Didja know

That the Chevette was General Motors 3rd mistake car.

Corvair

Vega

Chevette

wow...Shawn your list includes two very good sellers...how could they be "mistakes"? the Corvair is an awesome machine, and the Chevette was very rugged...the Vega was a favorite of the streetrod folks(okay the crazy ones that wanted a very fast "sleeper")...

Surprisingly I still see a fair number of the Chevettes cruising around. They have finally started to disappear a bit but you still see quite a few considering they haven't been built in 18 years. Actually passed one today on my way home.

They have finally started to disappear a bit

years. Actually passed one today on my way home.

..................I drove a Chevette for about 5 or 6 years after my wife and I were married in '82. It was a real love/hate but mostly hate relationship. My wife bought it before we were married and I inherited it when we both decided that it wasn't very safe for her and our 1st kid to be riding around Pittsburgh in. She got my Oldsmobile Delta 88. I'm not sure who got he worst end of the deal. It was a terrible little car in the snow, I can tell you that much. It was fairly reliable though and when the rear seat was folded down, it could carry a surprising amount of cargo for a small hatchback. I remember that it never had any rust which is more than could be said for the Oldsmobile and that it could almost reach 90 mph wide open.

My old 78 Chevette was not a bad car, and did have any rust on it when I sold it in 1985. The Vega did have a rust problem and a early problems with engine blocks cracking. While that might be major problem for the Vega, it beats the explosion problem that the Pinto had. The Corvair seemed to be a good car to everyone except Ralph Nader.

There's a Corvair that I see driving around locally to me in the UK. Looks really cool, I especially like that "flat" cooling fan arrangement.

-- Howard Rose

1966 VW Beetle 1300 Deluxe 1962 Austin Mini Deluxe 1964 Austin Mini Super Deluxe (cars and email on website)

"Joey Tribiani" wrote in news:5xcSd.101113 $Tf5.80309@lakeread03:

When I was a senior in high school, a friend and I drove down to Philly (we both had gfs at the Ship) in his Corvair. I was amazed at how it handled...at the speeds he took some curves, the '61 Beetle I drove at the time would have gone into a skid. That is, if my Beetle'd had the power to enter the curves as fast as the Corvair.

Coupla years later driving out west in a '67 Bus, we eventually passed every Corvair that had passed us, broken down on the side of the road. Overheated I guess.

My buddy had a Shov-it (after he had a Pinto, haha) and that POS drove like a refrigerator. I mean it couldn't get out of its own way.

More recently, on the way to northern Vermont in my '70 Convertible, the only car that I could regularly pass going up into Franconia Notch was a Chevette. But I haven't seen any Chevettes on the road in at least three years.

How did your Bug do going thru the mountains? I'm originally from NH and know how steep and long some of those grades are!

Mac

Soon after I graduated from college I was BROKE and wound up borrowing my step-mom's chevette to drive around a few weeks while I was in-between junkers. She was/is oriental and apparently loved/loves kimchee. Every time I got into that car to go somewhere I'd start out by rolling all of the windows down so it didn't stink in there quite as badly. Yeah. You guessed it. It was the middle of winter when I was borrowing the car. The windows stayed down anyway. Don't get me wrong. I was happy to be able to borrow the car, and even ate some kimchee as recently as 3 or so months ago, but still.... Those chevettes... Junk. Plus they stink. Or at least the one I drove did. ;-)

I took my '63 to the mountains several times and it did great each time. Example:

So you're saying the car I learned to drive on (62 Corvair 700 coupe) was a mistake? If they would have kept on developing it, it mighta been a contenda.

Charles of Kankakee

"Mac" wrote in news:_yvSd.16$Ec2.12@lakeread02:

My bug runs a steady 65mph all the way up I-93 except the Notch, where I've got to downshift around Indian Head, and that loong grade on the other side at Sugar Hill. That one slows me down to

50-55. Sometimes I'll push it up to 75 on the straightaway coming out of Concord if I want to show off. You know like if a babe passes me driving a Vette.

Once in Vermont there's a big hill past the rest area up to the first St. J. exit, and then on I-91 there's Sheffield Heights to contend with. A real gas eater. Even in the Jeep we slow down to 55 in order to save a gallon. 91 is up and down, up and down, from Canada to Massachusetts--not for a bug if you're in a hurry.

Shag wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Someone brought kimchee into the office, and invited me into the kitchen to share it. We got yelled at because it stunk up the whole place. This guy had exotic tastes. Another time he brought beetle nuts. Nothing like axle nuts...they looked like eyeballs...yum!

Sorry about the Chevette.