Musings on the Chevette

"TotallyThatStupid" (jbbush) 08/11/2014 at 10:32 • Filed to: chevette, blog

1

8

For some reason, likely related to moonshine and sleep deprivation, I've been pondering !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Not that I want a Chevette, or its fraternal twin the Pontiac T1000 (which has nothing to do with the Terminator), but it pays to occasionally take a gander at what's available from the nadir of American small cars. I guess.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Way back when dirt was young and air was still in the womb - i.e. when I was in high school - my friend David had a Chevette. This was the general idea, but swap black for brown and silver for beige. The wheels were black, too, and it rocked these thin white walls. It may have had the later black grille, too.

Anyway, previous to the Chevette Dave had rolled in a gold Dodge Aspen wagon, which was not a great car despite the amount of abuse it could absorb. Literally, we jumped it 3 times a day, 5 days a week, for probably 1 entire school year. So let's say, nominally, 3x per day x 20 days a month x 9 months. You get the picture. The Aspen gave no fucks.

Eventually, after a particularly vicious round of garbage car hunting, David's dad took the Aspen into their local repair shop. In hindsight, the passenger-side front brake caliper was hanging up intermittently, though I don't recall knowing that at the time. The mechanic said something to the effect of, "You're going to put money into this car?"

So the Aspen departed and Dave got the Chevette. I borrowed it for a short trip one day to pick up my girlfriend and, yes, jumped it. After re-entry, the exhaust made a funny noise. Again in hindsight, I had probably either broken a joint or ripped off the little pipe that comes out the side of the catalytic. Regardless, David took it in to be fixed; the cost was somewhere around $50.

For years - YEARS - David tried to get the $50 out of me. $50 was real money back then. But here's the thing: he could never produce a receipt, even right after the event. A year or two after college, after we had completely lost touch, we ran into one another at a party. He mentioned the $50.

I would have gladly paid him. Hell, I probably still would.

Oh, and while image Googling for a black and silver Chevette, I came across this:

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > TotallyThatStupid 08/11/2014 at 10:38

1

I have an irrational desire for a Chevette with a Chevy 4.3 swap, or an isuzu diesel swap. Cheap, lightweight and RWD. What more could you ask for?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TotallyThatStupid 08/11/2014 at 10:42

0

Quite often I get turned off LS swaps in the majority of cars. The main reason is that there is a time and a place for an LS swap.

This is the time and the place.

V8 Chevette. Make it so.

lonestranger > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 08/11/2014 at 10:47

0

An Isuzu diesel swap ? Just get the Chevette Diesel, it came with an Isuzu engine.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > lonestranger 08/11/2014 at 10:48

0

Yeah but a better diesel than the tiny thing they put in there. Or maybe turbo the stock Chevette diesel.

lonestranger > TotallyThatStupid 08/11/2014 at 10:54

0

Silver with black wheels & grille? A buddy of mine had an '86 like that.

TotallyThatStupid > lonestranger 08/11/2014 at 11:32

0

Silver and black two-tone!

lonestranger > TotallyThatStupid 08/11/2014 at 11:51

1

My bad.

TotallyThatStupid > lonestranger 08/11/2014 at 11:52

1

It's only an acid flashback... it's only an acid flashback... it's only...