You Chevette guys have either never driven one at highway speeds, are much braver than me, or consume a great deal of pharmaceuticals. Those are pretty close to the most frightening car I've ever driven, and I've raced super late models on a 1/3 mile oval.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Choose two out of three?
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
Do I ever get the urge to build a Chevette?
Just about every day. Want a built naturally aspirated 2.4 Ecotec in there.
I maaaay have watched too much rally footage from when the Vauxhall Chevette was a contender.
Yup. All the time. A Chevette HS replica with an Ecotec would be stupid fun.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
The problem is (was?) the Chevette is a definition of the malaise era, as it could have been so much more if GM had put the effort in.
Rons said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
The problem is (was?) the Chevette is a definition of the malaise era, as it could have been so much more if GM had put the effort in.
And the prevailing attitude was a rather myopic "Why put the effort in? If they want something nicer, they can buy a Cavalier or a Malibu."
Meanwhile, people who wanted something nicer bought Civics and Corollas.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
When I was commuting in mine I was two out of three. But an hour in my son’s Tercel was more frightening than 5 years in that Chevette.
When they first came out here in the mid 70’s they weren’t bad, but a dozen years later everybody else had improved substantially and the Chevette was still the same. And then the Pony came along and outsold all of them
Unlike most of you (apparently), I've owned one, so . . . no.
The T chassis was built all over the world. The US got 2 and 4 door hatchbacks, South America got a reskinned version with hatches, sedans, wagons and even a pickup into the late 90's. The HSR versions rallied in Europe were the best.
I've seen one with the 2.8HO and 5speed, looked like fun. In highschool I ran deliveries for an auto parts store in one, learned all about oversteer and such in the snow. Great fun!
In reply to Sidewayze :
That's what I think about when I see a Chevette.
And don't forget Isuzu's version, the Gemini
My "problem" is I'll have a few parts and start thinking about what car I could build around them. The Chevette thought came up because I was going through a cupboard full of driving lights, and I have a set of Rota RBs and a set of Panasports, and a couple of pairs of 70s/80s Recaro seats and nothing better to do at this time of year.
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
Someone on the forum bought a VW Caddy after buying a shift knob, so you're in good company.
Do it. The world need more wierd, fun cars
SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:When I moved to this area of BC back in the 80's, I was surprised that Chevettes were frequently stolen.
Then one night the local news showcased "Chevettes on Ice," an ice-racing group, and then it all made sense. Turns out they STILL have a Chevette class in ice-racing, although the lakes here rarely (if ever) freeze thick enough any more.
^adds Chevette to shopping list.
Peabody said:And don't forget Isuzu's version, the Gemini
JR Impulse, technically, as well.
i did own one of those. It was neat when it ran. It didn't do that very much.
In reply to Brotus7 :
I wish I could drive this
The Holden Gemini is one of the most modified cars in Australia.
If I linked that correctly, I remember reading the original mag. article about the chevette chevy almost built!
I owned a few as beater cars back in the 80's... not that bad a car, compared to the other E36 M3 boxes of the era. Bout one for $50 -might have had 200 in it when I sold it for 200 6 months later.
Had one - never did get the p. o. s. electronic carb. working right. Ran horrible, and "only" got mid 20's mpg. Still had no problem doing interstate speeds on east coast "hills," 'course I never had one with AC.
Fast, no. Great handling, no. But dangerously slow? Or scary poor handling... only if something was very wrong with it.
When I was in high school, there was a race shop across town, Side Race Cars, that had a 1/32nd scale drag strip along the back wall. Alfred Whiteside, Jr. could build you one hell of a car. His personal race car was a NHRA Super Gas Chevette. 468ci big block, and tubbed out in the back, with about ten coats of black lacquer. Last I heard, Alfred is up in D-FW building really nice Gassers.
Every time I see a Chevette now, I want to build a track day one with a 2.0t Ecotec.
Retropower is building one in UK: https://retropower.co.uk/2020/10/19/project-vader-vauxhall-chevette-hsreplica/
These are the same guys who have built a Mk1 Escort for Gordon Murray and have done some other amazing projects.
Their YT channel has a number of really cool build diaries: https://youtube.com/user/retropowercars
In reply to bobzilla :
There is not logical reason I can think of to put a 2.8V6 into anything. Has to one of the worst motors ever.
kazoospec said:Unlike most of you (apparently), I've owned one, so . . . no.
I owned two, a Chevette and a Pontiac T1000. No desire to own another.
Rons said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
The problem is (was?) the Chevette is a definition of the malaise era, as it could have been so much more if GM had put the effort in.
And they did. They just didn't call it a Chevette in the US - there was the Vauxhall Chevette in rally trim, the Isuzu Impulse, etc. So these cars have the dangerous combination of being very affordable and just radiating an "any idiot could have done this better, so why not you?" vibe.
I haven't driven one myself, for the record.
mdshaw said:In reply to bobzilla :
There is not logical reason I can think of to put a 2.8V6 into anything. Has to one of the worst motors ever.
They are compact and can make decent power. My buddy had one in his S10 and it went 250k miles with nothing but a water pump change in that time. it's similar in output to the 2.7 Ford V6 I swapped into a few little British cars (and had a overbored, 2.8 liter version in my Rokstock modded Capri)
As for Chevettes, a guy came out to one of our BSCC autocrossed with a beige '77 that looked stock, other than being a little lower over widened steel wheels. Had a 2.8 liter/5 speed swap and turned out to be FAST! Looked basically like this one (same
grille and color) with the wider black steelies and a touch lower:
I like this front end the best of all of them, and that little autocrosser is a big reason why.
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