#trb_wheelsinfields

[oldmotors]

When it debuted in 1976, #GM had never sold a car as small as the #Chevrolet Chevette under one of the U.S. domestic labels, though it had sold the Opel Kadett A/B at Buick dealers. Unlike popular competitors like the VW Rabbit & Fiat 128, the Chevette was a scaled-down traditional rear-drive car like the #Kadett - a relationship rooted in the fact that it was a successor the earlier Kadetts. The Chevette was built on GM's first real global platform, “Project 909,” which eventually came to be called the “T-body.” The T had debuted in Brazil as the Chevette in 1973 and in Germany as the Opel Kadett C that same year. In time, the T would be sold under eight different brands in dozens of countries, each locally tailored using the corporate parts bin with variants as diverse as the Vauxhall #Chevette HSR and Isuzu Piazza. OPEC 1 and CAFE dictated adapting the T for the U.S., where Chevettes were sold from the beginning as basic transportation - good MPG at a low price but few frills. U.S. Chevettes were powered by a pair of fours - a wheezy ohv 1.4 with 52 hp and a slightly more enthusiastic sohc 1.6 with 60hp, both could do 40 mpg on the highway or around 27-30 in town. Later on, a 75-hp 1.6 and a rarely-ordered Isuzu diesel (lifted from the Isuzu I-mark/Gemini, another T-car) were added. Five-speed manuals arrived around the same time (previously, it was a 3-speed auto or a 4-speeder only). The U.S. Chevette came only as a three or five-door (after 1978) hatch, unlike the other markets that got different bodies (some of which were seen on the Isuzu I-Mark/Gemini). Early on, #Chevy dressed up the Chevette with graphics packages but after 1979 they got more monochromatic and more basic, as #economy and a low entry-level price became the car’s only missions. The Chevette then soldiered on for 12 years, a reliable seller but considered the lowest rung of the new car ladder in those pre-Yugo, pre-Hyundai days. It was loud inside, slow, and basic - but cheap and accessible. Production ended in December, #1986. Few were saved once they were used up.  #cars_abandoned #ig_autoshow #rusty #ChevyChevette #1980s #junkyard #salvage #ranwhenparked #1984 #trb_wheelsinfields