It had a 3 speed auto and no headroom in back. The engine throbbed like no other I have ever driven. Thrashing noises doesn’t quite describe the sound of piston rings scratching themselves to death on the cylinder walls. The engine itself looked like an unpainted hot water radiator newly liberated from its mould.

After they had it for 3 years, I took it to the bodyman for some freshening. He wouldn’t even come out of his garage to look at it! A lot of persuading, and he relented and looked at it. Scratched his head again and again. Nothing wrong with it at all. Didn’t need any work. No rust, canya believe it?

Nor did that engine use any oil.

Naturally, three weeks later, a car failed to stop at a sign, and my Mom T-boned the Chevelle at 35 mph or so. Ruined the Vega and the Chevelle, and broke my Mom’s collarbone.

Then they went and bought a Mercury Zephyr, whose 200 cubic inch six actually had less advertised hp than the Vega. (89 at 2900, it was a hottie!)

When that croaked 8 years later, it was Mazda 626 time. What a difference.

GM’s corporate styling was still at the top of their game in 1971

Styling is subjective, but you can’t seriously say this until half the tube of airplane glue is…uh…dude…wait, what? GM’s corporate styling tripped and fell off the floor in 1971, viz the newly obese, bloated, ungainly-from-any-angle ‘71 Caprice/Impala. Ingvar has done a good job describing the specific elements of the Vega’s maldesign.

cast-iron head on top of the Vega aluminum block. A world first too, I assume.

Chrysler put about 50,000 slant-6 225 engines with die-cast aluminum open-deck blocks (with high-nickel iron sleeves) in late ‘61 to early ‘63 passenger cars, including one of mine. Every one of ‘em had an iron head. They work well and reliably — surprisingly so, given the infancy of bimetal engines and 1961 head gasket technology — and gave no especial trouble to those owners who used glycol coolant year round; that was still a tall “if” in America in the 1960s. Had aluminum not cost so much more than iron, slant-6s made of the latter material would’ve become the seldom-seen variety instead of those made of the former.

136 lb/ft

This reads “A hundred and thirty-six pounds per foot”. You mean 136 lb·ft. If religious beliefs prevent you using the correct mid dot, then “136 lb. ft.” or “136 lb-ft” are acceptable substitutes.

@gzuckier:
you couldn’t turn the fan off, presumably to meet some kind of federal fresh air requirement.

No such requirement exists, nor ever has. This idea of the blower fan coming on whenever the ignition’s switched on seemed to catch hold across Detroit in the early ’70s; I don’t know who first did it. The idea was to pressurise the interior of the car slightly so all air leaks would be from the inside out, thus minimising dust ingress and wind whistle. This was probably cheaper than sealing the car properly. The automakers hyped it as a great new comfort feature, but it was definitely not universally popular. Chrysler printed a TSB in 1973 or ‘74 explaining how to disable the full-time blower, but as far as I know GM told complainers to go hang.

This reminds me of my first car. A used 1971 Mercury Capri. Although it looked good with its silver and black vinyl roof–this car was a total POS.

The car eventually would not go into reverse. This took some planning when traveling. The parking brake did not work which required me to carry a brick to place behind the tires to keep it from rolling down a hill.

The a/c never got cold and using it would cause the engine to overheat. One day after hitting a pothole the engine mounts broke. Then the drive train collapsed. All of this with under 50,000 miles.

I also had a 1971 Capri. Mine had the 1600 Kent engine. I had the same problems you did plus the following:
–Seat back broke while going up a hill cause me to fall backwards while going up a hill.
–side window fell out while driving.
–shifter came off in my hand.
–blew black smoke like one of 007’s cars
–headlight switch caught on fire.

Porsche and Mercedes pioneered the successful use of silicon-aluminum blocks back in the late seventies, with the 928 and MB V8’s. Both those engines had an excellent rep for longevity, at least in regard to the basic internals. Just about every alloy block engine in the last twenty years or so in the world has used it. Porosity is a different problem , to my understanding.

John Bond of Road and Track was a notorious kook; and his statement regarding the Vega’s handling was not taken seriously, except by the FTC, which sparked and investigation.

“Handling” is too broad a concept to apply the phrase: “best handling car ever sold in America”. Just saying it makes the comment and commentator suspect. There are too many parameters, and without specifying them, it’s an empty quote, and one that many drivers of other cars at the time would take offense (or laugh) at: BMW 2002; Alfa Romeo GTV; Camaro Z28; Mustang Boss 302; just to name a few.

I rented a Vega with Powerglide in Las Vegas. Scream up to about 30 or 35 in Low, then it shifts to High and you’re at idle speed and well below the torque peak. Drive down the road, the a/c (which did still work) cuts in and it’s like you drove into molasses. What a car.

On the other hand, my 75 Monza fastback with 262 V8 and 4-speed was one of my all-time favorite Chevys.

@Detroit-Iron: I would absolutely believe that a Vega outhandled any Porsche you could buy in 1971. The chrome-bumper 911s were terrifying to drive at speed. Let history show that the first decent-handling street Porsche was the Audi-built 924.

Slant six Mopars were good for several hundred k miles, and were very popular as taxis, and as reliable long-running used cars in the sixties and still today.

My ‘66 Ford F-100 has turned its odometer at least once, probably twice.

The Mercedes models of those years had their problems, too. During the 1960s, American cars were, as a whole, the most reliable cars on the market.

It was quite common to reach 100,000 miles in the 1960s full-size and intermediate cars (with a few exceptions – the 1961-63 BOP compacts were interesting cars with some teething problems) without any major problems.

Most American cars during that time were bought by people who often didn’t even bother with oil changes, let alone regular maintenance, while imports were more likely to be bought by enthusiasts who paid attention to such things.

Put a 1960s Mercedes in the hands of a typical 1960s Chevrolet owner and it wouldn’t last for 40,000 miles.

I would say that it is anything BUT proportional. From a designing standpoint, the wheelbase is too short, the rear wheels pushed too far forwards towards the bulkhead, the front wheels is positioned too far forward, the rear overhang is too big, and the roof too low and flat. It has all the design traits of a mini pony car, and none of the traits needed for a small economy car. It is beautiful, it has a racy stance, it is sleek in the longer, lower, wider fashion. But proportional? Not for its intended purpose as an import beater. The body hardpoints was made to full use in the Datsun 280Z-beater, the Chevy Monza. And that should speak all of proportions…

GM Saginaw transmissions replaced the Opel units after ‘73. And Opel had a three-speed unit in Europe too. The Powerglide was replaced by the THM after/in ‘73 too.

The block design was intrinsically flawed, apart from the aluminum bores. Thanks for the additional details.

I’d say Volvos (which were considerably cheaper compared to Benzes back in the day than they are now), qualified. Very under-stressed engines (even for a long time after they started bolting turbos on them). Lots went 200+ with nothing but brake and exhaust work.

The reputation of the bricks (and I would include the 140-series and Amazons) was for many years very well deserved. (Disclosure: I’m a former Volvo dealer, but no longer in the car business).

Did anything back then reliably make it past 100K? People of my dad’s generation always considered this a milestone. Today, anything can cross this threshold. Other than you occasional Mercedes, was there any brand that easily eclipsed 100K without rebuilds? Just thinking of how poorly carbs managed fuel, cylinder washdown seems like a given. My dad said ring jobs were a common repair. In all my years of driving, I removed only one head.
Being that I was not even 10 when this gem (which was supposed to be called Gemini…GM Mini…get it…) was built, one can’t help but wonder how so many basic problems existed. Most running gear on intermediates/full size cars back then were bulletproof and way more durable than what came from across the pond, let alone Asia. How could any prototypes not exhibit these problems during durability testing? Did GM simply ignore their engineers just to save money? Did it not dawn on anybody that customers would begin to look elsewhere? Back then, the quality of assembly was fully dependent on the workers (unlike much of the robotic assembly of today) and the workers often didn’t give a shit for a variety of reasons.
I’m glad that I never had to deal with first generation small cars. My first car was a ‘72 Fury and it was reliable as an anvil and it didn’t show any rust until it was 15 years old…impressive for pre-rustproofing days…and it was put into storage with over 250K on the clock…what was Detroit thinking with these little POS’s…I guess their heart was never into the small rides…
Funny to think that when my parents considered their first Japanese car,they were dissuaded because the dealer was a long distance away…today, the nearest GM dealer to me is 20 miles away, yet major Japanese dealers are but 5 miles…

“Fill the oil, check the gas”

A buddy had a 1973 GT Wagon, Green with black vinyl interior. 4-speed, thank God.

Handled surprisingly well, for the day. Cornered relatively flat and didn’t plow mercilessly like most Detroit iron of the day. Credit the Wide Oval bias-plies.

No A/C, not that it would have worked worth a flip anyway.

Had great times in that car; it was traded in 1979 for a new Sunbird coupe. His graduation “present” from his cheap dad. Horrible, boring POS. At least the Vega had character. Mostly bad, but character nonetheless.

Me, I had a 1963 Chevy II Nova. 230CID 6, powerglide. Handled much better after a set of Michelin XZX’s.

I’d love to know the inside story of the Vega’s many deficiencies. Bean counters are always blamed but I have to think sheer incompetence on the part of engineers had to be a big factor.

Is that some sort of record??? who knows.

Of course the flip side is I had a 1973 Pinto wagon, couldnt kill the darn thing, 175,000 miles, engine and trans never messed with. toughest thing I had ever owned and I trashed and thrashed it trying to kill it.

Isn’t life grand.