When I saw the topic I almost expected to see an Astre hatchback with a full vinyl roof cover (non-padded) with segmented side quarter windows. I remember some local dealers were offering such a model as a dealer special back in '74. The quarter window had a vinyl-covered insert that revealed the quarter window in 3 segments. This was an addition to the production vinyl roof cover and it was done in the same vinyl. Sorry, no pictures but if someone has an old Hamilton Spectator from the fall of '73 there would be ads for it.
There are some nice elements to that car, but not the vinyl roof cover. The wheels look like Appliance Wiremags which are neat. Elements of the side stripes look o.k. and almost look like a Native Indian motif (on a Pontiac? ). I must have missed the CNE in '74 (I went in '73 & '75 etc.)
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
But it would be disingenuous of me to avoid saying that I really was not a fan of the padded vinyl roof/opera window fad of the seventies. Trying to adapt the 'personal luxury' look to vehicles that weren't designed for it (unlike the mid seventies Monte Carlo and Grand Prix), tended to be a 'fail' in my mind. The Monte and GP looked good with it, but for example the Lemans and Chevelle/Malibu, and Nova/Ventura didn't... IMHO.
It's neat that GM Canada made their own show car like that. Any idea if the US did a similar thing with the Vega?
A 305 would have been cool, but the torque produced was enough to pop out the front windshield. A better factory option would have been the odd-fire 3.8 V6. A solid 15 second car that is fun and reliable and up til 73 was decent looking. Fuel mileage was good too, and with less weight on the front than with a V8 handling was acceptable. GM kinda did all that with the Monza later...just a heavier weirder looking car.
But it would be disingenuous of me to avoid saying that I really was not a fan of the padded vinyl roof/opera window fad of the seventies. Trying to adapt the 'personal luxury' look to vehicles that weren't designed for it (unlike the mid seventies Monte Carlo and Grand Prix), tended to be a 'fail' in my mind. The Monte and GP looked good with it, but for example the Lemans and Chevelle/Malibu, and Nova/Ventura didn't... IMHO.
It's neat that GM Canada made their own show car like that. Any idea if the US did a similar thing with the Vega?
They were of their time, just like bell bottoms. Chevy did offer the vinyl "toupee" on the Vega:
Another special edition Vega was to commemorate 1 million Vegas produced by 1973. It was called "The Millionth Vega" (it even said so on the exterior door handle inserts). They were nothing special except for Hugger Orange paint (by '74 the orange was a stock colour) and the fact that they were loaded GT Hatchbacks with a/c. These cars weren't bad looking at all.
Forgot about the Vega/Monza coupes. The padded tops looked better on the coupes than the hatchback, IMHO.
I liked the look of the 'mini Camaro' Vegas. Too bad they got a bad start with those aluminum 4 cyls that only lasted 50,000 miles or so. A small V8 or V6 offered right from the start might have allowed it a better reputation, but that's 20-20 hindsight...
I have always loved Vega's and i had a 74 hatchback with four speed stick, back in the late 70's. I loved my 74 and the only beef i ever had was the oil burning. Great little car with lots of power for a four, good mileage, good control and great looks. My Vega did not have one single speck of rust and that is why i had no trouble selling it for more than what i paid for it. The guy that bought it did an excellent job of PRO STREETING the car with a V-8 and tubs. I see V-8 Vega's a lot but only see stock ones on occasion. I was never a fan of the Astre, the Vega is much better looking.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
I dunno George, I always thought the 67-68 Firebird tail lights were a nice feature of the 1974-onward Astres. The 73s were just a token effort at making them unique and they didn't fool anybody. They were pretty hastily created after the Firenza debacle.
I can still remember the jingle on the TV ads for the 74 Astre; "Let yourself go in an Astre, let yourself go in an Astre. Let it all begin with Astre".
The TV ad for the 1974 Parisienne Brougham featured Gordon Jump (remember him from WKRP in Cincinnati or being the original Maytag Repairman?)
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
I was never a fan of the Astre, the Vega is much better looking.
Oh man, I always thought the Vega was too plain looking. The Astre had some class to it!
It is that grill that never made it for me on the Astre. I have never in my life seen a done up hot rod Astre, on the other hand tons of Vega's. I know that they built far far more Vega's over Astre's but you would think by now i would see some souped up Astre's. Maybe other folks feel the same way in that regard. Cheers.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
. I know that they built far far more Vega's over Astre's
I think part of that is because at the beginning, the US didn't have Astres from what I remember. Seems to me they might have been able to buy them in later years though.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I had a oil-burning "Baby Camaro" Vega. I always thought the front end was 10x better than the Astre's. The engines in both were junk.
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
I had a few Vega's in the late 80's. A 71, a pair of 72's and a '73. I only ever liked the first three years looks wise.
My '71 I did the most with. I bought it from my girlfriends Dad for the outstanding towing bill on the car. $36. He had bought it for his older daughter and the engine packed it in at 34,000 miles and was towed home. It was a pretty early car in the production run...the only one I ever saw with a three speed manual. I added a 229 cid Chevy V6 and a Saginaw 4 speed. Getting better parts for the V6 was a chore but it did eventually get a cam, and a Holley 500. It was a case of the perfect amount of power for the car in my opinion. Anything more would have required beefing the structure of the car significantly. I lowered the car about an inch and a half and added some Eagle GT gator backs the same width at all four corners. That made it handle very well.
I'd love to do another one, do the chassis work and drop in a 5.3 LS with a T5. So hard to find a decent Vega anymore though...