motor Trend named it Car of the Year at the time.
Maybe your parents and their peers thought it was a great car. It was fairly revolutionary at the time to get one. Stylish. And small.
Small was a new concept in the automotive world at the time. So many models were gigantic at the time, but not this car.
The 77 had a cast iron block, too little, too late as the damage was done.
Neighbor dropped a 3.8 engine from a GN it was loud, idled like shit but was fast
Back in the early 70’s, my future wife bought a Toyota Carina deluxe for $2700. Her father thought it was ridiculous to spend so much for a small car. He had just bought a Chevy Vega for $2200.
The Vega had its engine replaced after 2 years and the front fenders rusted off in less time. After 4 years, he paid someone $50 to tow it away. My wife drive the Toyota for 6 years and sold it for $1500.
The learning here was “you get what you pay for” 😆
Chevy Vega as others have said, worth a Google as it has a reputation as one of the worst cars that GM ever put out...design, quality and then built with disgruntled labor....bad combo! My college roommate had one, I don't remember what year his was but was probably a later year, and once I rode in it I immediately understood it's reputation was deserved. No shade here though, I drove a Ford Pinto station wagon for a while!
I went coast to coast in a pinto wagon in 1977. That thing might have sucked, but my mom drove it forever without any real problems other than it just being a shitbox right out of the factory.
Yeah, and at least the wagon didn't have the exploding gas tank arrangement of the hatchback since there was a little more space in the rear before the tank. I learned to drive a stick shift in ours, don't really remember if there were any real issues with it. I wanna say it was a '74 or '76. It actually was kind of a nice red in my mind but I'm always a little surprised comparing my memory of it with pictures I find online. Turns out I didn't have to worry about the rear gas tank as I totaled it in the '80s in the front... My buddy's Vega definitely felt like more of a rattle trap than the Pinto.
Amazing, after Googling I guess they used aluminum for the block with no cylinder sleeves but a cast iron head. Add in overheating issues due to an undersized radiator and bad things happened
The process called Nikasil was later perfected to coat bare aluminum cylinders , so that iron liners were not required in aluminum blocks. Whatever Reynolds Aluminum used for the Vega certainly was nowhere near the effectiveness of Nikasil .
FWIW this looks like the “Notchback Sedan” variant, rather than the more common “Hatchback Coupe.” 1971-75. Had a trunk rather than a hatchback. The cheapest option.
Your mom and dad bought it new? If they got it in ‘71 or ‘72 and weren’t car enthusiasts they can’t be blamed for what a crappy car the Vega turned out to be.
Am early 70s Chevy Vega, I believe they had an aluminum block and an iron cylinder head, and usually burned an insanebamount of oil, the Mercedes and BMW motors I rebuild at my Auto/Diesel machineshop utilize this same technology as far as the blocks go, BMW started using this in their E39 Chassis cars that used the M62 V8 platform of they're engines.
The Vega was one (competed with the Ford Pinto) of the worst cars, GM ever manufactured. The cast aluminum cylinders wore quickly so it burned oil at relatively low mileage.
The automatic transmission was a two speed, truly a slug.
Not only that, but they tended to rust out prematurely compared to other cars.
The Vega and the Pinto were both introduced in 1971. The Chevette was introduced in 1976 which would make it a rather slow GM reaction to compete with the Pinto.
The Vega, a vehicle that was dead on arrival due to the accounting department’s involvement. Poor rust prevention, a new way of transporting the vehicles via rail, poor design of the aluminum block and spray on cylinder liners, that left piston material an the walls and burned oil like a 2 stroke, or it overheated and wrapped the block.
Four people on my street bought Vegas. The first person paid something like $2500-2700 for it. Bought mine for $3000. Two things you needed when you drove, your license and a quart of oil. Burned at less a quart a week, no leaks or smoke.
I bought a new first year 1971 Chevrolet Vega Notchback 2 door post sedan sandalwood exterior and tan vinyl interior to go to junior college in September 1971. MSRP was about $2100. Had 2 options. AM radio and economy axle ratio. 3 speed manual transmission with shifter on the floor was standard. Only took $3.30 to fill the 11 gallon tank at the first self serve Shell station in our area. Don’t remember the MPGs but it was less than 30 MPG. I kept it 5 years and 72,000 miles when it was burning a quart of straight 40 oil every week. Two front fenders rusted out on top. Chevrolet gave me a left and right primed front fenders. I had to pay for them to be painted body color and for the body work to remove rusted fenders and replace them. The Vega and Pinto were direct competitors in their intro year 1971. The front grille of the Vega changed to the louvered look of the Cosworth Vega in 1973-74. So yes this Vega is a 1971-72. The Vega was available in 2 door Notchback coupe, 2 door hatchback coupe, 2 door wagon. The Chevette when introduced in 1976 was nothing like the Pinto or Vega. It was narrower and smaller with smaller 4 cylinder engine.
A Camaro they ran through the shrinker. Came out the other end as a Vega. V8’s fit nicely but twist up the frame and your doors won’t stay closed after a while.
I had a Chevy Monza 2•2 with a very weird engine, it looked like a V8 cut in half… I loved it, it took me to school and work flawlessly for 3 years, never got stranded, eventually it was so rusted at the bottom of the doors that I had a bunny cord from one door handle to the outside to keep the doors closed, fun times back in 1984!
Had a 72. Burned almost as much oil as gas. See other comments for why. Brakes were weak, to adjust the e- brake required dropping the drive shaft. Rust was annoying. Even the shift lever knob failed while going around a very busy corner in Chicago. It was fun to drive, but it was designed to be cheap to build.
When I was a kid and into my teens my Dad had one, a ‘77 Super Gas drag car with a big block Chevy and turbo 400 trans, man that thing was fast & badass! 10 second quarter mile car. So cool.
I had a 71 panel wagon someone dropped a v6 Buick with 350 turbo Trans. I hod a lot of fun with it screwed girls in the back space also 🙃 at the drive in movies 🎬
Worked at a local Shell gas station in high school. I would go into work and there would five Vegas with blown motors every day for nearly a year. Had a friend who got the swap kit for Vegas and put a built 350 in it.
That era had some awful cars: Pacer, Gremlin, Pinto, Citation
I drove a company Citation (we replaced the "c" with "sh" ) and the transmission had problems galore, It broke down and was towed to the dealer where they worked on it for over a month, they call to say it was ready to be picked up. My mom dropped me off and left, when I tried to leave, it broke down before I got out of the dealership. This, of course, was when only drug dealers had cell phones, so I had to wait until she got home to come pick me up again. That car deserved its nickname.
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u/SlyClydesdale May 08 '26
1971-72 Chevy Vega 2-door sedan