1976 Chevrolet Vega Kammback Estate Wagon

Sold for $2,200 at 2006 Worldwide Group Auction at Hilton Head Island.
This 1976 Chevrolet Vega Kammback Estate Wagon was offered for sale at the 2006 Worldwide Group Auction held on Hilton Head Island. It was expected to fetch between $10,000-$15,000 and was one of the few vehicles of the day to be offered without reserve. The Estate Wagon is one of the rarest of the Vega breeds with about 7,900 examples produced. This example is powered by a 140 cubic-inch two-barrel carbureted engine rated at 84 horsepower. It is mated to a Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission with front disc brakes and drums in the rear. It has factory roof racks, deluxe bumpers, wheel trim, and Four Season air conditioning. At the conclusion of the auction, the vehicle had been sold for $2,200.
By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2006

The Chevrolet Vega was produced from 1971 through 1977 and offered in a variety of configurations including a coupe, hatchback and station wagon. These were not the names that were used, officially, they were Notchback, Hatchback, and Kammback. During the Vega's development, the codename it was given was the 'XP-887'

The subcompact market had become very important to American Automakers, partly because of the influence that the Volkswagen Beetle had secured and the rising competition from other imports such as Toyota and Datsun. During the 1960's Ford introduced their Falcon and Chevrolet their Corvair but neither were able to grasp the popularity that had been established by other imports. With oil embargo's and customers demanding more fuel efficient vehicles, this market was evolving and becoming more important to master.

The Chevrolet Vega was another attempt at wining over the hearts of the American public and to crack the tough subcompact market. The standard engine with a single-barrel carburetor produced about 70 horsepower while the addition of a second carburetor increased horsepower to 85. The 2.3 Liter engine quickly gained a reputation for being unreliable. Due to a poor cooling channel design the engine had a tendency to burn through oil rather quickly as a result of the poorly designed valve stem seals. This did little to inspire confidence in the vehicle. Problems seemed to follow the vehicle throughout its lifespan with reports of overheating, carburetor fires, premature body rust, ruptured fuel tanks, and other issues. It was given the reputation as 'the car that began rusting on the showroom floors'.

The Vega has been included on Forbes Magazine's 'worst car list of all time.' Rising competition and build quality issues were the reason for the demise of the Vega. As the Vega was being fazed out Chevrolet introduced the Chevette and Monza which provided even more competition for the subcompact car. By the time production had ceased, 2,154,434 examples had been produced.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2006