View attachment 668235
I was in junior high school and have no "first hand" knowledge of the car. I do know the alleged issues as an enthusiast and later as an executive 25 years later recalling the corporate lessons learned from it.
Anyway, I dont debate what folks would do to make a rocket ship out of it. I am purely speaking as the "builder" of the the thing. beyond engine, we had rust, axles.
To me, professionally at least, it was a "lemon". Anecdotally, folks who had them (I never owned one) hated them.
Excerpt:
"
Right about this time, the severity of the Vega's problems was becoming apparent. Chevrolet recalled half a million Vegas in 1972. Rear axle shafts could separate from the housing, causing the wheels to literally fall off.
Faulty brackets on the single-barrel carb jammed the throttle open. The optional two-barrel engine could backfire violently enough to split the muffler, blowing hot exhaust on the fuel tank and causing it to expand, rupture, and ignite.
An undiscovered defect in the new rust-proofing system left the underside of the front fenders unprotected. GM had rejected plastic fender liners to save money, and Vegas suffered from rapid corrosion—primarily of the fenders, but rocker panels, lower doors and front suspension parts could also be affected.
One dealer toldAutomotive News that he was touching up rust spots on brand-new Vegas.
The Vega's best-remembered problem, however, was its infamous melting engine.
The engine didn't actually melt, but if it got too hot the cylinders would distort, wearing the coating on the walls and forcing coolant past the head gaskets. The former problem increased oil consumption (exacerbated by faulty valve stem seals) and the latter increased the frequency of the overheating issue. If a Vega owner didn't keep the coolant topped off, the Vega could, and often would, destroy its own engine.
Chevrolet extended the engine warranty and retrofitted an overflow bottle and low-coolant warning light, but not before many owners got replacement engines to go with their replacement fenders."
source: 20 minutes of reading here has pretty good (accurate to my knowlege) info on the car.
https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-...rrible-cars-that-shouldnt-have-been-terrible/
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