Help with a '78 Chevette

[mconway]

Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to look, but my Fiancee has a 1978 4 Door Chevette with just over 18,000 miles on it. We are looking for a place to post it for sale, but we also would like some estimates as to what we should ask for price. The body is in great shape, the paint is not faded, the interioer looks a little used, but is very clean. The car runs great, with only 18,000 miles on it and has only had one owner before us, who happened to be my fiancee's grandmother who bought it off the showroom floor. If no one is able to help me, could I at least be pointed in another direction? Thanks for any help and information in advance!

[Guest BJM]

You should be able to get some price guide assistance on this website or you could google NADA and work through their website to arrive at a figure to offer it at.

Please understand that the Chevette is not a collectible automobile however you have a desirable low mileage original and no matter what people think of such cars, they are only original once and offer a "time capsule" glimpse at what was offered in 1978. So, with that in mind, I am guessing the value at about $1,000.

Just don't expect it to necessarily sell to a collector. I may just be sold as an economical car, which it was.

[stock_steve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Please understand that the Chevette is not a collectible automobile...Just don't expect it to necessarily sell to a collector. I may just be sold as an economical car, which it was. </div></div>

I wish to point out that there was a positively gorgeous original Chevette shown at the Hershey car show this past October. "Collectibility," desirability, etc., is in the eye of the beholder--my opinion anyway. We get an absolute charge out of our 20,000-original-miles '73 Pinto Squire station wagon.

[Steve Braverman]

Cars like this are interesting. While it may not be collectible to most people, it is a time capsule. I bought a 1965 Corvair in 1990 with 23,000 miles on it for little money. It never really became super valuable, but I wish I still had it. I would put it up on ebay, and see what the market will bear. You might be suprised.

[Guest BJM]

I figured I would get an "eye of the beholder" comment. True, there are those out there who would collect such as car but the number is very small. Personally, and with all of my old car nut freinds, we go back in time to get cars with extrinsic and intrinsic appeal. Cars we may not have been able to afford new, caught our eye as a child, saw our neighbor buy a Mustang or muscle car.

[DizzyDale]

First let me address mconway,seems like the place to advertise your future wifes Chevette would be an AUTO TRADER.There is ALWAYS someone with the EYE comment and THIS time we have someone telling us about the <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />gorgeous <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Chevette.Well now lets consider the source.....a Pinto woody.nuff said.diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

[stock_steve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> First let me address mconway,seems like the place to advertise your future wifes Chevette would be an AUTO TRADER.There is ALWAYS someone with the EYE comment and THIS time we have someone telling us about the <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />gorgeous <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Chevette.Well now lets consider the source.....a Pinto woody.nuff said.diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

Aha, you almost had me there, DizzyDale! Of course I know you didn't mean to demean any of your fellow antique auto enthusiasts & dues-paying AACA members, who own and are enthusiastic about their legitimate antique automobiles!

By the way, the Hershey 'Vette (ouch, sorry, I didn't realize that nickname was reserved for another Chevrolet model...) was also a "woody," so you can understand my special appreciation!

Aha--just found at at a Hemmings auto blog site: http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/Hersheyantics_6127_resized.jpg

Hemmings writes:

"...Another show find - one I?m sure won?t get into the magazine because a certain Lentinello can?t stand them. Joseph Krajnak, the owner of this 1976 Chevette, said he bought it as a beater, but has received enough positive responses at cruise-ins that he decided to reserve it for show. I figure, if Gremlins competed against them and Gremlins are so cool right now, then why not Chevettes?..."

(from: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2006/...rs-of-hershey/)

A Looker indeed!

[R W Burgess]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="font-weight: bold">By the way, the Hershey 'Vette (ouch, sorry, I didn't realize that nickname was reserved for another Chevrolet model...) </span> </div></div>

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Zinger! Boy, Steve got you good that time Dizzy! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Especially since you're a diehard 'Vette (real, to some) fan. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

For those involved, I'd say "trader" would work fine, but you'll never know the actual value like you would with an E-Bay try.

Wayne

[novaman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Personally, and with all of my old car nut friends, we go back in time to get cars with extrinsic and intrinsic appeal. Cars we may not have been able to afford new, caught our eye as a child, saw our neighbor buy a Mustang or muscle car. </div></div>

You forgot the one other category that makes a "non-desirable" car for many, a desirable one for some and that's the fact mom and pop had one. And for some, not only did mom and pop have one, that person may have been conceived in it. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[Steve Braverman]

My dad had two Chevettes, an '84 he bought new for $5,000, and an '87 he got after he killed the '84. I learned to drive a manual transmission in the '84. It may have been a cheap car with no frills, designed to get from point A to point B, but so was the model T and the VW bug, and lots of folks seem to like them.

The 70s and 80s were the birth of extreme consumerism, so most everything from those periods have been thrown away. Chevettes, Gremlins, Escorts, etc. were common sights in the 70s and 80s. Those types of small hatchbacks still pervade most of Europe. Americans are too infatuated with Hummers and Escalades now to be caught dead in a hatchback. Too bad, hatchbacks are probably the most versatile small cars there are.

I'll probably get a lot of flack for comparing the Chevette to the model T, so tell me how they're different. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

[Pontiac59]

I knew a girl with one of those that didn't have a lot of miles on it, but she killed the motor somehow driving from NY to Michigan and back at 65-70 the whole way. It had no compression left, no power, and I forget but I think the oil was goofy somehow... foamy maybe. She kept driving it that way until it died, too. Probably had a burned piston or bent valves or something. My one cousin at my uncle's funeral showed up with someone in one of those that must have had the same problem, they left early ahead of the procession to make it up the hills. I'd be afraid of one even with low miles on it.

Chevettes are mildly collectible only because they're not collectible, if that makes any sense, you might try running it on eBay or in Hemmings - people who learned to drive on one might be interested in keeping one just for fun, because they're not expensive, and odds are you can leave it running at the curb even in a bad part of town and no one would steal it. If you like it, enjoy it. Personally, I think the Vega fastback is a better looking car -

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> ... that person may have been conceived in it. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

</div></div>

<span style="font-style: italic">In a Chevette??!</span> I want to meet that couple! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

My old PA-DER office had a depised Chevette as a fleet vehicle. Everyone hated that car, because nothing on it worked except the drivetrain, which couldn't be killed. I was told on occasion when I had to use it "not to bring it back". (There was no wink or smile either!) I once (accidentally) jumped a ditch with it (we really should've been issued Jeeps for field work). The impact stalled the motor, but it started right back up!

That car never died. It was sold at auction running like the day it was new, with not one electrical switch on the dash still working! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

[Restorer32]

Only car my Mom ever owned was a Chevette. Absolutely the poorest built car I have ever seen, bar none. It disintegrated sitting in the driveway. Parts would deteriorate and literally fall off the car. Mechanically it wasn't so bad, it kept running, more or less, but it was determined to recycle itself. AT 12000 miles it was literally used up. Chewing gum under a desk will last for decades but the plastic on this car rotted faster than it could be replaced. I think the seats cracked immediately upon their first exposure to sunlight and the sun visors automatically came down at the slightest bump. That was bad because the only thing holding the headliner in place was the sunvisors and a few lengths of duct tape. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing one at a show, it would bring back memories. Let's face it, many cars from the teens and twenties were no better designed and no better built than this testament to Detroit's arrogance.

[Guest BJM]

You guys and your comments crack me up. Good to start the day off with a laugh. There was a difference between the Vega and the Chevette. The Chevette had no pretences to be "sporty", just practical, economical transportation. The Vega had some styling and of course could be Cosworthed.

The basic premise for collectibility is that the manufacturer had to at least be passionate about it's creation and presentation. Just look at the modern day iterations of Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger/Cuda. etc.

[Pontiac59]

A number of years ago I was at the stable my mother and sister kept their horse at and some kids had one of those Chevettes, just driving it in circles in a bumpy pasture. I think they kept going until they just about ran out of gas, trying to kill the car. Then drove it out and it was fine.

Of course, I have a soft spot for the 1980 X-cars, one got me home once on three wheels - in the snow -

[R Walling]

I had a Chevette years ago that I bought for my used car lot. It was a two door

that I could not get the hood open before I bought it. I drove it home and it ran

pretty good for a having a few skipping sparkplugs. When I finally got the hood open,

there sat a factory 327! A neighbor hood kid stopped me from polishing it and bought it

on the spot! I never did get to drive it with new sparkplugs.

!

[charlier]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Collectibility," desirability, etc., is in the eye of the beholder--my opinion anyway.</div></div>

Steve, rest assured that others share you opinion on this. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Pontiac59]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a Chevette years ago that I bought for my used car lot. It was a two door

that I could not get the hood open before I bought it. I drove it home and it ran

pretty good for a having a few skipping sparkplugs. When I finally got the hood open,

there sat a factory 327! A neighbor hood kid stopped me from polishing it and bought it

on the spot! I never did get to drive it with new sparkplugs.

! </div></div>

Are you sure you're thinking of the same car? Not only did a Chevette never come factory with a V8, they stopped making the 327 for the 350 in what, 1969, and the Chevette came out in 1977. I'm not sure there's room enough to install one between the strut towers, although I suppose with the right manifolds it might fit. From what I can see in my Pontiac book, their clone never had any engine options at all, just a 4-cyl that grew from 1.6L to 1.8L before the car was dropped.

[stock_steve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Collectibility," desirability, etc., is in the eye of the beholder--my opinion anyway.</div></div>

Steve, rest assured that others share you opinion on this. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

Harumph! Next thing you know, someone will try and bring a VW Rabbit to Hershey...

[Guest BJM]

There are truly collectible cars that fall out of the mainstream of what most consider collectible. The VW Bug is the first to come to mind. Some Pintos actually were an attempt to differentiate from the mass produced. Remember the Pinto wagon with the port hole? And basically the Pinto was a styled car. But the Chevette and more recently the Dodge Omni (base model) were generic forms of metal intended to get one from point A to B.

It was not until the late 70's and 80's when we started to see the "pocket Rocket" movement that you could count basic modes of transportation as collectible.

With the haze of decades behind us some will have fonder memories of the Chevette/Omni et al. but the Model T is held in esteeem because it looks antique. Will people ever find the shape of the Econobox "charming"?

[Guest ChaplainLar]

Harumph! Next thing you know, someone will try and bring a VW Rabbit to Hershey...

What's wrong with a Rabbit? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[Dave@Moon]

To go to graduate school out of state I bought a then 20 year old 1960 Falcon. It was the first car I ever paid money for, and the first one I had that lasted more than a year. I drove it for 4 years, stored it for another 4, and then began restoring it as a 29 year old car.

At Hershey and Carlisle I was often laughed at when asking for Falcon parts, even though the car was almost 30 years old and Dennis Carpenter had already issued a Falcon parts catalog with many parts being reproduced.

I finished the car and kept it for years, winning a number of trophies. It was still laughed at occasionally when I sold it to a real estate agent who used it to show vacation properties. It probably still is laughed at,... in nursing homes.

People like what they like. There was a guy in my old neighborhood who liked to fix up Yugos. He had at least 6, 2 of which I'd describe as show condition. This was when they were only 10-12 year old cars. When they're 25 you can bet they'll be a few on the Hershey show field.

...just like there'll likely be a Celebrity, a Dodge 400, and an Escort EXP shown this year.

[Restorer32]

I even met a fellow once who collected Studebakers!

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I even met a fellow once who collected Studebakers! </div></div>

My parents, for reasons I'll never be able to explain, always hated Studebakers. When I told my mother I wanted to buy a '53 Lowey coupe someday she said "<span style="font-style: italic">You don't mean that one that looks like somebody sat on the hood, do you"?</span>" <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> That was in the late 1970's, when the cars were already rapidly appreciating.

[Guest BillP]

You're right, never had a V8 from the factory; just the little corn-popper 4.

However, a few years ago, Hotrod magazine had a Chevette with a 454 in it. Totally stock from the outside, no hood scoop, original paint, skinny tires on the front. It had somewhat bigger wheels and slicks on the back but the wheel wells weren't radiused and I don't think it was tubbed. American ingenuity at its finest.

[Guest BJM]

Even the Falcons were styled cars. That's the big difference. In High School in 1980 I owned a 62 Falcon and later a 63 Nova. I thought the Nova was cool and my friend with more money had a 67 Nova, tjose were nicer looking then the full size Chevy. But again, it's like GM purposely tried not to spend any money on the Chevette. It's as if, in response to the energy concerns of the mid 70's they said "Fine!" they want a plain jane grocery getter, we'll give them one!" and then proceeded to design, well, nothing really. It is what it is.

But the Falcon, Chevy II, Buick's Skylarks and so on, even the Corvair, had style. We can look back on those early Falcons and see period cues that date it. Can you say the same about a Chevette or a Ford Fiesta?

[Steve Braverman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> We can look back on those early Falcons and see period cues that date it. Can you say the same about a Chevette or a Ford Fiesta? </div></div>

I really don't see how the Chevette was any less stylish than everything else built from 1976-1987. Personally, I think the Mustangs and Camaros from that era were butt ugly too. Didn't make them any less stylish at the time.

My parents bought two new Chevys in 1985, a Celebrity and a left over '84 Chevette. They were both boring by today's standards, but they weren't any more so than everything else on the road at the time.

[Pontiac59]

I like a few of the 77-84 cars, mostly GM examples, but I can't argue that a lot of those cars are pretty plain from a styling standpoint. Things like that are all relative to your age - a lot of people like a certain age range of cars because that's what they grew up around.

That said, I won't ever have a soft spot for a 1980 VW rabbit even though we got one new when I was 6. Now the '75 LeMans it replaced, on the other hand... that was a neat car. Although I can remember by 1980 it had rust spots on the nose that my dad was already touching up.

[charlier]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Harumph! Next thing you know, someone will try and bring a VW Rabbit to Hershey... </div></div>

Actually, The next thing you know, someone might try and bring a VW Rabbit to an AACA Grand National Event. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> What's wrong with a Rabbit? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

Nothing. Just ask the 100s and 100s of people that stopped to talk with the owner of the VW Rabbit at the 2005 and 2006 Fall Hershey events.