1971 Chevrolet Vega
Source: Wikimedia
The Vega had a lot of variety. It was available as a hatchback, a notchback, a wagon and a panel version. The Vega was meant to be a showpiece. That’s why they gave it the name. Vega actually comes from “Brightest Star”. However, while it was oddly cool, it wasn’t exactly dependable.
The Chevy Vega is cool as much as what the car was as to the place it has in General Motors lore. The car itself was designed and developed by corporate executives quickly. Engineers were bypassed and didn’t have input in the vehicle for the most part. All production was handled in a different way. Line workers had less time to complete their jobs. Cars were being shipped so fast the paint wasn’t able to dry correctly. It was shipped off to sales teams and they were told to just sell it. Over 2 million Vega’s were produced and sold to the glee of the executives.
Source: Wikimedia
The Vega won the Motor Trend car of the year award in 1971 in one of the greater surprises that award has ever had. The cars proved to be incredibly unreliable. The finish was poor and the Vega is widely credited with single-handedly harming the credibility of General Motors. Recall after the recall wasn’t enough before they stopped producing the Vega in 1977. The Vega showed the true highs and lows of being
