Talk:Chevrolet Chevette

Untitled
I removed the brackets on Pontiac t-1000, as that is currently a redirect back to this article. Joyous 01:26, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

Reverts, 27 July

 * Citation 1 ~ The link to the edmunds.com article clearly states "...it was no surprise that Chevrolet would introduce a front-drive machine in the empty spot in its lineup left when the Vega and Monza disappeared, just above the decrepit Chevette."
 * Citation 2 ~ Sorry, what? http://sev2maryann.severnschool.com? Is this a student or teacher's personal website? Please read Reliable sources
 * Citation 3 ~ Car Guide Magazine calls both the Cavalier and Chevette "compacts", but the Chevette was a subcompact car. Its wheelbase was...what? Five inches shorter than a Cavalier? See also Updating the Vehicle Class Categories, SAE 960897, Siddall & Day, which puts the Chevette in Class 1 and the Cavalier in Class 2.
 * Citation 4 ~ The whole quote from Internet Auto Guide states "The Cobalt LT is not the address of driving excitement, however. It's not made for that, but rather for delivering four people comfortably, five only in a pinch, on a minimal outlay for fuel and monthly payments, a transportation appliance in the longtime Chevrolet mold of the Corvair, the Vega, the Chevette, the Monza, and most recently the Cavalier." It's merely stating that the Chevette and Cavalier were both low-cost four-seaters, not that one replaced the other.
 * You stuck three references in a single citation. Please read WP:FOOT for instructions on how to properly format your references.
 * The tag has been removed because no-one is biased for or against either the Cavalier or Chevette. The appropriate tag would be
 * As already clarified at the WikiProject Automobiles talk page, the European Cavalier absolutely did not "replace" the Chevette. The Chevette was 1975-83, the Cavalier was 1976-94, and the two were concurrent models in different classes.
 * Please stop using your edit summaries to attack other users. As per WP:ES, "Avoid using edit summaries to carry on debates or negotiation over the content or to express opinions of the other users involved."

Article reverted to previous version by User:ApolloBoy. -- DeLarge 14:21, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Sorry, you can't just massive revert and dismiss several valid citation, and restore it with a POV that was unverified and uncited. Or least I won't let you do that  even if your friends will. Gawd, all all the WP car people like that? If you are correct, it should be very simple to produce a citation of somebody, anybody who will say the Cavalier did not replace the Chevette. But I can't, and if all articles that have anything to say confirm that successor was Cavalir, if even one said otherwise, it would then be disputed, but if none can be found (I'm still waiting for one), that would mean.... you're wrong and I'm right?? --matador300 16:47, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * "General Motors has never achieved much success at the subcompact level, perhaps due to a lack of continuity in its product offerings. Since the demise of the Chevette in the mid-80's, that market slot has been filled at different times by such nameplates as Sprint, Metro, Optima, LeMans, Firefly, and the never-to-be-forgotten Asüna."
 * Source: http://caen.shipping.autos.moonport.com/vip/jedlicka.aspx?modelid=10721&src=vip
 * There you go. A good source, a very clear-cut citation that says Chevette -> Sprint -> Metro -> Aveo. --93JC 18:14, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * That's all very fine for the low end, and I don't dispute. Unlike you, I did not remove references to other successors, which removes significant information, which is vandalism if not done in good faith, though it didn't say what it is if it was just dumb rather than mean. But none of those forgettable cars replaced the slot with success such as the Cavalier, which which GM achieved a lot of success, in dollars if not respect from reviewers. Did you notice that every one of those articles names the Vega, Chevette, Cavalier sequence, but none include any of those smaller cars. Similar problem with the Spirit, somebody is going down market when the bulk of sales went upmarket. Your source does not contradict the Cavalier, it simply adds a different set and definition of successor. The Cavalier was the next successful Vega-descedent after the Cavalier, that much is pretty much a fact, now why 6 six different WP amateur editors are fighting to the death to not permit the WP saying what every other professional auto editor says just boggles my mind.


 * Read it again, Artie. The only source referring directly to the matter at hand and written by a professional auto editor, my source, says Chevette -> Sprint -> Metro -> Aveo. Again, it says:
 * "General Motors has never achieved much success at the subcompact level, perhaps due to a lack of continuity in its product offerings. Since the demise of the Chevette in the mid-80's, that market slot has been filled at different times by such nameplates as Sprint, Metro, Optima, LeMans, Firefly, and the never-to-be-forgotten Asüna."
 * No Cavalier. Cavalier didn't replace Chevette. It expressedly says "that market slot has been filled at different times by such nameplates as Sprint, Metro, Optima, LeMans, Firefly, and the never-to-be-forgotten Asüna." To the expressed exclusion of Cavalier. Cavalier never replaced Chevette. How many times and how many people will have to tell you over and over and over and over again before you get it? --93JC 20:24, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I've already pointed out your logical fallacy on the Cavalier talk page, but I'll reiterate it here:
 * "If you are correct, it should be very simple to produce a citation of somebody, anybody who will say the Cavalier did not replace the Chevette."
 * Find me a citation that says the Chevrolet Corvette did not replace the Chevette, and this time try to avoid references of the quality of Mr Yostl's cars on Mary Ann's Severn School webpage. Having trouble? Just because no-one has explicitly denied something doesn't automatically make it true.
 * Further (and this is very important), read WP:ES and stop using your summaries to attack other editors or their work. Limit your comments to what you're doing, not why you're doing it. You're going to end up fulfilling the predictions of the mediator at your previous RfC at this rate. -- DeLarge 07:57, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

You are both right, in a way. The Chevette was the international T-body, slotted below the Vega "J-body" in price and size (they were sold concurrently, and yes, I owned one of each, a '72 VEGA and an '81 Diesel Chevette). The Cavalier was the offficial "successor" to the Vega and was called within GM the J-body as well. The Cavalier and Chevette were also sold concurrently. So the Cavalier was technically the successor to the Vega, which had morphed into what John Delorean called the "Italian Vega" or Chevrolet Monza by the time the Cavalier was introduced (circa 1982?). See, e.g., "On a Clear Day, You Can See General Motors" (DeLorean) (Vega chapter).

As for "success" all of these cars made money for GM. The Cavaliar J-body was morphed several times and is now sold as the "Chevrolet Cobalt" largely unchanged underneath from its early 1980's introduction. Timkin bearings got the contract for the front wheel spindles (tapered roller pack bearings)on the J-car, while we (New Departure Hyatt) got the bid for the ball bearing "integrated spindles" on the X-body Citation et al. Unfortunatly, these spindles failed at around 70K miles, along with the brakes and struts, leaving Citation oweners with huge repair bills at that time. The Cavalier, on the other hand, could be counted on to go 150,000 miles before any major problems were ecountered. As "success" goes, the Cavalier was a sucess for its buyers as well.

The Chevette was not a bad design, and with RWD and a dual wishone suspension, it would handle reasonably well. The diesel model produced 55 mpg with regularity, something that still seems amazing 25 years later. As they tended to rust a lot less than the infamous Vega. Some have speculated that the Vega (and moreover any 73-74 model year GM car) tended to rust a lot as a result of the GM strike in '72. The folklore is that GM skimped on steel quality and/or rustproofing in order to recoup losses from the strike. Whether or not this is true is hard to quantify. The later built Vegas and particularly the Monzas did not tend to rust nearly as much as the earlier cars, though. FWIW. --RPB.

And yes, my Vega blew its engine at 40,000 miles, like most of them did. And rusted like boy howdy.

"Scooter" Package annonalies?
I was the original owner of a 1976 Chevette Scooter. This car had a sticker price of $2695cad and that was what I had to pay ("loss-leader"?). The only three options mine carried was the Canadian emmissions control package, white paint, and ivory colored vinyl upolstery (emmission control was mandatory for Canadian cars, and the other options were simple color choices). Mine came completely standard with a 1400cc (1.4L) 4 cylider (the 1600cc/1.6L was not offered until 1977), 4 speed manual transmission (automatic was not offered until 1977), standard steering, standard brakes, black plastic shelf in place of a folding rear seat, cigarette lighter, glove compartment door (with a non-locking twist latch that promptly broke and was replaced with a locking one a week after I bought the car), swing-out rear windows, AM radio, chrome front and rear bumpers, chrome "hub caps" (covering only the inner lug ring), chrome grille and headlamp trim, "Scooter" nameplate stickers with chrome "Chevette" emblems, black carpet, black dash panel, vinyl upholstered seats, vinyl upholstered pressboard interior panels (with pullstraps instead of armrests). This was the only year that Canadian Chevette/Acadian had an Imperial system speedometer (Miles) instead of Metric (Kilometers). I drove the car until 1994, putting a whopping 1.8 million miles on it; performing all post-warranty maintenance myself.

Following a front-end collision in 1986, I discovered that 1976 was the only year that chrome trim was offered for the grille and headlamp bezels (I replaced my broken chromed parts with factory replacement metallic silver painted parts for 1978 Pontiac Acadian because of the cost of replacement 1976 Chevette chromed parts. I also had to replace the hood, using a 1977/1978 Acadian/Chevette replacement because the grille openings were slightly different (larger with a shorter radius on the rounded corners of the grille, while the headlamp bezels were identical shape and size).  The Pontiac replacements had a chromed metal horizontal insert through the middle of the moulded plastic grilles.

The 1976 Acadian (Pontiac T1000) was considerably higher priced and carried several upgrades including an optional automatic transmission. To my knowledge there were no Pontiac "Scooter" equivalents...I could not even special order one without a rear seat, opening rear windows, or moulded interior panels with armrests. In 1976, my local Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer did not sell any of the 6 Acadians originally shipped until there were 1977 models on the lot. By comparison, my local Chevrolet/Oldsmobile/Cadillac dealer had what seemed at least 2 truckloads of Chevettes delivered per month.

A commercial "Delivery" package was available for the Chevette when I bought my Scooter, which offered the same "shelf" in the rear seat position, with pressboard interior panels (veneered finish, not upholstered), silver painted bumpers, grille and headlamp trim, fixed rear windows and no radio (possibly no glove compartment door?). 24.235.198.91 (talk) 04:39, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Merger Suggestion

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the proposal was merge. Jgera5 (talk) 17:59, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

I suggest the Pontiac T1000/1000 article be merged into the Chevrolet Chevette article. Due to the duplication of information. VX1NG (talk) 17:47, 1 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Support - as per nominator.  Mr.choppers &#124;   ✎  22:11, 9 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Support as per nom; same car, different badge. Luke no 94  (tell Luke off here) 21:15, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

Seating configurations
I've not been able to find clear information about the different seating arrangements available in the Chevette. I mean I know it has 5 door variants, and they should obviously have some sort of back seat, but I cannot figure out if its a 3 seater or 2 seater. And did the 3 door/hatchback have ever any rear seats? Might be something to include if someone has any information about this. --Dux Ducis Hodiernus (talk) 12:53, 25 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I had '76 and '84 Chevette 3 door hatchbacks. Both had standard rear bench seats with 3 seat belts.  They folded down to increase cargo space. Nostep (talk) 03:44, 4 May 2017 (UTC)


 * There were a slew of super stripper models around the time of the Chevette &mdash; e.g., the Pinto Pony MPG and the VW Basic Beetle &mdash; due to rapid inflation affecting car and fuel prices. The Chevette Scooter was Chevrolet's response. For 75-76 only, among other deletions, Scooter models had no rear seat and Scooters were thus two-seaters.  All other Chevettes came with rear seats.842U (talk) 14:33, 5 May 2017 (UTC)

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Availability of automatic transmission for the Chevette in Latin America
It's been a popular option in Colombia and Venezuela, with a more limited demand in Brazil. The entire range had been offered with the TH180 transmission after the last facelift, including the hatchback, wagon and coupe-utility (which still holds the distinction of being the only Brazilian coupe-utility to have ever featured this option) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:7F4:C480:5745:0:0:0:1 (talk) 21:48, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

3 litre V6 Chevette in Australasia
Where's the details on the 3 litre V6 Chevette sold in NZ and Australia (& South Africa?)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.99.248.131 (talk) 04:32, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Chevette engine information.
This piece here has been a constant battle to maintain the proper information.

"This engine is either a 1.4L Isuzu G140 or 1.6L G161Z. The inline four Isuzu engine had its block cast in Brazil and there is some confusion whether this is a different engine but the twin cam covers solves this issue; this is a Japanese Isuzu motor."

If you have ever opened the hood on a Chevette in Canada, USA or Brazil you'll see an engine that is not in anyway a G140/161Z, but a completely different Opel designed engine. There is no Isuzu stamp on these. Nothing is interchangable.

The shape of the valve covers is more than enough to see the difference between these two engines.

It is NOT a Japanese Isuzu engine! 2001:569:FE94:BC00:8D20:CFA8:8BCB:B610 (talk) 21:18, 4 February 2023 (UTC)


 * I tend to agree. My 1976 Chevette 2 door hatchback had the 1.4L engine and I'm pretty sure I remember it using non-metric bolts.  It had a Rochester carb and it liked to eat timing belts.  It would also shred accessory belts because it was hard to keep the pulleys in line with each other.  My 84 Chevette 2 door hatchback had the 1.6L and it used standard as well.  Both used GM AC Delco parts for the starter and accessories, though I don't know if this info is helpful or not. Nostep (talk) 02:53, 22 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Here is an article with someone who could be called a Brock Yates type for Brazil, Bob Sharp. A very well known and respected writer of things Automotive in Brazil.
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20161213173243/http://www.autoentusiastasclassic.com.br/2011/12/origem-do-motor-do-chevette.html
 * Titled: Origem do Motor do Chevette (literally translated: Origin of the Motor of the Chevette)
 * In it, he wrote about conversations he had with engineers who worked on the the development of the Chevette engine. People he knew from and worked with at GM.
 * Carlos B. Buechler, At the time of the T-Body's development, he was a Product Engineer for GM Brazil but worked in the Opel Factory Russelsheim Germany. Was VP of Engineering of GM Brazil for a large number of years.
 * Pedro Manuchakian, then assistant to Buechler and became VP of Engineering of GM Brazil when Carlos B Beuchler retired
 * Francisco Satkunas, then assistant to Buechler he was a resident engineer the Opel Russelsheim facility for some time and through his 40 years at GM Brasil became "Director at GM in several areas: Purchasing/Sales/Strategic Plann./Quality." per his linked in profile.
 * They reference working with Fritz Lohr on it. (Later Opel's Director of Engineering, designer of the Kadette D and others)
 * Google translated: "Satkunas says that the design and construction of the prototypes were entirely German. The engine was designed specifically for the Kadett C — our Chevette — and would complement a 1.2-liter OHV (in-block valve timing and overhead valves). The new engine was a 1.4-liter OHC (overhead valve control) and it was the first time that Opel used a timing belt to drive the control."
 * Google translated: "Carlos Buechler adds: “The project for the new engine was led with great vigor by Fritz Lohr, who faced a lot of resistance at Opel and in the USA, as it required high investment, but without which Opel would have succumbed in the 70s/80s. The most curious thing about this story is that Lohr's specialty was chassis. But the three Brazilians, Francisco Satkunas, Pedro Manuchakian and I, actively participated in this project, with Pedro also taking care of the transmission project."
 * The article gives some details on the engine, it's relation to the Family II, and some issues with the development. CharlesFrom317 (talk) 03:12, 20 June 2024 (UTC)