My first love-hate relationship — the Chevy Vega

By William D. Lewis

lewis@vindy.com

Most people have owned a car they fondly look back on. For me, that car was a 1971 Chevrolet Vega.

In many ways, it was both the best and the worst of cars.

The Lordstown-produced vehicle, which was the first car I purchased with my own hard-earned money, had a much maligned reputation, but for me it was quite a special vehicle.

While a student at Kent State University in 1974, I found myself in need of a vehicle. A co-worker at a summer job had a used Vega for sale and said it ran great but needed a little body work. After looking the car over and finding he was only asking $200, it seemed like a good deal.

I bought the car, and for the next few months, my evenings and weekends were spent applying body filler and sheet metal to the Vega. After most of the rust holes and dents were filled, I found a local auto painting shop advertising they would paint anything for $49.95, and the Vega was painted bright yellow.

A few days later a heavy rainstorm washed off most of the paint, but I had a car.

The little yellow car hauled me back and forth to KSU and was the vehicle of choice among my friends for road trips.

The most memorable of these road trips was a spring-break ski trip to Vermont. A roommate and I piled the Vega full of skis, clothes and food and took off for a week in Vermont. The little car made the journey just fine, although it did use quite a bit of oil crossing the mountains.

After finishing college I worked as a substitute teacher but took plenty of time off to ski. I still owned the Vega and it made 40-plus trips to Peek n Peak Ski area in New York State that winter.

During all those many miles, the little yellow car never left me stranded on the highway until I decided to sell it. The Vega was starting to show its age, so I bought another car and parked the Vega in my parents’ driveway. They said it had to go, so I put an ad in the newspaper classifieds to sell it for $50.

A buyer came along, and we took it for a test ride. During the ride a tire went flat, and I had no spare so we had to walk. Needless to say the buyer didn’t take the car. After a few more “thanks but no thanks” from prospective buyers, a nearby junk yard offered me $35 if I could drive the Vega in. I did and said goodbye to little yellow car and went on my way.

That should be the end of this story but the saga continues.

A few weeks after junking the Vega, an auto parts store in my hometown of Warren decided to mount a Vega on the store roof as a promotion. This was quite the talk around town so I drove by and closely inspected the car on the roof.

All of the rust spots and dents on the airborne Vega looked strikingly familiar to the one I just junked. So for the next several years, every time I drove by the store, I fondly remembered my Vega.