Junkyard Find: 1996 Chevrolet Beretta Z26
The Chevrolet Beretta and its sedan sibling, the Chevrolet Corsica, were built for the 1987 through 1996 model years. Today, both models are nearly as forgotten as the wretched Celebrity, though you’ll still see the occasional example on the street today (usually sporting at least one space-saver spare tire).
Here’s a last-year-of-production Beretta — outfitted with the high-performance Z26 package — spotted in a Phoenix yard a few months back.
The General’s marketers applied the magic of the Camaro Z28’s Z-badged image to several front-wheel-drive Chevrolets from the late 1980s through the early 2000s, starting with the Cavalier Z24 and continuing with the Lumina Z34. The Beretta Z26 replaced the Beretta GTZ for the 1994 model year, meaning it was possible for a devoted Z-Chevy fanatic to buy a brand-new Z24, Z26, Z28, and Z34 during the glorious model year of 1994.
For the first year of the Beretta Z26, buyers had the choice of the Quad-4 with five-speed manual or the 3.1-liter version of the workhorse 60° V6 with four-speed automatic. For 1995 and 1996, the V6/slushbox was the only powertrain combination available in the Beretta Z26. Output was rated at 155 horsepower in 1996.
Being an Arizona car, this one has absolutely no rust and a completely nuked interior.
These mean-looking factory wheels are exquisitely of their time. Next time you have a 1990s-themed party, hang a couple of these on the wall of the venue.
By the last few years of the Beretta’s production run, the increasingly rare TV advertisements for the car focused on cheapness and little else. The 1996 Z26 listed at $16,690 (about $26,500 in 2017 dollars), which was around a grand cheaper than a ’96 Accord LX coupe
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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155hp doesn't sound like much until you adjust that number for inflation. Does anyone remember the Beretta-bodied IMSA GTO (?) cars? They alone made me kinda like them.
I can't imagine more nondescript, generic car designs than this, the Corsica and the Mirage. Pure nothing visually. Also can't imagine passing over a Probe or Accord or even Corolla for this. Ever.