At $7,500, Is This 1977 Chevy Vega A Flamin’ Hot Deal?

The seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chevy says “If you like Vegas, come check it out, you won’t be disappointed.” Let’s see if the price proves otherwise.

The Honda CR-Z Was a Great Idea in the Wrong Package

We had a real nail-biter in the voting yesterday. Many in the comments complained that, owing to age and miles, $8,250 was too much to pay for the 2002 Nissan Xterra we were considering. A supercharged V6 and five-speed stick said differently, however, eventually overcoming those demerits and earning the Xterra a narrow 53 percent Nice Price victory.

Hey, is it hot in here, or is it just me? (licks finger and presses it to a hip while making a sizzling sound.) Apologies for that mental image. Perhaps instead, the heat is brought by today’s 1977 Chevy Vega wagon, as it’s painted with an old-school flame motif across the nose and front fenders. That’s not just hot, it’s cool!

In automotive lore, the Vega has received almost as much disdain as an abject failure as has Ford’s Edsel. Much of that was well-founded in the engineering oversights and build quality issues exhibited by the model’s early examples. That poor reputation didn’t kill off the Vega, though. It evolved over each ensuing model year, improving both its platform and its infamous aluminum block/iron head engine. Each improved to the point where the Vega and the plethora of platform mates became the backbone of General Motors’ compact car lineup for the second-half of the ’70s.

1977 would be the last year for the Vega nameplate, although the Kammback wagon would soldier on for three more years following a nose job and rebadging as a Monza. All the changes made to the Vega make these later models much more reliable to run, albeit not quite as good-looking owing to their bigger bumpers.

The chassis underneath is still the same well-handling platform with an A-arm front suspension and a live axle in the back sprung on coils rather than the traditional leaf springs and solidly located by trailing arms, a Panhard rod, and a torque arm paralleling the driveshaft. That’s all intended to keep the reins on the 2.4-liter SOHC four’s 84 horsepower and 122 lb-ft of torque. A four-speed manual makes the most of that sparsely populated corral.

According to the ad, this Kammback is unmolested except for the period-correct Mag wheels, a later stereo, wood steering wheel, and some extra gauges on the dash. Oh yeah, and there are those wonderful flames.

There are 71,000 miles on the odo, and the car looks good for its age. The front bucket seats apparently could stand some attention, but the rear sunken bench appears intact and in good shape. The under-car shots show no sign of rust or damage but do show something perplexing. This is a 1977 model year car, yet the engine is painted orange like the ’76 and earlier models, not blue. That’s a bit of a mystery.

The seller doesn’t give us any clues, nor even a shot under the hood. They do note, though, that the car has received new shocks all around, a front-end alignment, and a wheel balance. The result is a car that does what it’s supposed to without any apparent gotchas. The title is clean, and while the seller will entertain a trade, we’re only interested in the $7,500 cash price they’ve set for the deal.