A rare 1976 Chevy Vega Cosworth is currently being auctioned off via Bring-A-Trailer and is just begging for a discerning General Motors enthusiast to give it a new forever home.
This Chevy Vega Cosworth is one of about 3,500 that were built during the performance coupe’s two-year production run and was originally sold by Knauss Chevrolet in Oregon. It has been driven just 47,000 miles since it left the production line at the GM Lordstown Assembly plant in the mid-1970s and has been very well looked after, showing a clean rust-free body and a tidy interior with no rips, burns or other blemishes in the upholstery.
The centerpiece of this Euro-inspired Chevy coupe, the 2.0-liter Cosworth twin-cam engine, is also very well maintained and was recently given a completeservice. This comprehensive overhaul included a machined cylinder head, new valves, guides and seats, a new timing belt, starter and water pump and an oil change. The suspension was also rebuilt in 2019 with new springs, shocks, tie rods, ball joints, sway bar links and suspension bushings, while the brakes were also serviced at this time with new calipers, pads, drums and a master cylinder.
The only modification installed on this car is an aftermarket exhaust, which gives the 2.0-liter Cosworth engine a bit more definition. The factory exhaust will be included with the sale for any GM enthusiasts who’d rather keep this unique piece of the automaker’s history completely stock.
The winning bidder will also receive the original manufacturer’s literature, an assembly manual, service records, and service manuals. The car is sold with a clean Saskatchewan title in the seller’s name – so any interested parties should be either located in Canada, willing to ship it or willing to drive quite far north to pick it up.
While the 120 horsepower Chevy Vega Cosworth may not be the fastest Chevy sports coupe around, we think this is an interesting piece of the automaker’s past that would make a great addition to any serious GM fan’s collection. Check out the auction listing at this link for some more info before the gavel falls in two days’ time.
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Comments
I have seen the Cosworth Vega up close at the shop where I had my 1975 Vega Kammback wagon serviced. In 1985 I sold my Vega to a Camaro racer owner who crashed his car. He transplanted the Camaro power train into the Vega wagon and won many races with it. The Vega wagon became recognizable because it had a rear window wiper.
My brother owned one of these back in the late ’70’s. It was a typical car of the times. If you want to know how much a car with 120 hp and rear drum brakes gets the adrenaline flowing ,,,,, it doesn’t. But, it was not alone. I can’t think of many, if any American cars made in that era that were fun to drive; a real low point in our automotive history.
A friend of mine had a black Vega in the mid- 1970s that looked similar to this one. Don’t think he had the Cosworth though. Was kinda of noisy and under powered but Rick liked it – called it the Black Dragon. More like black draggin’. LOL
I had a 75 Cosworth Vega, it was a pile. It was slow, noisy, and rode like crap. It was an early attempt at electronic port fuel injection and 4 valve hemi heads with not so spectacular results. The engine block was aluminum and cylinders were unsleeved so it would eat itself and would burn oil like crazy. It looked cool, but it was all show and no go.
Perhaps they should’ve taken Paul Masson’s advice… and sold no aluminum twin-cam before its time…
The engine did not have enough power to fix what was wrong with the car. Though this engine built up could run. I thought it would make a good hot rod engine say in a small Track Roadster.
In order to pass new EPA smog guidelines they had to radically alter cam design, timing and lower compression. In doing so it lost about 50 horses. Even still with the 5 sp trans it ran pretty good, there is a new timing gear set that when installed picks up about 20hp, and increases lower end power. @122 cu in, its a small motor but would easily tack 6-7,000 RPM and run good at those RPMs.
As far as aluminum cylinders, as long as you keep good oil and not overheat those motors ran all day with no issues.
Just stay out of heavy traffic on a 95 degree day (as they did not have electric fans back then) and it would run forever.