Even at 40, Lordstown-produced Vega still is dropping jaws

By ed runyan

runyan@vindy.com

LIBERTY

Paul Rohrbaugh of New Middletown is an Austintown native who combines a love of local history with a love of cars.

He owns one of the nicest 1973 Chevrolet Vegas anyone has ever seen.

Rohrbaugh purchased his Lordstown-built Vega — a dark green model — in June 2009 after two previous owners cared for the car like their most prized possession.

He knows a thing or two about taking good care of a Vega, because he bought a new one in 1974, just after he graduated from Austintown Fitch High School, and drove it until 1979, when he traded it in with more than 90,000 miles on it. Everything was still in good working order.

That Rohrbaugh was able to drive his first Vega for so many years without calamity is an accomplishment, because the Vega has been widely acknowledged as among the worst cars ever made by the American automotive industry.

Rohrbaugh, who drives his green Vega a couple times per week to his job at National College in Liberty, said it’s that combination of local history and infamy that probably explains why the inexpensive, no-frills two-door gets so much attention when he drives it.

“We’ve had a lot of very nice conversations about our town and this car’s role in the area’s history,” Rohrbaugh said. “I’m very proud of returning this bit of local history to our roads and preserving it for folks to see and enjoy.”

Rohrbaugh and his wife, Lisa, named the car “J.D.,” he said, for Jaw Dropper, because even though J.D. is a most simple-looking car, it produces extreme reactions.

Just about every time Rohrbaugh drives the car, another motorist will honk at him or follow along, gawking. He’s noticed on several occasions that motorists have pulled along side J.D., speeding up, slowing down — all in an effort to get a good look at the car.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.