Today's car of the day is Maisto's 1971 Chevrolet Vega Pro Street.
The Chevrolet Vega is a subcompact automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971–1977 model years. Named after the star Vega, GM's first U.S. mini-car was produced in 2-door hatchback, notchback, wagon, and panel delivery body styles all featuring an inline four-cylinder engine with a lightweight, aluminum alloy cylinder block.
Initially well-received by buyers and the motoring press, who gave it numerous awards, the car sold well against the AMC Gremlin and Ford Pinto subcompacts and imports including Toyota, Datsun and Volkswagen. By 1974 it was among the top 10 best-selling American cars.
The Cosworth Vega, a limited production performance model with a reduced-displacement but more powerful all-aluminum inline four-cylinder engine, was introduced in March 1975, the same year as several new GM H-Body subcompacts: Pontiac Astre, a rebadged Vega variant, the Chevrolet Monza and rebadged variants from Buick and Oldsmobile.
Engine problems and fender corrosion in early Vegas harmed GM's reputation for build quality. The faults were remedied by recalls and design upgrades. A three-year sales decline ended in the car's cancellation at the end of the 1977 model year.
For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Chevrolet Vega
Shiny! I like blue, and while I'm not a hige fan of the chromed cars, this one did catch my eye.
All Vega models have a 97.0-inch (2,460 mm) wheelbase and a 65.4-inch (1,660 mm) width. The 1971 and 1972 models have a 169.7-inch (4,310 mm) overall length or just over 14 feet (4.3 m). 1973 models are 3 inches (76 mm) longer due to the front 5 mph bumper. 1974 to 1977 models have front and rear 5 mph bumpers and are 5.7 inches (140 mm) longer than the 1971 and 1972 models. In a size comparison with a 1970 Nova, the Vega has 14 inches (360 mm) shorter wheelbase, 7 inches (180 mm) narrower width, 2 inches (51 mm) lower height, and (1971 and 1972 models) have 20 inches (510 mm) less overall length.
The Hatchback Coupe, with its lower lower roofline and a fold-down rear seat accounted for nearly half of all Vegas sold. The Sedan, later named Notchback is the only model with an enclosed trunk, has more rear headroom than the hatchback, and had the lowest base price. The wagon, named Kammback has more carrying space, a lower cargo liftover height and a swing-up liftgate. The Panel Express, a one-passenger panel delivery model based on the wagon has no rear seat, steel panels in place of the wagon's fixed rear side glass, and an enclosed storage area under the load floor. The driver's seat and optional auxiliary front passenger seat are as used in the Chevy Van. Classified as a truck, the panel's low-back seats lacked headrests required for passenger vehicle classification.
The aluminum block inline-four engine was a joint effort by General Motors, Reynolds Metals, and Sealed Power Corp. The engine and its die-cast block technology were developed by GM engineering staff, then passed to Chevrolet for finalization and production. Ed Cole, involved with designing the 1955 Chevrolet V8 as chief engineer at Chevrolet, and now equally involved with the Vega engine as GM president, often visited the engineering staff engine drafting room on Saturdays, reviewing the design and directing changes, to the consternation of Chevrolet engineers and manufacturing personnel, who knew he wanted a rush job. The engine in development became known in-house as "the world's tallest, smallest engine" due to the tall cylinder head. Its vibration, noise, and tendency to overheat were rectified by 1974.
GM's German subsidiary Opel was commissioned to tool up a three-speed derivative of their four-speed manual transmission. The available four-speed was already in high-volume production, but the GM finance department insisted on a low-cost three-speed as the base transmission, with the profitable four-speed an extra-cost option. Unusually, Opel’s three-speed Vega unit had shift linkages on both sides. Final cost was higher than the four-speed due to tooling investment and production volume. Both transmissions were shipped from Germany, 100 transmissions to a crate, thousands of transmissions at a time. Initially Powerglide automatic and two-speed Torque-Drive semi-automatic (manual shift, no clutch pedal) transmissions were optional. The US-built Saginaw three- and four-speed manuals and an air-cooled version of the Turbo-Hydramatic automatic later replaced the Opel-built manuals, Torque-Drive, and Powerglide. Axle ratios for the traditional front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout were 2.53 for economy, 2.92 for better acceleration, and a 3.36 performance ratio. Positraction was available.
The Vega’s suspension and live rear axle design, near weight distribution (53.2% front, 46.8% rear), low center of gravity and neutral steering give good handling characteristics. Lateral acceleration capacity is 0.90 g for the standard suspension, and 0.93 g for the RPO F-41 suspension. Steering box and linkage are located ahead of the front wheel centerline, with a cushioned two-piece shaft. Overall ratio is 22.5:1 and turning circle is 33 feet (10 m). The overall chassis suspension was to be tuned to a new A78 × 13 tire developed concurrently with the vehicle. Front suspension is by short and long arms, with lower control arm bushings larger than on the 1970 Camaro. Rear suspension is four-link, copying the 1970 Chevelle. Coil springs throughout departed from the Camaro and Chevy II Nova’s leaf springs.
The chassis development engineers aimed for full-size American car ride qualities with European handling. Torque-arm rear suspension later replaced the four-link design to eliminate rear wheel hop under panic braking. The Vega's brakes (front discs, rear drums) copied an Opel design, with 10-inch diameter single-piston solid rotors, 9-inch drums and 70/30 front/rear braking distribution. Pedal travel is nearly linear.
All four Vega models share the same hood, fenders, floor pan, door lower panels, rocker panels, engine compartment, and front end. Roof panel is double-layer, the inner panel drilled to cut noise. Hood is front-hinged with internal locking mechanism. Due to the “Modular Construction Design”, a Vega sedan’s 578 body parts are 418 fewer than its full-size Chevrolet counterpart. Reducing the number of joints and sealing operations resulted in stronger, tighter bodies and enabled a very high production rate. The car’s body surface was the first accomplished completely with computers, which improved the body surface mathematically, using tape-recorded information from the clay styling model. Computer-developed tapes also controlled drafting machines to produce highly accurate master surface plates, and computers also made hundreds of calculations including vision angle, field of view, rear compartment lid and door counterbalance geometries, structural stresses, deflection calculations and tolerances.
GM’s styling was influenced by the 1967 to 1969 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe AC, and Motor Trend judged it conservative, clean-lined and timeless. The Chevrolet Camaro/Corvette studio under Henry "Hank" Haga, working on the 1970 Camaro at the time, redid a clay mock-up under Bill Mitchell’s direction with a miniaturized Camaro front end and egg-crate grille and recognizable Chevrolet tail lamps on the sedan and hatchback. Car Life magazine said the coupe's styling has hints of Camaro and Ferrari. Three years later the front end would be redesigned to accommodate the revised 1974 pendulum-test, 5 mph bumper standard. The seats are vinyl-covered with built-in head restraints. All interior panels are single-piece molded units. Flooring is rubber on sedan and delivery; carpet and additional sound insulation on the other two models. Carpet, insulation and adjustable passenger seat were an optional Decor package for the sedan. Custom interior option for all models except the delivery added upgraded upholstery and woodgrain accents, with cargo floor carpeting in the hatchback and wagon.
In mid-1971 an optional GT package for Hatchback and Kammback models was introduced including the L-11 two-barrel 140 engine, F-41 handling option (H.D.springs and shock absorbers, front and rear stabilizer bars, 6-inch-wide wheels and 70-series raised white-letter tires), GT fender emblems, black-finished grill and lower body sills, clear parking lamp lenses, chrome belt and lower moldings, fuller instrumentation, four-spoke sport steering wheel, adjustable driver's seatback, passenger-assist handle and wood-grain dash. Satin-finished GT wheels with trim rings and chrome center caps replaced the argent wheels and stainless hub caps, and a hood/deck sport stripe in black or white was optional.
Yenko Chevrolet marketed the Yenko Stinger II through 1973 — based on the Vega GT, its 140 cu in L-11 engine featured high-compression pistons and a turbocharger producing 155 hp (116 kW). Included were front and rear spoilers and side striping with "Yenko Stinger II" identification.
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