That paragraph is taken from an excellent Popular Mechanics article tilted, "How the Chevy Vega Nearly Destroyed GM" (Find it here. It's well worth reading.)
This one somehow survived.
1977 was the last year for the Vega and the car was at its best. ("Best" being a relative word here.) The engine, which was notoriously bad, had been sorted and horsepower increased to 84. A 4 speed manual transmission replaced the standard 3 speed of the early cars. The body, which on early cars set a new standard for rust (It was not uncommon for the fenders to start to rust on 1 year old cars), had been improved and the interior was more luxurious. ("Luxurious" being another relative word.)
For a 70's small car it's not bad looking. The nose isn't great, but much of that is due to the mandated 5 MPH bumper. (The early pre-5 MPH bumper cars had a nice, Camaro-like nose.) The rest of the body is clean and almost sleek, especially when compared to the Japanese station wagons of the day. (The fake woodgrain on this one really detracts from the looks of the car.) The interior doesn't look like a place you'd want to be for a very long time, but again, when compared to other small cars of the day, it's not bad. Looking at this car makes you realize just how badly GM's corporate dysfunction and greed screwed up what could have been a decent car.This car has just 3,957 miles on it. The seller says that the mileage is verifiable. He says it has every option GM offered except for cruise control.
I can make a pretty good case for purchasing just about any old car. However, I can't give you a good reason to pay almost $10K for this car, unless you're opening a museum for bad engineering and corporate greed and you're looking for a pristine example of a car that represents both. I'm just pointing it out because it's so unusual to see a Vega still around and in this condition.
Located in "Hammond / Hessville", IL, click here to see the Craigslist ad.