Trreinke Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Is anyone aware of a group of people or a club that is focused on Chevettes? I am aware of the VCCA and many Corvette clubs but nothing for Chevettes. I had a couple reach out to me see if I knew of one. My apologies if this is the wrong place to ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter S Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 You should found it. Build it and they will come! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 This is the right place to ask. Someone here may know, and plenty of people will share their thoughts or give suggestions. There was a Chevette (hatchback?) in beautiful condition at the big Hershey show a few years ago. It had the vinyl-wood paneled sides and was interesting to see. I believe it was a low-mileage original car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 (edited) They have a much bigger following in Europe and South America, as the T-body was GM's first 'World Car'. They were offered in far more body styles, including 3-box sedans with a trunk and station wagons, and a few performance versions as well. Unlike the North American Chevettes, the Vauxhall Chevette and the Brazilian Chevette had smaller bumpers that actually looked like they belonged on it; not the ungainly 5-mph chromed railway ties that didn't do them any favors in a beauty contest. In North America, for the most part, they were treated as a cheap appliance, and once it was 'used up' off to the autowreckers they all went! A Brazilian market Chevette: Edited June 9, 2021 by 8E45E (see edit history) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Kingsley Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I'm not aware of any but I would join a Chevette appreciation group. As I have related in the past, my lifelong love of automobiles started with a 1/64 Chevette that I got (I think) Christmas 1985, a year and two months old. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan315 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 few items on chevettes https://www.chevettes.com/links https://www.facebook.com/chevettecarclub/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 50 minutes ago, 8E45E said: A Brazilian market Chevette: That's a nicely styled little car. Yes, our own federales often made sure we got the worst versions of our own cars and didn't get the good stuff from Europe and Japan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I used to visit a Chevette forum about 10 years ago. I can not find that particular site now. I did find this one, and it might be the modern version of it: https://chevette-forum.freeforums.net/ I have a 79 Scooter. Was my dad's car. Daughter and I were using it as a welding learning tool. Welding finished, she did a good job welding in patches in floor and quarters. Then the project stalled for a while..... 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Only car my Mom ever owned and drove was an '81 as I remember. Fun to zip around in but the thing basically disintegrated sitting in the driveway. Gear shift knob fell off, sun visors fell apart etc. When he was 14 or so my Son drove that thing up and down our 700ft driveway more times than I can count. My Son, now the owner of our business at 37 had his diaper changed in the hatch back at the Hershey Flea Market when he was 7 weeks old (1983) Cheap transportation. I saw the one at Hershey a few years ago and was overcome with nostalgia for a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 24 minutes ago, Restorer32 said: I saw the one at Hershey a few years ago and was overcome with nostalgia for a few seconds. Next time lie down until the feeling passes... 🤣 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChevetteOwners/ https://www.chevettes.com https://myclassicuk.com/clubs/chevette-owners-club/ https://www.cavalierandchevetteclub.co.uk https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=chevette+owners+club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 minute ago, Peter Gariepy said: https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=chevette+owners+club "letmegooglethat.com"??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 24 minutes ago, joe_padavano said: "letmegooglethat.com"??? Click the link. My snarky way of showing people all that have to do is search google to find something as simple as "chevette owners club" 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dictator27 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 2 hours ago, Restorer32 said: Only car my Mom ever owned and drove was an '81 as I remember. Fun to zip around in but the thing basically disintegrated sitting in the driveway. Gear shift knob fell off, sun visors fell apart etc. When he was 14 or so my Son drove that thing up and down our 700ft driveway more times than I can count. My Son, now the owner of our business at 37 had his diaper changed in the hatch back at the Hershey Flea Market when he was 7 weeks old (1983) Cheap transportation. I saw the one at Hershey a few years ago and was overcome with nostalgia for a few seconds. Was the Chevette a good car? Obviously that is a matter of personal opinion. However, there was one car which made the Chevette look like a high quality automobile. People in the US never had the pleasure (?) of experiencing the Vauxhall Firenza. We did in Canada. They had to be the worst car ever unleashed on Canadian car buyers. The Chevettes build quality may have been suspect, but by comparison it was head and shoulders above that of the Firenza. They were awful. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Peter Gariepy said: Click the link. My snarky way of showing people all that have to do is search google to find something as simple as "chevette owners club" Oh, hell. Now I have to use that. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 hour ago, dictator27 said: Was the Chevette a good car? Obviously that is a matter of personal opinion. However, there was one car which made the Chevette look like a high quality automobile. People in the US never had the pleasure (?) of experiencing the Vauxhall Firenza. We did in Canada. They had to be the worst car ever unleashed on Canadian car buyers. The Chevettes build quality may have been suspect, but by comparison it was head and shoulders above that of the Firenza. They were awful. The Vauxhall Firenza was not built for the Canadian climate in the first place, and in the 1970's, most everyone knew how strained labor relations were in the UK at the time. Every two or three weeks there was a strike of some sort in the automobile industry. The lack of quality control and general sloppiness of work was VERY evident on cars from both British Leyland and especially the Firenza. They did not compare well next to the up-and-coming onslaught of Japanese cars with excellent build quality for the time, and they proved it was possible to get decent heat and defrost out of a small displacement 4-cylinder engine. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 My mom had a 1980 4 door and it was not that bad of a car,had to replace a few clutch cables but it went over 100,000 miles and eventually rusted to death on the Florida coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryankazmer Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I recall a road trip, 4 guys in a Chevette. Driver would turn off the AC for some extra power to pass, cuz there wasn't much going on under the hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol' yeller Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I bought a new 1980 4 door for my growing family for the price of $5,400! Mine was an automatic. It did fine for us, pretty underpowered but really never gave us much trouble in the 100,000 miles we had it. It was kind of a throw away car when it hit the end of it’s useful life. I doubt many will attempt a restoration of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Here's an interesting and unusual Chevette story: A man I know bought a new 1980 Chevette and still has it. He's rather remarkable. His father was on the board of G. M., and so the family has long had an affinity for General Motors cars. He lives in a large 17-bedroom house on 500 acres, but, being very modest, chose a Chevette! What's more, he drove it as his regular car for 19 years. "Why buy a new car when the old one still works?" he told me. He typically uses a car for 20 years before he gets a new one. These 4 cars, all purchased new, have sufficed as his regular drivers for more than 80 years: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 2 hours ago, bryankazmer said: I recall a road trip, 4 guys in a Chevette. Driver would turn off the AC for some extra power to pass, cuz there wasn't much going on under the hood. I also do that in my 2006 minivan when going up mountain grades, Bryan. I'm less concerned about power, however, and more concerned about not stressing my high mileage engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36 D2 Coupe Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) An interesting neighbour I had who died over 10 years ago drove coast to coast repeatedly in a DIESEL Chevette. Apparently a very unusual and uncommon option. He was mechanically inclined and could make anything run. This man was not small but he folded his large frame into that small car and proudly claimed it was the cheapest thing he ever drove. That would have been a rare one to rescue. Edited June 10, 2021 by 36 D2 Coupe (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Again borrowing from GM owned Isuzu Chevy shoehorned the 1.8 liter clacker under the hood of the Chevette. Rated at a Model T like 54 horsepower you could reach 0-60 MPH in a casual 19.2 seconds. The Diesel Chevette was not about performance but economy. Rated at a 55 MPG on the highway the Chevette Diesel out-econos cars of today like the Prius and Jetta TDI. Not meant for highway use because of its top speed of 81 MPH (going downhill) your Diesel Chevette was the perfect commuter car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthcranbrook Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 My late Mother-in-Law had a four door automatic model in the late 70’s, early 80’s and since knowing her maintenance and care would have been minimal at best it must have been an ok car to survive her ownership as long as it did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Luddy Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 On 6/9/2021 at 12:25 PM, dictator27 said: Was the Chevette a good car? Obviously that is a matter of personal opinion. However, there was one car which made the Chevette look like a high quality automobile. People in the US never had the pleasure (?) of experiencing the Vauxhall Firenza. We did in Canada. They had to be the worst car ever unleashed on Canadian car buyers. The Chevettes build quality may have been suspect, but by comparison it was head and shoulders above that of the Firenza. They were awful. Firenza was the worst GM car ever built. There was a convoy of them headed to Parliament Hill in Ottawa Canada to protest against GM but so few made it the whole thing fizzled out. It did generate plenty of bad press in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan315 Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 good bad all matter of opinion friend had one in high school, drive the wheels off of it and could not kill it and he was not gentle nor kind to any car, dont think many teenagers were Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Yeah why condemn it? Inexpensive transportation for back and forth to work and the store. And it was rear wheel drive which is a major plus to many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I worked at a Chevy dealer that also sold Isuzu trucks and one day they gave me a Isuzu car to put in inventory and after inspecting it I noticed it was built on the same chassis as a Chevette. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Wasn't the LUV trucklet also built on an Isuzu platform? Chevette was an ok car for its purpose. Basic transportation for ye frugal. Friend used one for a 70 mile daily commute for several years and it never stranded him. He kept the little brown 💩 looking spiffy too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1842 Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Learned how to drive stick in a 81 Chevette. Not a bad car with the 4 speed, never drove an automatic so can't compare. Seemed better than my 75 Chevy Monza Town Coupe that couldn't pass a dealership without breaking down and started rusting out within 5 years. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 The drivers of the trucks that delivered them to the dealers hated the ones with a automatic with air since they did not have the power to go up the ramps with the air on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Lack of power with the A/C on was a common complaint with those cars, as per post 16 here---------> Well, now I HAVE seen everything.... - Studebaker Drivers Club Forum Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erichill Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 A Chevette was supposed to be my first car. After a test drive we walked through the dealership to do the paperwork and I saw a 1969 Kawasaki 500 H! someone had just traded in. Much to my parent's dismay I came home on it instead. Best $1300 I ever spent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/10/2021 at 9:33 AM, bryankazmer said: Driver would turn off the AC for some extra power to pass That was a very common feature on small engine cars in the 70s/80s. Switch detected full throttle and disconnected the A/C clutch. Driver never noticed unless the hill was long and the car interior got hot. 12 hours ago, rocketraider said: Wasn't the LUV trucklet also built on an Isuzu platform? It was an Isuzu. Just had a bowtie and LUV badges. Later the Isuzu pick up (Hombre) was an S-10. 😉 Model T would have loved to have 54 horsepower! Ha! But then the brakes would have needed upgrading.....😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmann Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 few items on chevettes https://www.chevettes.com/links https://www.facebook.com/chevettecarclub/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flivverking Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 A Model T is 4 times the car a Chevette was ,on so many levels, relitively speaking. Chevettes bring back too many haunting and disturbing memories of that period ,of the car it self and the various people who owned them( 2 in the family for a while )and weird and drama ridden circumstances that were at least 5 to 1 of pleasent times. I lf I ever see one again,I may crack a smile for 2 seconds...then run to the nearest tree and puke,then head to the nearest bar! I'm probably the only guy (idiot)in the country in the 80s to rebuild a Chevette 4 banger that over heated and blew the trans too. Now where did I put that bourbon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 2 hours ago, Flivverking said: A Model T is 4 times the car a Chevette was.... I lf I ever see one again,I may crack a smile for 2 seconds...then run to the nearest tree and puke,then head to the nearest bar! I remember a friend had a worn out Chevette that he would use to get us to a bar an hour away to listen to bluegrass music. No other car I'd ever been in more closely approximated a "box on wheels" ride and feel. Smelled bad, too. My sister's new Chevette had a better ride and smell, but it was minimal transportation. Merging on the interstate was not a reassuring experience. I think the car could only be designed and sold during the 55 mph era. On the other hand...There are currently 25 1963 Corvettes for sale on eBay right now, and not even one Chevette. And there hasn't been for a while (I've checked.) They don't seem to be anywhere - most were probably put through the crusher - so that may explain the interest in an owner's club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 https://www.chevettes.com/ This USED TO BE the Chevette Forum but it is inactive and has been shut down. So if you are posting links to it or searches that show it in the results you are wasting the persons time. I think the answer is simply no, there are no Chevette forums. And the Facebook page is just some weird nonsense with some lowered and highly customized ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 https://chevette-forum.freeforums.net/ This is one seems active. I posted it earlier. Has posts from 2021. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.H.Boland Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 I worked for many years at a GM dealership. We had one customer who swore by (not at) his Chevette. He worked for a concrete mixing company and when the floor rotted out,he lined it with cardboard and poured in an inch of concrete ! He drove it for a couple more years, admitting that it's performance wasn't as good but that it was awesome in snow. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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