http://www.google.com/image...sAQ&biw=1593&bih=866

IDK if it looks better, but I'd drive it.

If only for the factor...

I never thought the Vega looked bad. Looked kind of like a mini Camaro from the front.
It was just that it tended to drop parts along the side of the road as it went.

More to the point, does a modified Vega look better than a stock Vega? Yes.

No, I always thought they looked good. But I may be a little biased. My '74 Vega GT gave it's life defending me from an errant T-Bird.

nope

Still not a fan... but I don't like most of what the 70s put out for cars/trucks. Give me the 60s (and some 80s)

quote Originally posted by Formula88: More to the point, does a modified Vega look better than a stock Vega? Yes.

By "look better", are we speaking strictly appearance-wise? I think those early Vegas look fantastic. Always have.

It rides a little high but I think it looks pretty cool. Wasn't around back then though. Most 70s cars were pretty ugly though.

I agree that one looks good with high suspension, larger tires, a rake angle, a cowl induction hood, tinted windows? ..and aftermarket wheels.

But vegas aren't bed.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 03-30-2011).]

I always liked the Vega, especially the Cosworth variant. But the things rusted rather quickly, at least here in the North East.

I had two of them back in the eighties. Both wagons. Great for hauling stuff. Paid $400 for one and $200 for the other. They were cool little cars if you could keep the rust away and the parts from falling off. The starter kept falling out of the motor. No amout of torque on the bolts would hold it.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: Does The Chevy Vega Look Better Today Then It Did Back Then?

Honestly, I don't like the car in the picture you posted... I'm not a huge fan of the cowl hood and the huge tires in the rear. It makes the car look disproportionate.

But I do like this one that someone else posted.

STILL not a fan of the wheels, but I think period-correct Chevrolet wheels would look really nice on this car:

Don't forget the "frugal" notchback model...

[This message has been edited by FrugalFiero (edited 03-31-2011).]

I like them and always have. I particularly like the wagon. All the 70's cars had rust problems.

More to the point, the Vega is a great platform to hotrod.

Arn

I like it but I think they need to lower it about 4 inches and move the wheel wells up about the same amount.

In answer to your question Boonie... no. That's because it looked good back then as well. Sure, it was a cheaply made car, but it still looked good.

I'd love to have one that had an updated drive train and suspension.

My 1st wife had one when we met, that someone had given to her when she went to college. It was a good car, except about the time we got married, one day it wouldn't start and I never could get it running again. We sold it for something like $50.

Of course, if Boonie had really been on the ball, he would've been asking us our opinion of the Pontiac Astre.

I'm one that never thought they were 'bad' either. I prefer the earlier years with the 'open' grill. And i liked the wagon, when it had the side windows taken out for steel.

But, they were junk. Then again, lots of cars were back then.

I had a 72 with the open front grill and a 77 (last model year) with the closed grill--which I think looked real "sharp".

Check out the photographs in this brief writeup: A photo of a 1977 Cosworth Vega and a clever magazine advertisement COSWORTH. ONE VEGA FOR THE PRICE OF TWO.

Beat the Recession #5: The Chevrolet Cosworth Vega

Just a few years ago I saw a Cosworth Vega driving down the street. Last time I ever saw a Vega on the road.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 03-30-2011).]

One of my roommates in the Air Force had a wagon with a 350 in it. At 120 the front end would get very light...

I bought a 1972 Vega 2300. It was a standard interior with the GT engine and suspension. Parts NEVER fell off. I did go thru a motor which GM replaced for free. It was a tight handling gem, wish I still had it. It sure as hell looked better than anything else out there, and better than the current crop of polished turds.

I had a '77 Vega Wagon. It would use a can of oil every other fill up with gas.

quote Originally posted by weaselbeak: ... Parts NEVER fell off...

Okay. I exaggerated.
To make amends... The Baldwin Motion Vega.
http://www.yenko.net/features/2000/May2000.htm

quote Originally posted by weaselbeak: I bought a 1972 Vega 2300. It was a standard interior with the GT engine and suspension. Parts NEVER fell off. I did go thru a motor which GM replaced for free. It was a tight handling gem, wish I still had it. It sure as hell looked better than anything else out there, and better than the current crop of polished turds.

Parts fell off my friends wagon. When what the parts mount to rots away, simply air and luck wont hold them on.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: ... the Pontiac Astre.

Oh yeah. My brother had one of those for a short time (just before he got his 68 Chevelle SS).
Once I set a roll of pennies on the dash, and it rolled down the defroster duct.
I never got it back. Don't know how I remembered that, it was a long time ago.

The only one I ever drove died if driven below 15 mph. That was not a good combination on a snow covered road in Colorado in the late 70's. If it wasn't for a big rock, I'd have gone over a small cliff.

[This message has been edited by carnut122 (edited 03-30-2011).]

To answer the question, no. It looks the same. Having said that, new they were pretty sharp for the day when compared to the Pinto and the very ugly, but incredibly more reliable and expensive Japanese cars.

My Datsun 510 could kill a stock Vega and unless someone stuffed a V8 in the Vega, my boxy, four door 510 could drive circles around one without needing an oil pan underneath it after a good run. Not much you could do to that stock mill but clean up oil leaks. If you did put a V8 in them which was pretty common back in the day, you better re-enforce the frame if you wanted to open the doors or not crab down the road. Vegas tended to twist into unusual geometries under torque. I can recall one friend who after his first test run at the Wed. Night high school drags, could not open his doors. He was fast, but had to climb out the window. Eventually his car was great at "crabbing" down the road.

Now I did see a pretty panel wagon out the California Zephyr last month somewhere in Iowa. The bright yellow wagon jumped out at me from the used car lot when framed against the grain bins at 30mph. I couldn't get my video camera on fast enough to catch a shot.

Inside there were pretty spartan in a way you don't see anymore. In a head on between a Vega and a Fiero I suggest that you could push the motor into the back hatch and the driver? Well....

Well, indeed. I actually DID crash a Vega. 50mph into a T-Bird that turned across traffic in front of me. Pushed the drivers corner of the front bumper back to the cet of the wheel. Passenger side was almost full length. Roof was oil-canned down about 3-4 inches in the center, and the door wouldn't open. No problem, the side windows weren't there any more. My buddy & I "Dukes of Hazzarded" it out the windows. Other cars had stopped, they ran to the T-Bird to help. Nobody wanted to look in the Vega! We both walked, well, LIMPED, away. I was seriously bruised up, and my buddy had a broken collarbone. We considered it good.

When the car was taken to the junkyard weeks later, they didn't even bother to remove it from the flatbed, just stripped it right there. I went by to get the plates. I told the head guy I was here for the plates on the Vega. He asked if i was driving it. I said yes. THEY ALL STOPPED WORK AND TURNED TO LOOK AT ME. I guess it was a pretty well smashed up car. Head guy asks "You got a church?" I admitted I didn't. He says: "You better get one."

Make fun of me if you want, but I love Vega's. Yes I know they were rust buckets and quality was horrible, but I love the way they look. All those problems can be overcome with a frame off restoration and an engine swap.

Jim

One of the mechanics at work has a pearl white Vega with a 3.4 V6 in it. It is a nice car.

I also crashed my Vega. I almost died in a head on collision with it. The front end ended up where my knees where and the engine was pushed in several inches into the passenger compartment.

I like the early skinny bumper style Vega. The Vega would rock with a turbo Ecotec, t-56 and a narrowed nine inch with 4.11 gears. Big fat tires all around, big brakes, some suspension upgrades...I would clear a place in the driveway to park one. Imagine the look on the younger crowd when your olde tyme wimpy car shows their fart-can mobile what some 70's tail lights look like.

I remember wanting the Cosworth Vega, back then, I thought it was the coolest car.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Of course, if Boonie had really been on the ball, he would've been asking us our opinion of the Pontiac Astre.

OMG, that is the coolest car I've ever seen in my life... no longer do I long for my Porsche 944 that I sold, or that 1988 Mazda RX-7 Turbo-II that I sold... that's what I want... holy crap, it looks like a 70s Ferrari and a Trans Am had sex. I've got to find one!!!

quote Originally posted by avengador1: I also crashed my Vega. I almost died in a head on collision with it. The front end ended up where my knees where and the engine was pushed in several inches into the passenger compartment.

Damn, that looks bad. I'm guessing that hole is where your head went through??? OUCH!!!

quote Originally posted by User00013170: I'm one that never thought they were 'bad' either. I prefer the earlier years with the 'open' grill. And i liked the wagon, when it had the side windows taken out for steel. But, they were junk. Then again, lots of cars were back then.

How junky could they be now though? With the exception of the chassis... everything else is just old 70s technology that you could easily replace with newer stuff...

quote Originally posted by Wudman: My Datsun 510 could kill a stock Vega and unless someone stuffed a V8 in the Vega, my boxy, four door 510 could drive circles around one without needing an oil pan underneath it after a good run.

I concur. My 510 was a four door with a Mulholland slalom kit. It had mechanical secondaries on the carb. Definitely outperformed a stock Vega.

Arn

OMG!!! There was an Oldsmobile one too!!! It looks like a space ship!!!

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: OMG!!! There was an Oldsmobile one too!!! It looks like a space ship!!!

This olds model, the Starfire, had two sister cars, the Chevy Monza and the Buick Skylark. They were supposed to be the model that got the wankel rotary GM was devloping in the 70s.AMC Pacer was supposed to get that engine too.

The engine never was devloped far enough for production and was scrapped/cancelled

and the Monza went on to get 305 V8 power. Some like the spyder got 350 4V V8s (4V meant 4bbl carberator)

The Skylark got the 3.8 V6, the ancestor to the 3800 V6

I never owned a Vega or her stepsisters.