Consumer Guide : Cheap cars of '77 are ...

It would be tough to pick one out of the six models in the video. Long ago, I had a coworker that had a '77 Pontiac Astre wagon. That had the iron engine and he drove it for a very long time. Perhaps the structure wasn't great, but it escaped the certain engine death of the non-sleeved Vega engines. An aunt and uncle bought two new Vega's for their daughters in the early 70's. Both engines failed in a year or two.

A Wikipedia article claims that the Lordstown Vega assembly line was run at 100 cars per hour, twice normal rate. They also cut staff at the same time. Much labor trouble and a month-long wildcat strike.
 
ama big fan of the Lima & 32/36. Good combo.
A blow thru turbo w/this 4 cyl (2.6? .4? - the D shaped ports in the Ranger's head) and the progressive carb?
Could it B turboed as an update? I'd B more'n good wid dat (no turbo suits my daily driving).
 
Stunningly poor!

People were already moving to foreign cars at a breakneck pace by then. While one could still purchase a halfway decent American car, such as the 77 Pontiac Grand Prix, which drove nicely, purchasers were far more satisfied with offerings from Datsun/Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Audi, VW and so on. Even people with zero interest in cars flocked to Honda cars after this round of "American quality", which interestingly, was worlds better than Soviet car quality!
 
Obligatory Vega shipment pic..

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Of all the vehicles I have owned, overall my 1973 Vega GT Kammback Wagon for 80,000 miles was a major blast. It had a fart can muffler (glass pack) and the PO put T/A Radials on it. The handling with no power steering was very tactile for the day. A total blast on the curvy Ozark roads in south central Missouri. I paid $2100 with 18K on the clock. Three months later the PO followed me home one day. (Not creepy in 1974). He wanted to buy it back. There was no chance.

The funniest QC issue was that the dash was in 2 sections. It was only held together horizontally by 1 light duty screw into a speedy clip. It would vibrate loose and the dash would rattle like Rattlesnake ready to strike. Finally threadlocked that sucker.

The neatest quirk was the Holley/Weber 2-stage 2 bbl carb. The second stage was your passing gear, and it still took forever.
 
In 1976 my dad had enough and sold a almost new but very troublesome Chrysler LeBaron for a 1976 Toyota Corolla with a 4 speed. Mom refused to drive a stick so he went and traded it in on the same car with an auto. Most lower end cars didn't come standard with A/C then but Dad added that, so A/T and A/C were the only options. It was a gutless, crude, very basic utilitarian car but it always started. It met it's death when a 15 year old me washed it wearing wet flip flops and was doing powerbrakes trying to make the wheels spin and drove it through the garage door. Mom had to say she did it so it was covered under insurance! What do I remember most about the car? It had a dual point distributor (very cool to a young gearhead!) and the carb would ice in the rain.
 
In 1976 my dad had enough and sold a almost new but very troublesome Chrysler LeBaron for a 1976 Toyota Corolla with a 4 speed. Mom refused to drive a stick so he went and traded it in on the same car with an auto. Most lower end cars didn't come standard with A/C then but Dad added that, so A/T and A/C were the only options. It was a gutless, crude, very basic utilitarian car but it always started. It met it's death when a 15 year old me washed it wearing wet flip flops and was doing powerbrakes trying to make the wheels spin and drove it through the garage door. Mom had to say she did it so it was covered under insurance! What do I remember most about the car? It had a dual point distributor (very cool to a young gearhead!) and the carb would ice in the rain.
My '79 Mazda GLC Sport had dual points. They worked fine, but I never understood why they were necessary. I'm sure they were there for a reason. Can anyone here explain?
 
One guy at work bought a new Vega and it’s all he drove until he retired I guess around 2000. Kept it immaculate. Thing is a 75 Vega was 3000, and the house in Palo Alto was
35000 in 75. Now it’s 4 million dollars. So who cares about the Vega? Not him. I thought the Vega was a good looking car.
So to keep pace, the Vega is now worth around $340,000, right? Hey, wait ... :unsure:
 
Pintos and Vegas were bad, my mom had a 1977 pinto and the family actually liked the car. No one rear ended us so I am here today. My uncle had a new Vega I definitely thought it was worse than the Pinto quality wise, if that's possible?
My mom had a 69 pinto with an auto trans and a 2 liter engine . It was a great car. Mom kept it until 1976. Brakes and oil changes .
 
Then you have the popular Gen 3 Camaro F-Birds.
1/2 citation + 1/2 vega/monza
A pleasant enough driver with a little sixer and a stick - except for that ubiquitous and nasty LIM leak there to spoil the fun/.
 




Seems to line up with the prevailing opinions of the era :rolleyes:

Even proto John Davis couldn't hype it :ROFLMAO:

I had an 1981 V6 Omega from 1999 to 2004 and that review is pretty much what I thought of it, but without the 4 cyl problems. It was a decent car IMO, quiet enough, smooth ride, very comfortable seats, got high 20's mpg on the 55 highways too. No AC but it had 2 real air vents under the dash that moved a ton of air through the car on the highway. I just ran into some intake manifold warping issues at the end , I was using a shady mechanic who couldn't fix it, and we had 3 cars so I sold it.
 
Number_35 asked above: ".....dual points. .......I never understood why they were necessary. Can anyone here explain?"
The way I heard it..........
Points could "bounce" at higher revs. A dual setup maintains lobe-to-rubbing block contact.
Also, the coils saturate better as they're discharging half as frequently.
 
Number_35 asked above: ".....dual points. .......I never understood why they were necessary. Can anyone here explain?"
The way I heard it..........
Points could "bounce" at higher revs. A dual setup maintains lobe-to-rubbing block contact.
Also, the coils saturate better as they're discharging half as frequently.
Thanks Kira, much appreciated - makes sense now!
 
It would be tough to pick one out of the six models in the video. Long ago, I had a coworker that had a '77 Pontiac Astre wagon. That had the iron engine and he drove it for a very long time. Perhaps the structure wasn't great, but it escaped the certain engine death of the non-sleeved Vega engines. An aunt and uncle bought two new Vega's for their daughters in the early 70's. Both engines failed in a year or two.
The problem with the Vega engine was not the cylinders, those issues were worked out before the vehicle went on the market. The problem was with the inadequate cooling system which caused the engine to overheat. They fixed that later on but by then it was too late.
 
My father always bought cars in pairs -- one for him and one for Mom. He did all routine maintenance and figured buying oil filters, spark plugs, points, etc. would be easier if each car used the same part numbers. In 1974, he traded-in two identical Corvair Monzas toward two identical Chevy Vega wagons.

Those Vegas were horrible cars. Back then, someone told me that new Vegas were known to start rusting while still in the showroom.
 
Oh, dear god, it's time for a picture from the archives, of my dear pops installing an auxiliary horn in his then-new malaise era Fairmont. Special ordered with the 6 cyl and 4 speed stick shift. The car couldn't go 25-- it was too fast for 2nd gear and too slow for 3rd. And it pinged all. the. time. Of course there was also a Vega in the family, which was subsequently wrecked and replaced with an Omni Miser. Couldn't shake the curse!

The car had its regular horn, activated by stabbing the turn signal inwards, but the air horn had its button under the dash, reserved for when Dad was really mad.

80-fairmont3.jpg
 
Oh, dear god, it's time for a picture from the archives, of my dear pops installing an auxiliary horn in his then-new malaise era Fairmont. Special ordered with the 6 cyl and 4 speed stick shift. The car couldn't go 25-- it was too fast for 2nd gear and too slow for 3rd. And it pinged all. the. time. Of course there was also a Vega in the family, which was subsequently wrecked and replaced with an Omni Miser. Couldn't shake the curse!

The car had its regular horn, activated by stabbing the turn signal inwards, but the air horn had its button under the dash, reserved for when Dad was really mad.

View attachment 91341

Sweet craftsman corded drill at his feet.
 
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