I am constantly amazed at how much knowledge of the subject you manage to get into these videos. Tremendous trivia with a sarcastic-as-balls sense of humour is very satisfying.
I was a tech at a big Chevy dealership from 1971-77. The Vega was the most colossal POS ever built, so bad that when I wanted to buy a new sub-compact car in 1972 I went to a competitor across the street. We sold several of these Cosworths and I worked on them and drove them quite a bit. They were hardly what I'd call fast, except for the idle speed. The 1600 rpm idle speed was amusing. Initial pre-production press reports about the Cosworth were mentioning amazing horsepower numbers, but by the time the actual emissions-compliant production cars arrived the real output had dwindled to much less. Another case of a car that looked good on paper and has now had it's reputation embellished by decades of mythology endlessly repeated by people who in most cases have never even seen one.
I remember a Jean Lindamood column wherein she related being pulled over by the cops (Michigan? Detroit?), and a girlfriend was with her. The friend was of Croatian descent, and had taught Lindamood several phrases in her native tongue: "Hello, how are you," "when is your birthday," &c. So they started talking to each other, repeating all those basic phrases over and over, in increasingly frantic voices and gesticulations. The LEO stood there for a moment, looking and listening, and finally just shook his head and walked--then drove--away. Success!
Bill, thanks for the memories. My first car was a 1974 Vega GT w/ 4 speed. It was a blast to drive for me as a young 16 year old. GM seems to never learn their lesson.....on refining cars before they bring them to market. They made this first mistake with the first Corvettes, the Corvair, the Vega, and the Pontiac Fiero. In all case examples the cars turned out to be decent sellers by the time the refinements were put into standard production.
Exactly the same with GM's overseas operations of the period over here in Europe - giving rise to things like the Canadian Vauxhall Firenza of 1971 with its dreadful under-developed first generation emissions equipment (the law suits were still being fought a decade later!). Incidentally the British HP version of the Firenza used the same Avon alloy wheels as the Cosworth Vega.
My first car was a USED '74 Vega GT 4 speed (Maroon) with no A/C. Lifting the hood and dumping in oil before every outing was essential. My Vega round key would open my Mom's Cadillac door.
@@brettb8825 A friend had one that both burned and leaked ridiculous amounts of oil. At least two quarts per tank of gas. It eventually died when he slammed on the brakes to avoid an alligator in the road and the front suspension collapsed.
My aunt in Michigan traded her 1967 Chevy Corvair Monza in on a 1973 Vega. She did that because the Corvair had bad heating as it was air cooled. She got heat in the Vega but it rusted away in three years. Sad.
This is the only car that came with a case of cancer. I waxed my car to death and it rusted to the ground. Nice car when new but rust killed it with blown head gasket.
As a Brit , I find this miniscule engine a hoot to hear reving in an American muscle car shape that should have a big V8 and Jimmy Rockford driving it .
Chevy had that covered with the Monza 2+2. As a smug Canadian whose family has been in the auto business for a long time, I must say I never heard of the Cosworth until recent times. As far as the V8 options, you could order right up to a small block 350. I'm sure you are aware of what a decent mechanic can make a 350 do with a bit of tweaking. What I know about those cars is that (besides the rust issues) the engine was hideously overpowering the chassis. They were notorious for oversteer and front end dive. Easy to spin. Kind of dangerous. They just didn't have enough wheelbase to control all that torque. Not nearly enough brakes either.
Oh, you're thinking of that early Rockford Files episode where Rockford rented a blue Vega in Arizona (?) and engaged in a "Duel"-like battle with an 18 wheeler!
Friend of mine had a Vega wagon manual shift when we were in high school. It could actually break the rear end loose in first with full steering lock, and if you shifted into second fast enough, you could get it spinning donuts on bare pavement. If you live in a place with snowy winters, you know what fun a short-wheelbase rear-wheel drive car can be (although we took that for granted back then). Keep up the great work!
Owned 4 of these through the years, starting with a '76 (#2405) bought in 1978 which I traded my 1974 Mercury Capri 2.8 V6 + some cash for. Bought the car from Lance Stewart (who went on to drive professionally for MAZDA and others) who campaigned the car in west coast slalom events with some success. Dick Guldstrand set up the suspension for Lance. With Caldwell race recaps and konis, along with an autopower roll bar to stiffen up the chassis (if only modestly) - the car turned through the pylons reasonably well. Shortly after purchasing the car I joined the then, relatively recently established CVOA, founded by Bob Malloy - and ended up making further modifications to the car which included a port/polish of the 16 valve head, factory GM camshafts and most importantly (from an output standpoint) a set of 45mm Weber DCOE's mounted on manifolds developed and produced by Bill Hutton at H.M.E in Clarksville Tennessee. Later, I acquired another '76 which was a later production date (do not recall the dash number) car. Brown metallic with a tan interior and later still, 2 more 1975 units, though again, I don't recall the dash number though I believe one of them could've been (1875 ?) Being in my 60's now, memories fade but I did have fun with them even IF they were routinely trounced by a well driven Alfa GTV or rotary Mazda. Actually, my aforementioned Capri would skunk my Cosworth's with relative ease... as long as the tarmac was billiard table smooth. The posi differential (if so optioned) and coil spring butt end of the Cosworth's did better on anything less than smooth surfaces. Not by much, but enough. The weak points were. Oil seepage at the cam carrier and head. The rear panhard rod mount points where it meets the chassis. The 5 speed T50 exhibiting oiling issues in sustained high g-load situations, (the 4 speed 'saginaw' cars had no such problems and were actually a joy to row the cogs with once fitted with a Hurst linkage). And of emphatic importance, the crankcase oil level had to be monitored at ALL times since they were prone to windage and oil aeration issues, or a spun rod bearing (usually #4) was a certainty. Again, under higher than normal cornering load circumstances. These were basically just Vega's with an semi-exotic (for that era) drivetrains, black paint jobs with gold striping, a fancy machine turned dash applique with bespoke numerical sequence #... and alloy wheels. If I recall correctly, the wheels were given a production budget equaled only by the powerplant. Though I must say, The early '75 cars I had seemed to be a bit more sorted, or at least they came across that way with just a touch less body rattles and door, hood, decklid gaps being more consistent. I ended up selling #2405 to Gary Schroeder of Schroeder Engineering in Burbank, Ca. At the time Gary owned, and was willing to partially trade his unmolested, low mileage, 1967 Sunbeam Tiger II (289 Ford) - if I could come up with $2500. I was an engineering student and $ was tough to come by so that just never happened (much to my chagrin). I sold the car for the whopping sum of $4000. As I recall, #2405 was sold to a fellow who completely dismantled and repurposed it for Bonneville. Enjoy your Cosworth. Just keep a keen eye on that dipstick. -doc
My dad bought one of these in 1986 after it had been rear ended by a cargo van. Extensive repairs and 2 engine rebuilds later he still has it. I learned to drive stick on this car and still take it out for drives as often as weather permits. Never fails to put a smile on my face. Thank you so much for this review, more people deserve to know about this car.
Ah, the Chevy Vega. I remember cruising normally in my Vega when it blew an engine seal and the exhaust smoked out the entire highway...just like in the Spy Hunter video game! Yep, burnin' coal has nothing on a misbehaving Chevy Vega.
As you walk around the car, it is striking how nicely proportioned the car is. It has a very nice shape and the parts and pieces work well together. Thanks for the video.
I have great memories of a Vega hatchback I had. LT1 with an M22 four speed. The first time I raced it the windshield popped out of its frame from the body-twisting torque. After subframe was beefed up, it would pull the front tires off the ground all through first gear. It was by far the most dangerous vehicle I've ever seen, but a blast to drive. I love your videos Bill. Keep up the fantastic work!
I’m old enough to remember the reviews in the car mags when these were introduced. I actually took the time to figure out how an overhead cam engine worked and felt proud of myself, considering I was just a kid at the time. Always liked the looks of the Vega hatch although it had horrific reliability. Glad to know a few survived.
I went from a 69 Camaro to a 72 Vega GT. It was a really sweet handling car and actually quite fast. I loved the hatch back. Yes you really could get busy back there if you were agile. That rear glass sure was cold on the naked rear end if you came up too high🫠. Too bad it soon had the magic 50k on the odometer and like all of them started hogging oil and was soon DOA. It was a cool little car while it lasted
When I was a young lad, I worked at my local Chevy dealership for most of my years of high school summers (72-75) and in charge of prepping every new car for delivery straight off the truck(s). Can't tell you how many Vega's (they flew off the lot as soon as they arrived) in all of their forms (notchback, hatchback, wagon, delivery panel) from base to GT's. We never got one of these but I have seen one when it was new, and only one. I was like way surprised to see you with one! I always thought they were cute, and I favored the GT's, but the fully loaded wagon's with fake wood grain sides were somewhat cute. The Chevy Love truck was popular then as well. Not to mention most of all of the Chevy models out at the time, and we got a few Laguna S-3's in the usual white and burgundy, but did get a black and white one which I wanted very badly. Unfortunately too young for that purchase! Thanks for letting this cat out of the bag!
oh fantastic! when i turned down my appointment to the USAFA Dad sold my 77TransAm for $5500 and wrote a check for $700 and told me to go get my new wheels. when i got to the house - cars everywhere, i said i'm here for the Vega. The wife was in tears so the husband said, "gonna need $50 dollars more for this car". my 93 Vega GT got me thru college and well after. it had the manual trans and the very smoky injection molded engine block. we took it to my cousin Kenny Timer for a 'tune up' or sleeves is what i wanted. it was way more than Dad would spend which was probably more than he paid for it in 1978 $750. the little 4banger would burn a quart of oil every 60 miles so i always had cans of oil rolling around in the back. there was a lot that was good about this sweet little silver Vega (the stripe disappeared after Buddy painted it) we paid him and my Dad said you can finish it when the paint is dry. Bud said no - for that money I'm done with it. Dad just smiled and so did I the car looked so beautiful. it looked like a mini Camaro - it was pretty. the balance was very good, it could dance little doughnuts at the top of the street on the ice which made my friends trash can banging Plymouths look stupid. it would drift nicely around corners and bends on dry pavement before drifting was invented just by dropping it into first and nailing it, particularly handy when showing off for the young women. it could haul 3 other friends and hold incredible amounts of stash in the hatchback. the little straight four would quit when the oil got too low, ie it had a preservation instinct. i do miss that beautiful little car!
I was working as a Chevy tech, from 1973 to 1977 (then went on to work for Chevrolet Motor Division) and we sold a couple of these. I think the initial allocation was one or so per dealer, but some of the dealers decided that getting so few vehicles was more trouble than they were worth and either exchanged their allocation or did a dealer trade as soon as the vehicle arrived. Each dealership had to have one tech trained on it, so I was selected to be trained. Unfortunately, it was so pricey compared to the base model that ours sat on the showroom floor for over a year. Can't remember how we finally disposed of them.
Cadillac also used the Bendix Electrojector fuel injection system in 1976. It was standard on the Olds 350 powered Seville and optional on the 500 cubic inch full size Caddy. It was carried over on the 425 engine in the downsized '77 Cadillac full size cars. Bendix started fooling with the electronic fuel injection in the mid 1950's using tubes. Two Bendix engineers drove a '53 Buick from Buffalo NY to Baltimore MD fitted with the prototype unit. The box holding the electronics was so large, it sat on the passenger side front seat while the second engineer at in the back seat to monitor it's operation. Bendix eventually sold the patents to Bosch and it was called the Bosch D jetronic.
I love-love-love how this guy narrates this chanel, you can tell that he is the real deal with legitimate and factual information about the ladies he is showcasing, I am a happy subscriber, a loyal follower and a big fan.
I only saw one back when it came out. A rich guy bought it for his 16 year old som. He rampaged that poor car all over the neighborhood including doing non stop donuts at the hangout trying to prove to everyone how fast it was. Funny how seeing one 45 years later brings me back to that. Nice find Bill and very informative history you shared.
oh fantastic! when i turned down my appointment to the USAFA Dad sold my 77TransAm for $5500 and wrote a check for $700 and told me to go get my new wheels. when i got to the house - cars everywhere, i said i'm here for the Vega. The wife was in tears so the husband said, "gonna need $50 dollars more for this car". my 93 Vega GT got me thru college and well after. it had the manual trans and the very smoky injection molded engine block. we took it to my cousin Kenny Timer for a 'tune up' or sleeves is what i wanted. it was way more than Dad would spend which was probably more than he paid for it in 1978 $750. the little 4banger would burn a quart of oil every 60 miles so i always had cans of oil rolling around in the back. there was a lot that was good about this sweet little silver Vega (the stripe disappeared after Buddy painted it) we paid him and my Dad said you can finish it when the paint is dry. Bud said no - for that money I'm done with it. Dad just smiled and so did I the car looked so beautiful. it looked like a mini Camaro - it was pretty. the balance was very good, it could dance little doughnuts at the top of the street on the ice which made my friends trash can banging Plymouths look stupid. it would drift nicely around corners and bends on dry pavement before drifting was invented just by dropping it into first and nailing it, particularly handy when showing off for the young women. it could haul 3 other friends and hold incredible amounts of stash in the hatchback. the little straight four would quit when the oil got too low, ie it had a preservation instinct. i do miss that beautiful little car!
sorry - I've been banned from this platform for some reason. this is a test to see if I can get some content on here about things i really love - cars. if you can re-post this i would appreciate it. thank you!!!
Hey Bill, these Cosworth Vegas were such a big deal when they came out. One of my buddies bought one in 76 & I was amazed at how much more expensive it was than the base Vega. They are fun to drive although the Canadians are going to be miserable in that small back seat!!! Thanks for sharing this cool blast from the past!!! 🥃
One of my Z car buddy's bought a used Cosworth back in the mid '80's. I rode in it once and was very impressed. I will never forget the sound of it and how it revved. That's a beautiful car brother!
I actually paid $4500 for a "76 with 3000 miles on it. It was fun to drive, but underpowered, had a great transmission and a Torsen rear end, and I liked it but found it coarse and noisy on the road... I sold it and bought two Vega GT Hatchbacks for $900, and drove them for years...
The hidden genius of the Vega is that it was designed to ship in special train cars vertically, standing on its front bumper. They could get 30 Vegas on a train car, vs. 18 the regular way. That's how they were literally able to move a million of them. (Whether the shipping savings passed along to the customer or not, I have no idea) I would love to see an engineering analysis of what was needed to not leak fluids in their shipping position.
I can take a stab at your question. Iron heads on an aluminum block was a mistake. Even a high school chemistry student knows that different metals expand and contract differently. Also, as mentioned in the video, not having cylinder liners was a mistake. It just goes to prove, never buy a first-year car, especially a first year GM car.
@Jonathan Morrisey - Yep. The History guy did a good history piece. Long story short, there was baffle in the oil pan to contain the oil while the car was stood on its nose. In the 80's I had a '72 Vega that I had steel sleeved the cylinders. Didn't smoke again but I still constantly had to add oil, and there were no drips underneath. To this day I have no idea where the oil went. Was fun to drive the car, semi-peppy with OHC 2.3 liter aluminum block made the car fairly well-balanced. but it was so buzzy inside that I think I still have residual hearing loss from highway driving. I never got more than 24 miles per gallon. And like one of the above posters the last straw (after the air conditioner compressor and the heater air diverter door broke) was a failure of the front suspension. Junked it after that. The body did not have a speck of rust on it, though.
My Dad bought a Vega in 1973 because it all he could afford. Being a WW2 veteran , buying an import was out of the question. One year later during the Arab oil embargo our local Chevrolet dealer offered him $200 more than he paid for it to buy it back. Dad passed away in 1975 and I inherited the car (and it’s problems) In high school auto mechanics I installed steel cylinder sleeves in an attempt to overhaul the engine. I cured the oil consumption problem but the overheating problem (blowing head gaskets) persisted. I went on to become an auto mechanic and later and assembly line worker in a custom fire truck factory. In my 4 book exposé series “All in a DAZE work” (The Decline and fall of the American work ethic) I profile the numerous problems I saw with American vehicle Manufacturing
My best pal in HS had one - must have been around 1979. That thing's engine was so damn loose. People behind us in traffic would regularly be obscured in a thick, white smokescreen. I was so slow that we'd regularly get trounced at stoplights by 16 year old girls in Beetles. Vegas always seemed to be the most rapid to age of all cars. A two year old example would often appear to be 20 years old. I kid you not.
Your detailed narration was fantastic. You obviously do your homework. I sent a link to a motorcycle racing buddy of mine who had a string of Vegas back in the 70's. They were cheap to operate and went in a straight line going down the road pulling a motorcycle trailer. I know he is going to learn something new about Vegas because of your thoroughly informative video.
Good review Bill. What sticks in my mind when a Vega is discussed is when they first came out the rear lower shock mounts got wiped out in a conveyor type car wash & premature rust from Michigan salt laden roads in the winter just ate the metal panels within a couple of years. Also, I worked with a guy at the time who paid over $3,700 for a new '71 Coupe. Back then you could buy a new VW super beetle for $1,900. Granted, everything rusted back then but not as bad as the Vegas & Pintos.
Absolutely stunning! My first car was a 1974 Vega GT, and while it was six years old, showing some serious cancer, it was a good handler and fun to drive with the manual trans.
This is simultaneously one of the most-terrific and most-heartbreaking stories in American motoring. I partly blame it on the General's passive-aggressive attitude toward "small" cars. I have warm memories of the Vega, almost in spite of how badly they were initially built (as a kid in summer camp, I recall a Creamsicle-orange model owned by a rather-cute counselor who drove me around shortly after she bought it). Never knew about the later versions in all the different colors and trims - loved the Camaro-esque rear spoiler! (How did they make the gold trim not seem too-blingy on this, but over-the-top on the Firebird Trans Am years later? Blame it on Burt Reynolds?) Also interesting that the speedo only went up to 120. Great overview, Bill, so BIG thanks for this. (EDIT; Yes, Jean Lindamood…yep, remembered her, great writer and racer.)
Would love to see one built the way "it could've been" i.e. cam/valves/pistons because my understanding it made 300 hp but with emissions and crap it made 110 hp🤪
man i love your channel for covering such forgotten cars in such detail. My buddy had one of these in high school and it was a cool little car. It was a white 76. I was super impressed by the history of the thing even back then. They seemed to have stayed forgotten and have never gotten the recognition they deserved.
This Vega was the best looking, the nicer looking tail lights, great looking front end, the Wheels, color combination. A high school Buddy's parents bought a Vega two speed automatic they bought the car new at the Chevy dealer when they drove it home it could not even make it up the hill to their house, they returned the car and said they didn't want it.
I think the '74 - '75 were the best looking of the years. The front ends imitated the Camaro. The '71-'73 grill was too large proportionally but in '74, it was still large, but the slits made it less noticable and the parking lights reduced the width, as compared to '76-'77. The sloping front was meaner looking, the '71-'73 too flat.
Hey Bill I worked it for Holden Chevrolet in 1975 and 76 at 6 Mile and Van Dyke in Detroit and we got about three of these New codsworth Vegas came in and that time. I prepped all three of them they were all black I remember driving them in that thing and they're really special they're really fast they had shocks in them that seem like you were floating compared to all the other cars at the same time. We're brand new and they were a fantastic car you know the problem was the rust like you said but if they wouldn't have had to rust out problems they would have been a hell of a car and they were a beautiful little package yes they were fast as hell but extremely expensive at the time you know a new Caprice was probably $4,500 with everything in it back then have a good day
I really enjoyed this, thank you.- I had a 1971 Vega which transported me from my senior year in high school through law school graduation. I had the typical Vega problems. I had to replace the engine at my expense...twice. The car rusted out very badly, particularly around the cowl area. It's a shame as GM came really close to producing a terrific small car out of the blocks. Install fender liners, better rust proofing and drop in the iron duke and you would have had a great subcompact car. As you noted, by 75-76 the rust problems and the engine problems were resolved....just too late to save it. As to it's main competitors, the Pinto, Gremlin and Beetle, it was clearly the most attractively styled, was the best handling and had the best interior of the group. The Cosworth was an interesting car, but lack of AC eliminated it from serious consideration.
I was a young kid in the mid ‘70s. My dad was car shopping for a new station wagon. At a dealer I saw a Vega wagon that was silver with purple and yellow stripes I wanted so badly. My dad eventually bought a green Gran Torino wagon with a Cleveland engine off the lot so that was oddly cool.
My dad had his station wagon in the dealer to get some stuff fixed back in 1974 . They gave him a courtesy car to use in the meantime and it was a piece of shit Vega with the gutless 4 banger . My dad frickin HATED that car !! 🤣 He had it for 4 days and I will never forget how embarrassed he was to be seen by our neighbours when he was driving it . Me and my brother were in tears of laughter watching him drive it down our driveway. He had the most pissed off embarrassed look every second he was driving it . LMFAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love this car. I think the Vega looks great and the Cosworth Twin Cam idea is classic John DeLorean. He wanted the 1st gen Firebird to be more of a sportscar (the concept for which was poached by Chevrolet for the C3 Vette) and I think he was behind the Firebird Sprint 6 at the height of the V8 muscle/pony car fever, which had a European flavour to it. If you ever get your hands on a Sprint 6, Bill, I'd love to watch your appraisal of it. To me, the Cosworth Vega seems like a cross between a Vauxhall HP Firenza of the same era that we had over here, an Opel Manta B/Vauxhall Cavalier Coupe that came later and of course the 2nd gen Camaro. In fact, the HP Firenza used the same Avon safety wheels as this Cosworth Vega, only in silver. Baby Bertha is the most famous Vauxhall Firenza, a racing car that totally dominated British touring car racing in the 70s. I love all GM styling (except the Aztec) from any country and almost every era. I remember listening to old funk records and looking at photos of Super Duty Trans Ams and 442s in magazines as a kid. GM owned Vauxhall in the UK since the 1920s and, although the brand was very prestigious and high performance beforehand, it's the GM period that fans know and love. Such a shame that Vauxhall/Opel has fallen into the hands of PSA and Stellantis.
Agree on the Aztec comment 😀 A guy I worked with both one and everyone busted is arse for buying a box on wheels. He couldn't take the psychological abuse and traded it in a year later.
Bill, thank you for this memory. My first car was a used 1972 Vega GT that i purchased from my aunt during the summer of 78', 15 and before my drivers license was issued at 16. It was silver, black interior, bucket seats, hatchback with the 14" tires. Just over 100,000 miles i blew out the gaskets so i had the sleeves replaced with cast iron along with rebuilding the engine. Removed all the smog crap that was choking the engine (yes, in California) Replaced the 4 speed with a better bendix transmission out of the same year opal gt. (I think GM owned Opal back during those years). Installed new shocks, brakes, tires, carb, points, plugs. Ran 10x better, faster and fun to drive during my Jr, Sr. years of high school. Of course the rust issues in the trunk were hard to fix. Wish I never sold it. This was just a fun car to drive back then.
You're so right. GM did own OPEL, and the OPEL GT was the European version of the Corvette. We used to call them MiniCorvetts. There could be a video on TH-cam about the OPEL GT.
@@outlet6989 Thanks for the correct spelling of OPEL GT. Yes, that was a better shifter and matched that transmission perfectly. I could scratch the tires in all 4 gears and an "exhibition of speeding ticket' to prove it (yes, it was worth it). Was a blast to drive and had good gas mileage. GM was too arrogant to listen to their consumers back then. SMH.
My old neighbor owned Central Chevrolet of Fremont, California. I believe they still have the 1975 Cosworth Vega allocated to them...Never registered and I'm sure almost ZERO mileage on it. I remember riding my bicycle down to look at it. Those Cosworth race motors in competition had a reliability issue!
Bill, best vid yet…Proud owner of 1975 #2013, also with the Weber setup and open exhaust (taking the catalytic converter out of this thing is good for 40hp alone). Also an owner of an all original 1977 Monte Carlo I also saw you recently highlight here… Keep up the great vids…
Btw, I kept all of the fuel injection parts…The engine simply runs stronger on the Webers (if you open up the exhaust first). The carb setup gives another 10-20 HP (but much better mid range torque), than the early EFI. The stock engine has fairly long duration intake valve timing and a decent amount of overlap. This allows the high RPM, however the stock exhaust adds too much back pressure at high RPM for the engine to breathe as it should and limits the redline to 6500. Remove the cat (and ideally use a 2.25 inch pipe) and you get the redline up to 7500 on this engine. It really is quite a screamer if you uncork it. It gets damn close to the 170hp intended that the 1971 prototypes had with this setup.
I bought my 1975 Cosworth twin cam Vega #0177 in my early twenties ca 1976. I fell in love with the engine and drivability and proceeded to blow the motor. Had it rebuilt with the EGR removed and added some great little quad eyebrow Payne l pistons to match up with the four valve head. This thing was a screamer. A set of good year Wingfoot tires and it could handle the twisties like a rail. My buddy had a straight six Datsun 240Z and couldn't keep up. I loved this car even though it had it's... Let's say quirks. Nice video!
The mini camaro ! Enjoyed this video ! You are very informative on these cars and I like your style of presentation with some humor , thanks for sharing .
I still have my 1974 Vega GT. It's a great car, especially with the full tubular chassis, PG, a 383 NA motor, and shorted Ford 9-inch. Runs sub 5's in the 8th. I paid a mere $300 for it back in 1997.
Pinto and Vega was was America's answer to the gas crunch. USA got caught with their pants down and had to build something quick. Hot rod guys would stuff big blocks into the Vega. Stock version was cheap and janky. The cosworth was nice but a little late. I almost bought one. Anyways great vid keep them coming!!!!
My 75 Vega GT 5 speed was my FAVORITE car. I miss it so much!!! I would LOVE to have another one. Mine was yellow with a black stripe. It was beautiful.
Owned a 76 Vega, overall not a bad car, 350 turbo tranny, with an electrical fuel pump, drove that car everywhere, had 150k miles never had any serious issues with the car.
1975-76 i was a car porter at a Chevy dealer. We had a Cos Vega in the showroom. I liked looking at the engine with the chrome efi and big header. I drove many std Vegas incl the Vega GT. They were so sluggish you had hammer it to get into traffic. Vega GT with a stripe and GT wheels was a good looking car. Another interesting Chevy in 75 was a Monza V8 manual trans.
I once had an Opel coupe that looked like this Vega. Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet. All GM cars at the time and slightly alike in some respects. The Cosworth mill usually powered Fords. I like this car.
The reason for the rushed production schedule is that GM was trying to compete with Lee Iacocca's Pinto over at Ford, which was built on a similarly rushed schedule.
The base Vega was basically the American forerunner of the Yugo. A friend of mine had one back in the day and riding in it was downright terrifying, like it was about to fly apart at any given moment. At 35mph, it felt and sounded like you were going 90, as you had a white knuckled grip on the nearest oshit handle.
back in 85 some guys in my high school dropped a v8 in one. One massive burnout and it was done. Apparently they never thought to beef up the car to handle that kind of twisting
Bill, you should review a Buick Reatta. It was a grand touring roadster designed for Old fat guys to feel sporty in without being too flashy or upsetting their wives.
@@elisorrells5314 It’s a shame the Reatta, Allanté, and TC Maserati were given front-wheel drive and automatic transmissions; two things a roadster should never have. If they had given the Reatta a six speed manual, the turbo/intercooled 3.8 from the Regal T-Type/Grand National, and rear wheel drive, then it would’ve been a truly amazing car. Being smaller, lighter and more aerodynamic, it would’ve outrun and out handled the Regal. If they really wanted it to be futuristic and high tech, then why not give it the all-wheel-drive system from the GMC Typhoon/Cyclone? If you’re gonna power the front wheels, you might as well power the rear ones as well and give Audi, Diamond-Star Motors and Subaru a run for their money.
Well done! I remember seeing one of these when I was a kid. I was a young motor-head and knew of Cosworth but information was non-existent on this beast back then, and when I laid eyes on it for the first time back then, it was akin to seeing a mystical unicorn. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
Fun fact about Vega’s, the easiest to find part is the steering box. That’s because it’s still mass produced to this day as it’s one of the smallest on the market and popular with the hot rod crowd for rack and pinion conversions
My friend in high school was a genuine automotive enthusiast. He read every Road and Track, Motor Trend cover to cover. One weekend during college we went to the Chevy dealership and saw this dusty Cosworth Vega Richard new exactly what we were looking at. The salesman had no idea what it was. He let us take it for a test drive (on our own), 29 miles at the start 139 when we got back, I think we even put gas in it. It was a blast, so much fun, my friend Richard was in seventh heaven. When we returned we asked the salesman for the price, he about fell over $14,000 1976 dollars. No more unsupervised test drives.
22:25 I believe Cadillac used the same Bosch-Bendix EFI port injection system on the 1976 Seville and as an option on the 500 and 425 engines in their large models, so the switch to throttle-body "digital fuel injection", in 1980, was a step backward in at least one way. On the other hand, the "computer" in this car, which is related to both the Bosch D-Jetronic controller in the 1968 VW Type 3 and that of the original Bendix EFI option on the 1957 Desoto, was really an all-analog circuit, which most likely used op-amps to perform the mathematical operations that would implemented in code today. It's too bad that so many of the cars with these early EFI systems have been converted to carburetors; kudos to the previous owner of this car for saving the EFI hardware.
Good presentation Bill. Not sure if he still has it, but an Asst. Pastor, at New Hope Church in Naples was given one by a church member when I was down there in the mid-ninetys. He was smiling for a week, not really a car guy but he had always hoped to aquire the 75' Cosworth model Vega.
Ya know, I love cars and love your channel for the cars. And find myself coming back more and more just for the catty snarky commentary. Love it, makes my day
I had 15 or more friends in high school that drove vega's, we put an LT 1 in a buddy's had a hell of a time keeping a transmission and motor mounts in it though ! We had lots of fun in them. You could camp in the back with the seat down and a sleeping bag! If I had the cash free now I would love to have that one, great fun with Friends!
A guy I knew back in high school that had a '75 Vega. He and his dad dropped a 327 into it. It was balls to the wall fast and kind of terrifying at the same time.
The first car I bought with my own money in 1983 was a 1974 Vega with an automatic. It was $200 and I overpaid for it. The rust completely surrounded the rear window so when I cranked up the bass in the stereo I paid more for than the car, the rear window bounced up and down. The car met it's demise on an uphill slope when it downshifted into second and blew a 4-inch hole in the side of that aluminum block. I sold it to a buddy for $50 and he put a 289 in it.
of the black and gold scheme, I remember the Mercury Capri Black Cat and a couple of cars in Europe who used the combo. Thats it. Just wanted to share. Glad you did this one. I had one on a fluke. A blast for two months, noticed rust starting around the windscreen and back window. A sign form the Gods. I then traded for a Rover 3500. In essence, I moved the headache from my Rt frontal lobe to the left frontal lobe.
I love how you said "transmission mount" ☺️. My mom had a '72 Vega, she just kept a case of oil in the back seat. It's interesting they finally fixed the car, but by then I guess it was too late.
omg, I've been waiting for this to show up. I graduated high school in 1985 - Vegas were all over the parking lot because they were basically free if they were still around, but I never saw one of these in person. I think this is actually a good looking little car.
I went with a friend for a ride in a factory original Cos that I was considering buying. The car was in excellent shape. The drive was on a rural paved staright road. Got in this little Vega and was heavily impressed by neck snapping accelleration. And this was the 80s so the price that was offered would have broken your heart cheap.
Ahh yes! My first car was a 73 Vega, this was in 1982. I only could dream of it being a GT or Cosworth. The body on that one was a beauty. I learned my first lessons in car ownership in my driveway. I changed plugs,did brakes , flushed coolant, and changed my starter, all on that little Vega.
I was lucky enough to ride in a cosworth Vega with a factory rep that had some kind of a box that adjusted the timing. Oh my God, it took off like a vet, I was in the backseat and was so impressed on how fast that little car went with that little cosworth in it. It was a totally different motor with the factory timing box on it that could not be left on for customers. Have no idea why they couldn't have sold them like that. I was in high school at the time, swept the shop floors after school and got to know one of the mechanics really well, and he offered me the ride.
That manifold pressure sensor in the box is a straight copy, if not a sourced Bosch unit from a D-Jetronic setup (multiport fuel injection on foreign cars like Volvos, VWs, and MBs that predated the Vega)
It is indeed a Bosch MAP sensor. Bendix did use some Bosch parts on their system (including the injectors I believe). Fitting since the D-Jet is a derivative of the Bendix Electrojector from 1957.
@@jasonvanrell3678 That Chrysler used on its cars in ‘58 with dismal results due to wax paper circuit boards hung in the engine bay where they were exposed to heat and water. Hilarious when you think about all of the bullshit the Big Three went through during the malaise era. Feedback carburetors, lean burn, etc. Meanwhile, the Europeans had fuel injection. That they got from Bendix in 1958. Don’t know where they came up with K-Jet, but all L-Jet variants through motronic were certainly descendants of D-Jet. If Chrysler did some more R&D before releasing the ‘58 cars, or sat on the project until the technology was there, they could’ve been on top despite the ‘62 cars.
Thanks for all your hard work creating fine content. We love hearing your weather/animal ranting! Don't fret, the cool weather is coming Bill. 👍 This Vega is a bit of a unicorn.
There was a '75 Cosworth Vega parked in one of the driveways between my house and my best friend's house when I was a kid back in the 1980s in Pendelton, Oregon. I pined over that car for years. Never saw the owner, never saw the car move. I even worked up the nerve to knock on the owner's front door once. Always knew it was rare, but I didn't know it was this rare until I was well out of high school. Cool car then, cool car now.
My girlfriend`s parents bought her a brand new GT when we were in high school . It handled really well for an American car and she liked it a lot. It was sort of put together fit and finish wise. Then it started to rust out after 2 1/5 years.Being a bright yellow i,t didn`t look great with brown rust sprouting all over. Living In the Northeastern US, this was not too unexpected except the speed at which it occurred.
Bill, I bought a 72 when I got out of the Army and besides the low HP really liked it a lot until out of nowhere the Engine blow up. Never bought another GM car again the rest of my life. All that said your show and your channel are awesome that's great information I really love this video brought back a lot of memories good and bad
Bill, you never cease to amaze me. These were cool before it was time for them to be cool. I'm from Kentucky. If you were from here Bill, we'd be drinking bourbon together. This is great!
As a young kid I went on a Boy Scout tour of the Chevy Tonawanda (Buffalo) motor plant and in the middle of the assembly floor was a small room with glass windows on all sides. Inside a small group of UAWs were assembling the early Cosworths. The problem with owning the Vega in Buffalo was that they all got the winter cancer after just a few years and ended up at the pic-n-pull with the twin cams and alloy wheels gone.
The reason they rusted like they did was that they had a biodegradable body. My aunt and uncle had a 1974-75 wagon, then one of my dad friends took one of these engines and drivetrain and put it into a 1976 brown wagon Vega in 1982, everyone then started to wonder what he had when he kicked the hell out of late 1970's Camaro Z-28's and L-82 Vettes. Well little did they know he also got a new head and intake plane from Cosworth that was from the racing engines for it so he was pushing close to 200 HP out of the thing.
I loved mine. Went from original aluminum engine to steel sleeves. When finally blew engine I put in the 350 with nova tranny and cut corvette rear tubbed the rear with 50’s Mickey Thompson on craigers and 31/2 inch trick wheels in front. Did 10.2 in quarter mile in 1986.
Thank you Bill, this is exactly the kind of crazy shit we want. Reminds me of my mother's car, 73 Vega GT sport wagon butterscotch yellow with wood grain. Rotted to death around the windshield in 3 years. I believe there was even some type of buyback. Then she made a bigger mistake and bought a 75 Malibu sedan with a straight six that wouldn't start in the rain. Thank you so much for doing this can't wait for more.
As an older guy who remembers the Vega not too fondly, I can't believe I'm gonna say this but...I love this car! And I agree that it's a great looking car as well. Thanks for another great video, Bill!
Hi Bill, I always love your commentary and wealth of knowledge on each car you present! This takes me back as a youngster in 1977. Ernie Drake Chevrolet had the last year's model of Vega. I remember seeing a black one in the showroom. This apparently was the last Cosworth held over from 1976. There didn't seem to be any takers. I realize rarity of these special cars now. My mother was also looking at a Vega station wagon. We ended up with the Nova. I only 👀 Cosworth Vegas rising in value. The added fuel injection would definitely increase it. I know the Bendix systems could potentially be complicated to work on and sourcing parts. The next owner will decide that. We'd love to have you come up permanently, to the mountains of Western, North Carolina and Northeast Tennessee! We have 4 seasons and no 🔥 fire 🐜 ants! 😃
My friend and mentor had a 76 Vega 2 door, and back in the day, he worked as a flight instructor at an airport in Michigan. Spark knock in cats of this era were commonplace, so he was able to use 100 low lead avgas in the car. Buh bye spark knock, and the car ran like a scalded cat 😂 Oddly, avgas was slightly cheaper than car gas at that time. Loved Vega's even though you could watch them rust sitting on the driveway. Imagine real good rustproof metal back in the day, we'd have so many cool 70s cars with us still.
Awesome video! It's funny to me that I get better history lessons from you and your channel than I can from the History Channel. Can't wait to see what you come up with the next time. Thanks for the really cool video.
my dad always had a dream of finding one of these or a monza to drop a 327 into and eventually just settled on a nova, I myself would love to have a baby camaro vega with a 283 or a 327 dropped in it with a four speed, that would be a fun car
I owned the cousin of this car, an Oldsmobile starfire sx. 305 v8 with turbo hydromatic. The weight of the motor made it balanced like a dart. Stable to the point of inability to make sudden direction changes. Had to be driven / steered using the throttle and minimal steering input. Once learned was a joy to drive. After 325000 miles the body started to have metal fatigue. The fellow I sold it to got a speeding ticket two days after he had it. Too bad GM refused to do the due diligence and just tweak the design and a bit of quality control. Good video, thanks
My parents had a Chevy Vega station wagon when I was a kid. I fact, I saw Star Wars for the first time in '77 in that car at the drive in. I've always wondered what a Cosworth Vega station wagon would have looked like.
I considered buying one that was an anniversary model. They wanted waaay too much, so I left. I bought my Vega Sept '70. Put everything on it I could: bi-Y headers, Offy 360 dual port manifold, Holley 390 CFM carb. Fun (in its class). If I got the cosworth, I would have torn off all the emissions junk and hot rodded that one. Now we're talking.
I am constantly amazed at how much knowledge of the subject you manage to get into these videos. Tremendous trivia with a sarcastic-as-balls sense of humour is very satisfying.
Well said, and agreed!
precisely
Here! Here! Well said, Jim!
He's good but man, my ears hurt!
GOAT of carcasm ;)
I was a tech at a big Chevy dealership from 1971-77. The Vega was the most colossal POS ever built, so bad that when I wanted to buy a new sub-compact car in 1972 I went to a competitor across the street. We sold several of these Cosworths and I worked on them and drove them quite a bit. They were hardly what I'd call fast, except for the idle speed. The 1600 rpm idle speed was amusing. Initial pre-production press reports about the Cosworth were mentioning amazing horsepower numbers, but by the time the actual emissions-compliant production cars arrived the real output had dwindled to much less. Another case of a car that looked good on paper and has now had it's reputation embellished by decades of mythology endlessly repeated by people who in most cases have never even seen one.
I remember a Jean Lindamood column wherein she related being pulled over by the cops (Michigan? Detroit?), and a girlfriend was with her. The friend was of Croatian descent, and had taught Lindamood several phrases in her native tongue: "Hello, how are you," "when is your birthday," &c. So they started talking to each other, repeating all those basic phrases over and over, in increasingly frantic voices and gesticulations.
The LEO stood there for a moment, looking and listening, and finally just shook his head and walked--then drove--away. Success!
Bill, thanks for the memories. My first car was a 1974 Vega GT w/ 4 speed. It was a blast to drive for me as a young 16 year old. GM seems to never learn their lesson.....on refining cars before they bring them to market. They made this first mistake with the first Corvettes, the Corvair, the Vega, and the Pontiac Fiero. In all case examples the cars turned out to be decent sellers by the time the refinements were put into standard production.
Exactly the same with GM's overseas operations of the period over here in Europe - giving rise to things like the Canadian Vauxhall Firenza of 1971 with its dreadful under-developed first generation emissions equipment (the law suits were still being fought a decade later!). Incidentally the British HP version of the Firenza used the same Avon alloy wheels as the Cosworth Vega.
My first car was a USED '74 Vega GT 4 speed (Maroon) with no A/C. Lifting the hood and dumping in oil before every outing was essential. My Vega round key would open my Mom's Cadillac door.
@@brettb8825 A friend had one that both burned and leaked ridiculous amounts of oil. At least two quarts per tank of gas.
It eventually died when he slammed on the brakes to avoid an alligator in the road and the front suspension collapsed.
My aunt in Michigan traded her 1967 Chevy Corvair Monza in on a 1973 Vega. She did that because the Corvair had bad heating as it was air cooled. She got heat in the Vega but it rusted away in three years. Sad.
This is the only car that came with a case of cancer. I waxed my car to death and it rusted to the ground. Nice car when new but rust killed it with blown head gasket.
As a Brit , I find this miniscule engine a hoot to hear reving in an American muscle car shape that should have a big V8 and Jimmy Rockford driving it .
Chevy had that covered with the Monza 2+2. As a smug Canadian whose family has been in the auto business for a long time, I must say I never heard of the Cosworth until recent times.
As far as the V8 options, you could order right up to a small block 350. I'm sure you are aware of what a decent mechanic can make a 350 do with a bit of tweaking. What I know about those cars is that (besides the rust issues) the engine was hideously overpowering the chassis. They were notorious for oversteer and front end dive. Easy to spin. Kind of dangerous. They just didn't have enough wheelbase to control all that torque. Not nearly enough brakes either.
That Vega would be a blast on UK roads! 😊
Oh, you're thinking of that early Rockford Files episode where Rockford rented a blue Vega in Arizona (?) and engaged in a "Duel"-like battle with an 18 wheeler!
@@johndrake2729 shoot I remember that being a nova
@@johndrake2729
Oh, crap….I think I missed that one.
Friend of mine had a Vega wagon manual shift when we were in high school. It could actually break the rear end loose in first with full steering lock, and if you shifted into second fast enough, you could get it spinning donuts on bare pavement. If you live in a place with snowy winters, you know what fun a short-wheelbase rear-wheel drive car can be (although we took that for granted back then). Keep up the great work!
Owned 4 of these through the years, starting with a '76 (#2405) bought in 1978 which I traded my 1974 Mercury Capri 2.8 V6 + some cash for. Bought the car from Lance Stewart (who went on to drive professionally for MAZDA and others) who campaigned the car in west coast slalom events with some success. Dick Guldstrand set up the suspension for Lance. With Caldwell race recaps and konis, along with an autopower roll bar to stiffen up the chassis (if only modestly) - the car turned through the pylons reasonably well.
Shortly after purchasing the car I joined the then, relatively recently established CVOA, founded by Bob Malloy - and ended up making further modifications to the car which included a port/polish of the 16 valve head, factory GM camshafts and most importantly (from an output standpoint) a set of 45mm Weber DCOE's mounted on manifolds developed and produced by Bill Hutton at H.M.E in Clarksville Tennessee. Later, I acquired another '76 which was a later production date (do not recall the dash number) car. Brown metallic with a tan interior and later still, 2 more 1975 units, though again, I don't recall the dash number though I believe one of them could've been (1875 ?)
Being in my 60's now, memories fade but I did have fun with them even IF they were routinely trounced by a well driven Alfa GTV or rotary Mazda. Actually, my aforementioned Capri would skunk my Cosworth's with relative ease... as long as the tarmac was billiard table smooth. The posi differential (if so optioned) and coil spring butt end of the Cosworth's did better on anything less than smooth surfaces. Not by much, but enough.
The weak points were. Oil seepage at the cam carrier and head. The rear panhard rod mount points where it meets the chassis. The 5 speed T50 exhibiting oiling issues in sustained high g-load situations, (the 4 speed 'saginaw' cars had no such problems and were actually a joy to row the cogs with once fitted with a Hurst linkage). And of emphatic importance, the crankcase oil level had to be monitored at ALL times since they were prone to windage and oil aeration issues, or a spun rod bearing (usually #4) was a certainty. Again, under higher than normal cornering load circumstances.
These were basically just Vega's with an semi-exotic (for that era) drivetrains, black paint jobs with gold striping, a fancy machine turned dash applique with bespoke numerical sequence #... and alloy wheels. If I recall correctly, the wheels were given a production budget equaled only by the powerplant. Though I must say, The early '75 cars I had seemed to be a bit more sorted, or at least they came across that way with just a touch less body rattles and door, hood, decklid gaps being more consistent.
I ended up selling #2405 to Gary Schroeder of Schroeder Engineering in Burbank, Ca. At the time Gary owned, and was willing to partially trade his unmolested, low mileage, 1967 Sunbeam Tiger II (289 Ford) - if I could come up with $2500. I was an engineering student and $ was tough to come by so that just never happened (much to my chagrin). I sold the car for the whopping sum of $4000.
As I recall, #2405 was sold to a fellow who completely dismantled and repurposed it for Bonneville.
Enjoy your Cosworth. Just keep a keen eye on that dipstick.
-doc
Terrific car, Bill. Rare to see a GM dash from the '70's with no crack down the middle!
My dad bought one of these in 1986 after it had been rear ended by a cargo van. Extensive repairs and 2 engine rebuilds later he still has it. I learned to drive stick on this car and still take it out for drives as often as weather permits. Never fails to put a smile on my face. Thank you so much for this review, more people deserve to know about this car.
Ps, thanks. PPS: how you maintenance: oils, filters, GM, Tires, PUROLATOR????
Ah, the Chevy Vega. I remember cruising normally in my Vega when it blew an engine seal and the exhaust smoked out the entire highway...just like in the Spy Hunter video game! Yep, burnin' coal has nothing on a misbehaving Chevy Vega.
I'm old enough to get the reference and also own the game as a kid. 🤣
I remember that video game the music was good in it too
As you walk around the car, it is striking how nicely proportioned the car is. It has a very nice shape and the parts and pieces work well together. Thanks for the video.
I have great memories of a Vega hatchback I had. LT1 with an M22 four speed. The first time I raced it the windshield popped out of its frame from the body-twisting torque. After subframe was beefed up, it would pull the front tires off the ground all through first gear. It was by far the most dangerous vehicle I've ever seen, but a blast to drive. I love your videos Bill. Keep up the fantastic work!
I’m old enough to remember the reviews in the car mags when these were introduced. I actually took the time to figure out how an overhead cam engine worked and felt proud of myself, considering I was just a kid at the time. Always liked the looks of the Vega hatch although it had horrific reliability. Glad to know a few survived.
I went from a 69 Camaro to a 72 Vega GT. It was a really sweet handling car and actually quite fast. I loved the hatch back. Yes you really could get busy back there if you were agile. That rear glass sure was cold on the naked rear end if you came up too high🫠. Too bad it soon had the magic 50k on the odometer and like all of them started hogging oil and was soon DOA. It was a cool little car while it lasted
I've never seen a Vega in such great condition. Not even a new one on re-runs of The Price Is Right.
They say it rusted out between episodes 1 and 6.
@@LesterLovesWatches : Faster than that up here in Canada.
When I was a young lad, I worked at my local Chevy dealership for most of my years of high school summers (72-75) and in charge of prepping every new car for delivery straight off the truck(s). Can't tell you how many Vega's (they flew off the lot as soon as they arrived) in all of their forms (notchback, hatchback, wagon, delivery panel) from base to GT's. We never got one of these but I have seen one when it was new, and only one. I was like way surprised to see you with one! I always thought they were cute, and I favored the GT's, but the fully loaded wagon's with fake wood grain sides were somewhat cute. The Chevy Love truck was popular then as well. Not to mention most of all of the Chevy models out at the time, and we got a few Laguna S-3's in the usual white and burgundy, but did get a black and white one which I wanted very badly. Unfortunately too young for that purchase! Thanks for letting this cat out of the bag!
oh fantastic! when i turned down my appointment to the USAFA Dad sold my 77TransAm for $5500 and wrote a check for $700 and told me to go get my new wheels. when i got to the house - cars everywhere, i said i'm here for the Vega. The wife was in tears so the husband said, "gonna need $50 dollars more for this car". my 93 Vega GT got me thru college and well after. it had the manual trans and the very smoky injection molded engine block. we took it to my cousin Kenny Timer for a 'tune up' or sleeves is what i wanted. it was way more than Dad would spend which was probably more than he paid for it in 1978 $750. the little 4banger would burn a quart of oil every 60 miles so i always had cans of oil rolling around in the back. there was a lot that was good about this sweet little silver Vega (the stripe disappeared after Buddy painted it) we paid him and my Dad said you can finish it when the paint is dry. Bud said no - for that money I'm done with it. Dad just smiled and so did I the car looked so beautiful. it looked like a mini Camaro - it was pretty. the balance was very good, it could dance little doughnuts at the top of the street on the ice which made my friends trash can banging Plymouths look stupid. it would drift nicely around corners and bends on dry pavement before drifting was invented just by dropping it into first and nailing it, particularly handy when showing off for the young women. it could haul 3 other friends and hold incredible amounts of stash in the hatchback. the little straight four would quit when the oil got too low, ie it had a preservation instinct. i do miss that beautiful little car!
I was working as a Chevy tech, from 1973 to 1977 (then went on to work for Chevrolet Motor Division) and we sold a couple of these. I think the initial allocation was one or so per dealer, but some of the dealers decided that getting so few vehicles was more trouble than they were worth and either exchanged their allocation or did a dealer trade as soon as the vehicle arrived. Each dealership had to have one tech trained on it, so I was selected to be trained. Unfortunately, it was so pricey compared to the base model that ours sat on the showroom floor for over a year. Can't remember how we finally disposed of them.
Cadillac also used the Bendix Electrojector fuel injection system in 1976. It was standard on the Olds 350 powered Seville and optional on the 500 cubic inch full size Caddy. It was carried over on the 425 engine in the downsized '77 Cadillac full size cars.
Bendix started fooling with the electronic fuel injection in the mid 1950's using tubes. Two Bendix engineers drove a '53 Buick from Buffalo NY to Baltimore MD fitted with the prototype unit. The box holding the electronics was so large, it sat on the passenger side front seat while the second engineer at in the back seat to monitor it's operation.
Bendix eventually sold the patents to Bosch and it was called the Bosch D jetronic.
I love-love-love how this guy narrates this chanel, you can tell that he is the real deal with legitimate and factual information about the ladies he is showcasing, I am a happy subscriber, a loyal follower and a big fan.
I only saw one back when it came out. A rich guy bought it for his 16 year old som. He rampaged that poor car all over the neighborhood including doing non stop donuts at the hangout trying to prove to everyone how fast it was. Funny how seeing one 45 years later brings me back to that. Nice find Bill and very informative history you shared.
oh fantastic! when i turned down my appointment to the USAFA Dad sold my 77TransAm for $5500 and wrote a check for $700 and told me to go get my new wheels. when i got to the house - cars everywhere, i said i'm here for the Vega. The wife was in tears so the husband said, "gonna need $50 dollars more for this car". my 93 Vega GT got me thru college and well after. it had the manual trans and the very smoky injection molded engine block. we took it to my cousin Kenny Timer for a 'tune up' or sleeves is what i wanted. it was way more than Dad would spend which was probably more than he paid for it in 1978 $750. the little 4banger would burn a quart of oil every 60 miles so i always had cans of oil rolling around in the back. there was a lot that was good about this sweet little silver Vega (the stripe disappeared after Buddy painted it) we paid him and my Dad said you can finish it when the paint is dry. Bud said no - for that money I'm done with it. Dad just smiled and so did I the car looked so beautiful. it looked like a mini Camaro - it was pretty. the balance was very good, it could dance little doughnuts at the top of the street on the ice which made my friends trash can banging Plymouths look stupid. it would drift nicely around corners and bends on dry pavement before drifting was invented just by dropping it into first and nailing it, particularly handy when showing off for the young women. it could haul 3 other friends and hold incredible amounts of stash in the hatchback. the little straight four would quit when the oil got too low, ie it had a preservation instinct. i do miss that beautiful little car!
sorry - I've been banned from this platform for some reason. this is a test to see if I can get some content on here about things i really love - cars. if you can re-post this i would appreciate it. thank you!!!
X-Mas comes early to Bill Nation! Back to back uploads; what a gift! And this one's a proper 40 minute piece. NICE! 👌
Bill is the Santa who never leaves coal in anyone's stockings! 😊
Hey Bill, these Cosworth Vegas were such a big deal when they came out. One of my buddies bought one in 76 & I was amazed at how much more expensive it was than the base Vega. They are fun to drive although the Canadians are going to be miserable in that small back seat!!! Thanks for sharing this cool blast from the past!!! 🥃
As a Canadian, I'm always miserable in the back seats. Except maybe in one of those stretched Maybachs.
@@jimsmalleimb7709 those stretch Maybachs would have plenty of room to move around in!!! 👌
@@christopherkraft1327 I saw Tyler Hoover do a Rockford J-turn in a long wheelbase Maybach today 🤣🤣🤣
@@pdennis93 I saw that too!!!
@@christopherkraft1327 it was hilarious reading the comments with people saying things like "what's a Rockford? That's a J-turn." Younguns 🤣🤣🤣
One of my Z car buddy's bought a used Cosworth back in the mid '80's. I rode in it once and was very impressed. I will never forget the sound of it and how it revved. That's a beautiful car brother!
I actually paid $4500 for a "76 with 3000 miles on it. It was fun to drive, but underpowered, had a great transmission and a Torsen rear end, and I liked it but found it coarse and noisy on the road... I sold it and bought two Vega GT Hatchbacks for $900, and drove them for years...
The hidden genius of the Vega is that it was designed to ship in special train cars vertically, standing on its front bumper. They could get 30 Vegas on a train car, vs. 18 the regular way. That's how they were literally able to move a million of them. (Whether the shipping savings passed along to the customer or not, I have no idea) I would love to see an engineering analysis of what was needed to not leak fluids in their shipping position.
I can take a stab at your question. Iron heads on an aluminum block was a mistake. Even a high school chemistry student knows that different metals expand and contract differently. Also, as mentioned in the video, not having cylinder liners was a mistake. It just goes to prove, never buy a first-year car, especially a first year GM car.
Go to THE HISTORY GUY channel. He has a 20min vid on the Vega and how they were shipped.
@Jonathan Morrisey - Yep. The History guy did a good history piece. Long story short, there was baffle in the oil pan to contain the oil while the car was stood on its nose. In the 80's I had a '72 Vega that I had steel sleeved the cylinders. Didn't smoke again but I still constantly had to add oil, and there were no drips underneath. To this day I have no idea where the oil went. Was fun to drive the car, semi-peppy with OHC 2.3 liter aluminum block made the car fairly well-balanced. but it was so buzzy inside that I think I still have residual hearing loss from highway driving. I never got more than 24 miles per gallon. And like one of the above posters the last straw (after the air conditioner compressor and the heater air diverter door broke) was a failure of the front suspension. Junked it after that. The body did not have a speck of rust on it, though.
@@jeffholloway7974 666
My Dad bought a Vega in 1973 because it all he could afford. Being a WW2 veteran , buying an import was out of the question. One year later during the Arab oil embargo our local Chevrolet dealer offered him $200 more than he paid for it to buy it back. Dad passed away in 1975 and I inherited the car (and it’s problems) In high school auto mechanics I installed steel cylinder sleeves in an attempt to overhaul the engine. I cured the oil consumption problem but the overheating problem (blowing head gaskets) persisted. I went on to become an auto mechanic and later and assembly line worker in a custom fire truck factory. In my 4 book exposé series “All in a DAZE work” (The Decline and fall of the American work ethic) I profile the numerous problems I saw with American vehicle Manufacturing
My best pal in HS had one - must have been around 1979. That thing's engine was so damn loose. People behind us in traffic would regularly be obscured in a thick, white smokescreen. I was so slow that we'd regularly get trounced at stoplights by 16 year old girls in Beetles. Vegas always seemed to be the most rapid to age of all cars. A two year old example would often appear to be 20 years old. I kid you not.
Your detailed narration was fantastic. You obviously do your homework. I sent a link to a motorcycle racing buddy of mine who had a string of Vegas back in the 70's. They were cheap to operate and went in a straight line going down the road pulling a motorcycle trailer. I know he is going to learn something new about Vegas because of your thoroughly informative video.
You've been talking about this review for such a long time. Finally it is here! Cheers, Bill.
Good review Bill. What sticks in my mind when a Vega is discussed is when they first came out the rear lower shock mounts got wiped out in a conveyor type car wash & premature rust from Michigan salt laden roads in the winter just ate the metal panels within a couple of years. Also, I worked with a guy at the time who paid over $3,700 for a new '71 Coupe. Back then you could buy a new VW super beetle for $1,900. Granted, everything rusted back then but not as bad as the Vegas & Pintos.
Absolutely stunning! My first car was a 1974 Vega GT, and while it was six years old, showing some serious cancer, it was a good handler and fun to drive with the manual trans.
This is simultaneously one of the most-terrific and most-heartbreaking stories in American motoring. I partly blame it on the General's passive-aggressive attitude toward "small" cars. I have warm memories of the Vega, almost in spite of how badly they were initially built (as a kid in summer camp, I recall a Creamsicle-orange model owned by a rather-cute counselor who drove me around shortly after she bought it). Never knew about the later versions in all the different colors and trims - loved the Camaro-esque rear spoiler! (How did they make the gold trim not seem too-blingy on this, but over-the-top on the Firebird Trans Am years later? Blame it on Burt Reynolds?) Also interesting that the speedo only went up to 120. Great overview, Bill, so BIG thanks for this. (EDIT; Yes, Jean Lindamood…yep, remembered her, great writer and racer.)
Would love to see one built the way "it could've been" i.e. cam/valves/pistons because my understanding it made 300 hp but with emissions and crap it made 110 hp🤪
man i love your channel for covering such forgotten cars in such detail. My buddy had one of these in high school and it was a cool little car. It was a white 76. I was super impressed by the history of the thing even back then. They seemed to have stayed forgotten and have never gotten the recognition they deserved.
This Vega was the best looking, the nicer looking tail lights, great looking front end, the Wheels, color combination. A high school Buddy's parents bought a Vega two speed automatic they bought the car new at the Chevy dealer when they drove it home it could not even make it up the hill to their house, they returned the car and said they didn't want it.
I think the '74 - '75 were the best looking of the years. The front ends imitated the Camaro. The '71-'73 grill was too large proportionally but in '74, it was still large, but the slits made it less noticable and the parking lights reduced the width, as compared to '76-'77. The sloping front was meaner looking, the '71-'73 too flat.
The more you look at the front end the more you realize you don't have to squint to see the late 80s Camaro. They're uncannily similar
I thought your name was Sam...
That was all gm cars of the era. All looked alike. All had a smaller or bigger brother with a different badge.
I think its great you get them out there and open them up for us viewers . It proves how nice they really are.
Hey Bill I worked it for Holden Chevrolet in 1975 and 76 at 6 Mile and Van Dyke in Detroit and we got about three of these New codsworth Vegas came in and that time. I prepped all three of them they were all black I remember driving them in that thing and they're really special they're really fast they had shocks in them that seem like you were floating compared to all the other cars at the same time. We're brand new and they were a fantastic car you know the problem was the rust like you said but if they wouldn't have had to rust out problems they would have been a hell of a car and they were a beautiful little package yes they were fast as hell but extremely expensive at the time you know a new Caprice was probably $4,500 with everything in it back then have a good day
I really enjoyed this, thank you.- I had a 1971 Vega which transported me from my senior year in high school through law school graduation. I had the typical Vega problems. I had to replace the engine at my expense...twice. The car rusted out very badly, particularly around the cowl area. It's a shame as GM came really close to producing a terrific small car out of the blocks. Install fender liners, better rust proofing and drop in the iron duke and you would have had a great subcompact car. As you noted, by 75-76 the rust problems and the engine problems were resolved....just too late to save it. As to it's main competitors, the Pinto, Gremlin and Beetle, it was clearly the most attractively styled, was the best handling and had the best interior of the group. The Cosworth was an interesting car, but lack of AC eliminated it from serious consideration.
I was a young kid in the mid ‘70s. My dad was car shopping for a new station wagon. At a dealer I saw a Vega wagon that was silver with purple and yellow stripes I wanted so badly. My dad eventually bought a green Gran Torino wagon with a Cleveland engine off the lot so that was oddly cool.
My dad had his station wagon in the dealer to get some stuff fixed back in 1974 . They gave him a courtesy car to use in the meantime and it was a piece of shit Vega with the gutless 4 banger . My dad frickin HATED that car !! 🤣 He had it for 4 days and I will never forget how embarrassed he was to be seen by our neighbours when he was driving it . Me and my brother were in tears of laughter watching him drive it down our driveway. He had the most pissed off embarrassed look every second he was driving it . LMFAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love this car. I think the Vega looks great and the Cosworth Twin Cam idea is classic John DeLorean. He wanted the 1st gen Firebird to be more of a sportscar (the concept for which was poached by Chevrolet for the C3 Vette) and I think he was behind the Firebird Sprint 6 at the height of the V8 muscle/pony car fever, which had a European flavour to it. If you ever get your hands on a Sprint 6, Bill, I'd love to watch your appraisal of it. To me, the Cosworth Vega seems like a cross between a Vauxhall HP Firenza of the same era that we had over here, an Opel Manta B/Vauxhall Cavalier Coupe that came later and of course the 2nd gen Camaro. In fact, the HP Firenza used the same Avon safety wheels as this Cosworth Vega, only in silver. Baby Bertha is the most famous Vauxhall Firenza, a racing car that totally dominated British touring car racing in the 70s. I love all GM styling (except the Aztec) from any country and almost every era. I remember listening to old funk records and looking at photos of Super Duty Trans Ams and 442s in magazines as a kid. GM owned Vauxhall in the UK since the 1920s and, although the brand was very prestigious and high performance beforehand, it's the GM period that fans know and love. Such a shame that Vauxhall/Opel has fallen into the hands of PSA and Stellantis.
Agree on the Aztec comment 😀 A guy I worked with both one and everyone busted is arse for buying a box on wheels. He couldn't take the psychological abuse and traded it in a year later.
Yea, Stellantis can f*** up a wet dream.
Bill, thank you for this memory. My first car was a used 1972 Vega GT that i purchased from my aunt during the summer of 78', 15 and before my drivers license was issued at 16. It was silver, black interior, bucket seats, hatchback with the 14" tires. Just over 100,000 miles i blew out the gaskets so i had the sleeves replaced with cast iron along with rebuilding the engine. Removed all the smog crap that was choking the engine (yes, in California) Replaced the 4 speed with a better bendix transmission out of the same year opal gt. (I think GM owned Opal back during those years). Installed new shocks, brakes, tires, carb, points, plugs. Ran 10x better, faster and fun to drive during my Jr, Sr. years of high school. Of course the rust issues in the trunk were hard to fix. Wish I never sold it. This was just a fun car to drive back then.
If GM had done what you did from the get go, The Vega would not have been remembered as such as piece of crap.
You're so right. GM did own OPEL, and the OPEL GT was the European version of the Corvette. We used to call them MiniCorvetts. There could be a video on TH-cam about the OPEL GT.
@@outlet6989 Thanks for the correct spelling of OPEL GT. Yes, that was a better shifter and matched that transmission perfectly. I could scratch the tires in all 4 gears and an "exhibition of speeding ticket' to prove it (yes, it was worth it). Was a blast to drive and had good gas mileage. GM was too arrogant to listen to their consumers back then. SMH.
My old neighbor owned Central Chevrolet of Fremont, California. I believe they still have the 1975 Cosworth Vega allocated to them...Never registered and I'm sure almost ZERO mileage on it. I remember riding my bicycle down to look at it. Those Cosworth race motors in competition had a reliability issue!
Bill, best vid yet…Proud owner of 1975 #2013, also with the Weber setup and open exhaust (taking the catalytic converter out of this thing is good for 40hp alone).
Also an owner of an all original 1977 Monte Carlo I also saw you recently highlight here…
Keep up the great vids…
Btw, I kept all of the fuel injection parts…The engine simply runs stronger on the Webers (if you open up the exhaust first). The carb setup gives another 10-20 HP (but much better mid range torque), than the early EFI.
The stock engine has fairly long duration intake valve timing and a decent amount of overlap. This allows the high RPM, however the stock exhaust adds too much back pressure at high RPM for the engine to breathe as it should and limits the redline to 6500. Remove the cat (and ideally use a 2.25 inch pipe) and you get the redline up to 7500 on this engine. It really is quite a screamer if you uncork it. It gets damn close to the 170hp intended that the 1971 prototypes had with this setup.
I bought my 1975 Cosworth twin cam Vega #0177 in my early twenties ca 1976. I fell in love with the engine and drivability and proceeded to blow the motor. Had it rebuilt with the EGR removed and added some great little quad eyebrow Payne l pistons to match up with the four valve head. This thing was a screamer. A set of good year Wingfoot tires and it could handle the twisties like a rail. My buddy had a straight six Datsun 240Z and couldn't keep up. I loved this car even though it had it's... Let's say quirks. Nice video!
The mini camaro ! Enjoyed this video ! You are very informative on these cars and I like your style of presentation with some humor , thanks for sharing .
I still have my 1974 Vega GT. It's a great car, especially with the full tubular chassis, PG, a 383 NA motor, and shorted Ford 9-inch. Runs sub 5's in the 8th. I paid a mere $300 for it back in 1997.
Pinto and Vega was was America's answer to the gas crunch. USA got caught with their pants down and had to build something quick. Hot rod guys would stuff big blocks into the Vega. Stock version was cheap and janky. The cosworth was nice but a little late. I almost bought one. Anyways great vid keep them coming!!!!
My 75 Vega GT 5 speed was my FAVORITE car. I miss it so much!!! I would LOVE to have another one. Mine was yellow with a black stripe. It was beautiful.
Owned a 76 Vega, overall not a bad car, 350 turbo tranny, with an electrical fuel pump, drove that car everywhere, had 150k miles never had any serious issues with the car.
"Well, that would prove... pretty f'ckd up later on." Gotta love Bill's vernacular!
1975-76 i was a car porter at a Chevy dealer. We had a Cos Vega in the showroom.
I liked looking at the engine with the chrome efi and big header.
I drove many std Vegas incl the Vega GT. They were so sluggish you had hammer it to get into traffic.
Vega GT with a stripe and GT wheels was a good looking car.
Another interesting Chevy in 75 was a Monza V8 manual trans.
I once had an Opel coupe that looked like this Vega. Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet. All GM cars at the time and slightly alike in some respects. The Cosworth mill usually powered Fords. I like this car.
Add the Holden Torana hatchback to that, quite similar
The reason for the rushed production schedule is that GM was trying to compete with Lee Iacocca's Pinto over at Ford, which was built on a similarly rushed schedule.
The base Vega was basically the American forerunner of the Yugo. A friend of mine had one back in the day and riding in it was downright terrifying, like it was about to fly apart at any given moment. At 35mph, it felt and sounded like you were going 90, as you had a white knuckled grip on the nearest oshit handle.
Yeah, but you've got to admit it was a pretty good looking car - at least in hatchback coupe form.
back in 85 some guys in my high school dropped a v8 in one. One massive burnout and it was done. Apparently they never thought to beef up the car to handle that kind of twisting
Bill, you should review a Buick Reatta. It was a grand touring roadster designed for Old fat guys to feel sporty in without being too flashy or upsetting their wives.
I really dig your assessment of that car and it's buyers. Actual LOL!
@@randolfo1265 Yes, basically something for Bill is he time traveled back to the early 90’s.
Reattas are still collector bargains IMO, the poor man’s Cadillac Allante
@@elisorrells5314 It’s a shame the Reatta, Allanté, and TC Maserati were given front-wheel drive and automatic transmissions; two things a roadster should never have. If they had given the Reatta a six speed manual, the turbo/intercooled 3.8 from the Regal T-Type/Grand National, and rear wheel drive, then it would’ve been a truly amazing car. Being smaller, lighter and more aerodynamic, it would’ve outrun and out handled the Regal. If they really wanted it to be futuristic and high tech, then why not give it the all-wheel-drive system from the GMC Typhoon/Cyclone? If you’re gonna power the front wheels, you might as well power the rear ones as well and give Audi, Diamond-Star Motors and Subaru a run for their money.
The only Reatta I ever saw belonged to a Buick dealership owner. Old fat guy, yep
Well done! I remember seeing one of these when I was a kid. I was a young motor-head and knew of Cosworth but information was non-existent on this beast back then, and when I laid eyes on it for the first time back then, it was akin to seeing a mystical unicorn. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
My mother had a ‘76 Vega base in ‘79 three speed manual with manual steering and manual brakes. A couple years later I got my driver’s license on it.
Fun fact about Vega’s, the easiest to find part is the steering box. That’s because it’s still mass produced to this day as it’s one of the smallest on the market and popular with the hot rod crowd for rack and pinion conversions
The hot rodders also like the Pinto's suspension.
But the Vega doesn't have rack and pinion steering. So why would the Vega steering box be in demand for rack and pinion conversions?
@@barryervin8536 you know what, I think you’re right. But it’s still widely used as the steering box of choice because of its compact size
My friend in high school was a genuine automotive enthusiast. He read every Road and Track, Motor Trend cover to cover.
One weekend during college we went to the Chevy dealership and saw this dusty Cosworth Vega Richard new exactly what we were looking at. The salesman had no idea what it was. He let us take it for a test drive (on our own), 29 miles at the start 139 when we got back, I think we even put gas in it.
It was a blast, so much fun, my friend Richard was in seventh heaven. When we returned we asked the salesman for the price,
he about fell over $14,000 1976 dollars. No more unsupervised test drives.
22:25 I believe Cadillac used the same Bosch-Bendix EFI port injection system on the 1976 Seville and as an option on the 500 and 425 engines in their large models, so the switch to throttle-body "digital fuel injection", in 1980, was a step backward in at least one way. On the other hand, the "computer" in this car, which is related to both the Bosch D-Jetronic controller in the 1968 VW Type 3 and that of the original Bendix EFI option on the 1957 Desoto, was really an all-analog circuit, which most likely used op-amps to perform the mathematical operations that would implemented in code today. It's too bad that so many of the cars with these early EFI systems have been converted to carburetors; kudos to the previous owner of this car for saving the EFI hardware.
Good presentation Bill. Not sure if he still has it, but an Asst. Pastor, at New Hope Church in Naples was given one by a church member when I was down there in the mid-ninetys. He was smiling for a week, not really a car guy but he had always hoped to aquire the 75' Cosworth model Vega.
Cool looking car. Plenty of room and huge rear hatch storage. Cosworth!
Those chrome pipes over the valve cover were AIR smog lines that injected raw air into the top of the exhaust port to meet HC emissions.
Ya know, I love cars and love your channel for the cars. And find myself coming back more and more just for the catty snarky commentary. Love it, makes my day
I had 15 or more friends in high school that drove vega's, we put an LT 1 in a buddy's had a hell of a time keeping a transmission and motor mounts in it though ! We had lots of fun in them. You could camp in the back with the seat down and a sleeping bag! If I had the cash free now I would love to have that one, great fun with Friends!
A guy I knew back in high school that had a '75 Vega. He and his dad dropped a 327 into it. It was balls to the wall fast and kind of terrifying at the same time.
The first car I bought with my own money in 1983 was a 1974 Vega with an automatic. It was $200 and I overpaid for it. The rust completely surrounded the rear window so when I cranked up the bass in the stereo I paid more for than the car, the rear window bounced up and down. The car met it's demise on an uphill slope when it downshifted into second and blew a 4-inch hole in the side of that aluminum block. I sold it to a buddy for $50 and he put a 289 in it.
Imagine some thinner bumpers on this thing, that alone would make it look infinitely better (not to say I don't like it btw)
It’d look great with early camaro split bumpers and a big grille
of the black and gold scheme, I remember the Mercury Capri Black Cat and a couple of cars in Europe who used the combo. Thats it. Just wanted to share. Glad you did this one. I had one on a fluke. A blast for two months, noticed rust starting around the windscreen and back window. A sign form the Gods. I then traded for a Rover 3500. In essence, I moved the headache from my Rt frontal lobe to the left frontal lobe.
I love how you said "transmission mount" ☺️. My mom had a '72 Vega, she just kept a case of oil in the back seat. It's interesting they finally fixed the car, but by then I guess it was too late.
omg, I've been waiting for this to show up. I graduated high school in 1985 - Vegas were all over the parking lot because they were basically free if they were still around, but I never saw one of these in person. I think this is actually a good looking little car.
I went with a friend for a ride in a factory original Cos that I was considering buying. The car was in excellent shape. The drive was on a rural paved staright road. Got in this little Vega and was heavily impressed by neck snapping accelleration. And this was the 80s so the price that was offered would have broken your heart cheap.
Ahh yes! My first car was a 73 Vega, this was in 1982. I only could dream of it being a GT or Cosworth.
The body on that one was a beauty. I learned my first lessons in car ownership in my driveway. I changed plugs,did brakes , flushed coolant, and changed my starter, all on that little Vega.
I was lucky enough to ride in a cosworth Vega with a factory rep that had some kind of a box that adjusted the timing. Oh my God, it took off like a vet, I was in the backseat and was so impressed on how fast that little car went with that little cosworth in it. It was a totally different motor with the factory timing box on it that could not be left on for customers. Have no idea why they couldn't have sold them like that. I was in high school at the time, swept the shop floors after school and got to know one of the mechanics really well, and he offered me the ride.
That manifold pressure sensor in the box is a straight copy, if not a sourced Bosch unit from a D-Jetronic setup (multiport fuel injection on foreign cars like Volvos, VWs, and MBs that predated the Vega)
It is indeed a Bosch MAP sensor. Bendix did use some Bosch parts on their system (including the injectors I believe). Fitting since the D-Jet is a derivative of the Bendix Electrojector from 1957.
@@jasonvanrell3678 That Chrysler used on its cars in ‘58 with dismal results due to wax paper circuit boards hung in the engine bay where they were exposed to heat and water. Hilarious when you think about all of the bullshit the Big Three went through during the malaise era. Feedback carburetors, lean burn, etc. Meanwhile, the Europeans had fuel injection. That they got from Bendix in 1958. Don’t know where they came up with K-Jet, but all L-Jet variants through motronic were certainly descendants of D-Jet. If Chrysler did some more R&D before releasing the ‘58 cars, or sat on the project until the technology was there, they could’ve been on top despite the ‘62 cars.
Thanks for all your hard work creating fine content. We love hearing your weather/animal ranting! Don't fret, the cool weather is coming Bill. 👍 This Vega is a bit of a unicorn.
Yes Sir, I love your take on the keepers of the crypt. That's Leno's favorite saying "join the club"
There was a '75 Cosworth Vega parked in one of the driveways between my house and my best friend's house when I was a kid back in the 1980s in Pendelton, Oregon. I pined over that car for years. Never saw the owner, never saw the car move. I even worked up the nerve to knock on the owner's front door once.
Always knew it was rare, but I didn't know it was this rare until I was well out of high school.
Cool car then, cool car now.
Awesome Bill, thank you. Much enjoyed video, cool to learn more as always. The engine sounds like a predating VTEC and good luck with the auction!
My girlfriend`s parents bought her a brand new GT when we were in high school . It handled really well for an American car and she liked it a lot. It was sort of put together fit and finish wise. Then it started to rust out after 2 1/5 years.Being a bright yellow i,t didn`t look great with brown rust sprouting all over. Living In the Northeastern US, this was not too unexpected except the speed at which it occurred.
Bill, I bought a 72 when I got out of the Army and besides the low HP really liked it a lot until out of nowhere the Engine blow up. Never bought another GM car again the rest of my life. All that said your show and your channel are awesome that's great information I really love this video brought back a lot of memories good and bad
Bill, you never cease to amaze me. These were cool before it was time for them to be cool. I'm from Kentucky. If you were from here Bill, we'd be drinking bourbon together. This is great!
As a young kid I went on a Boy Scout tour of the Chevy Tonawanda (Buffalo) motor plant and in the middle of the assembly floor was a small room with glass windows on all sides. Inside a small group of UAWs were assembling the early Cosworths. The problem with owning the Vega in Buffalo was that they all got the winter cancer after just a few years and ended up at the pic-n-pull with the twin cams and alloy wheels gone.
The reason they rusted like they did was that they had a biodegradable body. My aunt and uncle had a 1974-75 wagon, then one of my dad friends took one of these engines and drivetrain and put it into a 1976 brown wagon Vega in 1982, everyone then started to wonder what he had when he kicked the hell out of late 1970's Camaro Z-28's and L-82 Vettes. Well little did they know he also got a new head and intake plane from Cosworth that was from the racing engines for it so he was pushing close to 200 HP out of the thing.
I loved mine. Went from original aluminum engine to steel sleeves. When finally blew engine I put in the 350 with nova tranny and cut corvette rear tubbed the rear with 50’s Mickey Thompson on craigers and 31/2 inch trick wheels in front. Did 10.2 in quarter mile in 1986.
I read Jean Lindamood's columns in Car&Driver and Automobile. Back when I used to read, that is.....
Thank you Bill, this is exactly the kind of crazy shit we want. Reminds me of my mother's car, 73 Vega GT sport wagon butterscotch yellow with wood grain. Rotted to death around the windshield in 3 years. I believe there was even some type of buyback. Then she made a bigger mistake and bought a 75 Malibu sedan with a straight six that wouldn't start in the rain. Thank you so much for doing this can't wait for more.
My wife had a Monza when we met, that car was a curse on my life. It finally came down to get rid of the car or I'm gone.
As an older guy who remembers the Vega not too fondly, I can't believe I'm gonna say this but...I love this car! And I agree that it's a great looking car as well. Thanks for another great video, Bill!
Never knew this special version of the Vega existed, until watching your video. Thank you for sharing this unique information. 😊
Hi Bill, I always love your commentary and wealth of knowledge on each car you present! This takes me back as a youngster in 1977. Ernie Drake Chevrolet had the last year's model of Vega. I remember seeing a black one in the showroom. This apparently was the last Cosworth held over from 1976. There didn't seem to be any takers. I realize rarity of these special cars now. My mother was also looking at a Vega station wagon. We ended up with the Nova. I only 👀 Cosworth Vegas rising in value. The added fuel injection would definitely increase it. I know the Bendix systems could potentially be complicated to work on and sourcing parts. The next owner will decide that. We'd love to have you come up permanently, to the mountains of Western, North Carolina and Northeast Tennessee! We have 4 seasons and no 🔥 fire 🐜 ants! 😃
That’s actually a Vega steering wheel Bill. It did end up in ‘75 Corvettes. 😀
1976 Corvettes.
And in Camaros! My '76 Camaro had that steering wheel and I still like it, great design
@@morgandollar7146 I knew it was one of them. 😂
My friend and mentor had a 76 Vega 2 door, and back in the day, he worked as a flight instructor at an airport in Michigan. Spark knock in cats of this era were commonplace, so he was able to use 100 low lead avgas in the car. Buh bye spark knock, and the car ran like a scalded cat 😂 Oddly, avgas was slightly cheaper than car gas at that time. Loved Vega's even though you could watch them rust sitting on the driveway. Imagine real good rustproof metal back in the day, we'd have so many cool 70s cars with us still.
Awesome video!
It's funny to me that I get better history lessons from you and your channel than I can from the History Channel. Can't wait to see what you come up with the next time.
Thanks for the really cool video.
i had a '79 Olds Starfire (monza) with a 3.8 V6 and a 4 speed - was a great little car
Does the management of GM ever think of working out the bugs on a new car design instead of hurrying them to market and getting lots of complaints?
my dad always had a dream of finding one of these or a monza to drop a 327 into and eventually just settled on a nova, I myself would love to have a baby camaro vega with a 283 or a 327 dropped in it with a four speed, that would be a fun car
I owned the cousin of this car, an Oldsmobile starfire sx. 305 v8 with turbo hydromatic. The weight of the motor made it balanced like a dart. Stable to the point of inability to make sudden direction changes. Had to be driven / steered using the throttle and minimal steering input. Once learned was a joy to drive. After 325000 miles the body started to have metal fatigue. The fellow I sold it to got a speeding ticket two days after he had it. Too bad GM refused to do the due diligence and just tweak the design and a bit of quality control. Good video, thanks
My parents had a Chevy Vega station wagon when I was a kid. I fact, I saw Star Wars for the first time in '77 in that car at the drive in. I've always wondered what a Cosworth Vega station wagon would have looked like.
I had a 77 cosworth station wagon!!!! Best car I had in my teenage years.
I considered buying one that was an anniversary model. They wanted waaay too much, so I left. I bought my Vega Sept '70. Put everything on it I could: bi-Y headers, Offy 360 dual port manifold, Holley 390 CFM carb. Fun (in its class). If I got the cosworth, I would have torn off all the emissions junk and hot rodded that one. Now we're talking.