With a low starting price, great fuel economy and an impressive array of available features and options, it’s easy to see why the Chevrolet Chevette was at one point America’s best-selling car. However all the features that made the Chevette the perfect car for carrying American families through the 1970s energy crisis, like its utilitarian styling and low-cost four-cylinder engines, also contribute to it being a rather undesirable classic to own today.
While the Chevrolet Chevette may be one of the weirder classic vehicles one might decide to put in their garage, we can see why some General Motors enthusiasts might want to own one. After all, there’s no denying the Chevette is a significant part of GM’s past given its impressive sales numbers.
This 1976 Chevrolet Chevette seems as though it’d be a near-perfect collector’s item for one of these prospective Chevette owners. With a rust-free body, clean title and just 39,890 original miles on the clock, this little Chevrolet compact car essentially looks the same now as it did when it rolled off the GM lot in the mid-1970s. It also has a characteristically 1970s color combination with a beige exterior and an equally as drab beige interior. To our knowledge, Chevrolet’s official name for this beige color in 1976 was “Buckskin.”
The market for well-kept Chevrolet Chevettes is probably quite small and we think the number of people willing to pay what this one is selling for is even slimmer. The current owner hopes to get $6,995 in exchange for it, which seems like a lot for a Chevette – no matter how well taken care of it is. Then again, if a wealthier enthusiast is just looking to put a Chevette in their collection, this is a great example of the popular Chevrolet compact that seems to be highly original and would require very little restoration work.
Check out the listing at this link while it’s still up to see more of this ultra-clean Chevrolet Chevette.
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Comments
The thing that sticks out is how much our money has been devalued over the years. So the original cost of $2,899 in 1976 dollars is equal to $13,243 in 2020. So the seller asking $6,995 is really only asking for 53% of his original cost of the car.
National Debt on 12/31/1976: $620,000,000,000* +/-
National Debt on 8/31/2020: $26,700,000,000,000* +/-
(*Incudes Public and Intragovernmental holdings)
Printing money sure contributes to the devalued money and lately, we sure like to print money.
in the later yrs one could order power steering , tilt wheel , nicer custom int. A/c .did see a few with a Isuzu diesel engine . there was a 4 door ,how many of them are left on the road ?
You could order all those things from the start on these, part of the delay in getting these into the US market was due to the changes needed in adding “US Market must have” things like a/c and power steering and brakes to the T-car where in the rest of the world those features weren’t even available in most cases.
The diesel came later as did the folding sun roof.
I don’t recall a “LeCar” like folding roof, there were pop up removable roofs available.
Lulz. Lots of bad memories attached to Chevettes for me. My teenage daughter bought a used model back in the mid-’80s before consulting me; it immediately broke down, requiring a new starter. Soon after that, the carburetor went South, soon followed by the transmission—and on and on until I junked it.
I will admit though, that it wasn’t as big a POS as my then-wife’s Pinto. I rid myself of first, the Pinto, then, the PITA wife who owned it. True story.
Always liked the Chevette for some reason. Especially the early to mid 80’s with the two-tones (liked the black/silver combo the best, followed by the lite/dark blue combo). I never owned one, but many friends and neighbors did and even a few with the diesel. Those things would get over 55 mpg, but getting to 55 took a day! But with the nice wheel covers or rims, two tones, nicer interior and a few options, these were cars I liked and would buy if I found a nice one. But this tan one in two door is not the one for me. haha.
For those that were not around in the 70’s, the Chevette and Pinto’s were trying to answer Honda’s and Toyota’s encroachment on the American small car market. The spike in gas made small cars attractive but both Ford and GM blew it with these. They were very cheaply made and had a crash worthiness of about -2 Stars. In 1976 I worked at a as salesman at Chevrolet dealer. In six months only one was sold and it was my customer. The other 20 sat there well after I left in Dec 76. The best selling vehicles were the Impala and the Monte Carlo second. The ’76 Monte was my favorite design with the quad headlights. With the right colors both inside and out, vinyl roof, it could look really good.
By 1978-80 it was the best selling car if not one of the top 3 best selling cars in the US.
Gee that’s funny seeing how the sales numbers were the highest from the kick off of the vehicle and then declined to what you Are implicating by the end of its run in 1987.
junk when new junk today no collector value put a lot of motors in these back in the day some with only 50k on them let it R.I.P. with current owner
One step above walking. But in the context of 1976 and what was available then a viable alternative for a whole bunch of people. Cheap, easy to fix, and at the time (compared to your 69 Delta 88) terrific gas mileage.
By the standards of even the early ’80’s (Honda Civic, Mitsubishi/Chrysler Colt/Champ, VW Jetta, Toyota/GEO Corolla, Ford Escort) a really horrible car.
A very vivid example of how we are now living in the golden age of internal combustion – even at the Chevrolet Sonic level.
Had a ’79 just like this one. Good commuter and around town. Came in handy when moved from apartment to first home.
The phrase “Classic Chevette” is an oxymoron, if I ever heard one, and should never be used in the same sentence, from this day forward!
It was never a classic, and never will be a classic. People don’t lust after them or even dream about them. It was not stylish, powerful, comfortable, well engineered, nor iconic, as was a VW Beetle. or a Nash Metropolitan, or even the Chevy Vega, which it replaced. The parts were the lowest grade possible and the rust issues were horrendous. It will never be at any car museum exhibit, except, maybe, a temporary, fantasy show of odd, crappy cars like Gremlins, Skodas or Yugos.
The only thing it had going for it was that it was cheap, and the gas mileage was probably double of the gas hogs the Big Three from that era. Otherwise, it is a totally forgettable car, and should be only be a footnote in GM’s history.
Please don’t put the AMC Gremlin in with that other trash. While many did not like the body style, it was a solid car with good straight six engines. Some even came with 304 V8s.
I disagree that the Vega, Pinto, and Chevette should be forgotten. Examples should be in every auto museum to remind us how bad the American auto industry was during that time, and how the Japanese took advantage of Americans making such junk.
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I was forced to drive a 79 Chevette and later its even more horrific brother the 1982 Citation. Both never failed to amaze and entertain me with their ability to leave me stranded in the worst possible places. I agree they should both be enshrined in the Never Again museum.
Funny how even the “junk” American cars are still on the road 44 yrs later. Try to find a 44 yr old Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla or a Datsun B-210, or any German make from 1976. They’re like Unicorns; they only exist in fables. Unfortunately the automotive media had an anti-American agenda that has nearly bankrupted this country. Back when the Big 3 where king, America could win wars, land on the moon, and celebrate life with the biggest and the best. Now, we are falling behind the rest of the world. It’s simple economic, whether micro or macro economics; if you spend more than you make (i.e. trade deficit), then you are getting poorer, not richer.
Yes, brings back fond memories of my orange 76.
Boy was it dependable and economical. Went all the from Michigan to Colorado twice. After putting a catalytic test pipe and modifying the fuel tank filler opening for leaded fuel it even saved more.
I still would like a V8 dropped into one.
Small cars and big motors always make for an interesting combination.
The Australian version was made by Holden, it was called Gemini and is very collectable. Some owners are junking the Isuzu engines and replacing them with a small block Chevy engine and a turbo 400 box ,heavy duty salisbury diff with modified 5 stud axles and 5 stud front hubs. Others have either optioned with the V6 engine or turbo 4 cylinder. Great little car for the race track that can easily take on the big boys. Never underestimate the might of power to weight ratio.
My dad gpt a ’74 Chevette “Scooter” and I think paid $1600, plus $300 for a back seat option.
Within the year, he gave it to me to use at college because his foot really did not fit on the accelerator pedal (Size 14). I then drove that car 150k plus miles, cross country for medical school rotations, loaded to the gills with my stuff to stay at each rotation for months/years. I even hit a coyote once. My Dad met me in Ft. Worth after one of my rotations and we drove back home to PA together. When we arrived, he shut the passenger door and the window fell out. “Time to get a new car!”