The Mustang II's Worst Nightmare - The Chevy Monza Spyder
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In this Rare Cars documentary, we are going over the Chevy Vega's better-looking and more eclectic sibling, the Monza Spyder. Released as a performance handling-focused compact to compete with the onslaught of foreign cars of the same vein, the Monza Spyder albeit slow was actually a pretty decent car for the period in terms of handling prowess and the overall package that it provided.
And because of it, the car became a smash hit and a runaway sales success for GM. This is the full story of the iconic Monza Spyder.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:23 Background
4:44 Exterior Design & Engine
8:25 Performance Numbers
11:25 Sales & Impact
*Note, we are not historians. If you see an error in our research then please mention it in the comments!
Sources:
www.motortrend.com/features/c...
www.drivingline.com/articles/...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrol...
www.hagerty.com/media/car-pro...
inthegaragemedia.com/history-...
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Always loved the look of that car. Wouldn't mine resto-modding one today.
Hmm, 4 wheel disc brakes, replace front and rear suspension for a more independent sport suspension, keep 5 speed manual, adjust rear differential, and either modify existing engine or replace with engine between 200 to 275 hp. Existing engine could be modified with electronic fuel injection and changes to cam and lifters.
A 2nd gen LT1, or a LS1, with c4 brakes, suspension, etc. Now that would be a relatively, economic blast.
The 5 speeds in those cars were complete crap. I burned through clutches faster than tires. And the pedal was so stiff the cable eventually burst through the firewall.
I had its brother, a 1975 Buick Skyhawk, in silver with a red interior, and the 3.8l Buick V6 with auto transmission.
I had a '79 with the same drivetrain as yours. I think mine was originally bright red, but a previous owner had changed it to a two-tone maroon and black.
That 3.8L V6 from Buick made it's way into Holden car models in the 1990's in Australia .
Being under the GM family
I had a blue one.that little thing would get it
4 speed standard
I had the same but red exterior and manual transmission.
I bought a 77 Buick Skyhawk off of a neighbor who was upgrading. I was the third owner. Great car. It was my daily driver for a good few years. đ
My dad had a 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire. I was too young to know anything about it, but i remember we had it......but not for long.
@@christopherweise438
Another rare yet great car.
My Mom bought a 77 Skyhawk with the Buick V6, it would move out.
At age 17, in 1990 I got my first car a maroon 77 Buick Skyhawk v6 4 speed stick, the body was in good condition but the engine was shot. My brother in-law was a mad genius mechanic & had a shop . So we stuffed a 305 in it. I loved that car and I wish I still had it .
You have to watch the full Roadkill Chevy Monza episode!
My first car in high school was a 78 Starfire GT with the venerable 3.8 v6. It only made 100 hp but you could still do donuts in the parking lot due to it's light weight. Loved that car!
i had a black and gold one it was a burnout machine lol
venerable
My mom had a Starfire that my dad bought her. I totalled it within a year. Loved that car!
I had a 1977 Starfire GT in a Copper reddish brown with the white stripes & did like the front grille with the vertical bars in front. A V6 231 engine with automatic. White vinyl interior but the dash was reddish brown. It looked nice but really wanted the manual 5 speed. My 1st new car & missing the front engine mounts so on my 1st wide open throttle the fan ate the plastic fan shroud & luckily didn't go thru damaging the hood. GM quality was lacking. Also had about a quarter sized rust spot that formed on the hatch by one corner of the rear window after the 1st year. This would be the last US built car by a US manufacturer I would buy. The Japanese quality control won me over. While none were what anyone would call muscle cars with a manual 5 speed transmission they were fun to drive & handled well.
I had the pleasure of own a Ford Pinto, Ford Mustang II, Chevy Vega, and Chevy Monza spider. The Mustang II (302) was the fastest for highway driving and in my opinion, handled the best. The Monza (305) was the fastest 1/4 mile but a total bitch to work on. The Vega 4 banger was the most reliable, cheapest to operate, went forever. The Pinto was just a good car despite all the flack everyone gives it.
my buddys would be sure to point out every dead vega on the roadside. Way more than there should've been.
My 77 hatch never gave one single problem. AC. Slow. Buick V6/5 speed swapped a wagon = a whole new world
Itâs like I say, sometimes you get a good copy of a bad model.
All those cars made for good super and pro stock cars.
I had a 1975 Spyder with the 4.3 l V-8. It was a sharp looking car but the front suspension could not handle the engine weight. It used some unique cam adjustment design (special tool required) instead of shims to adjust the camber. Front tires would wear out in about 10K miles if I didn't keep the front end aligned.
I had 3 small block Monza's, all 305's. My 77' was a low 16 second car with 229 gears and that TH-350 metric trans. I was able to do the plugs in 55 minutes with no broken knuckles.
Did you have to raise the engine??
My 2nd car was a '76 2+2 hatchback. 400 SB tunnel ram 2 650s M22 Muncie 4:56 with a mini spool in the factory 10 bolt & the factory traction bar that ran from the transmission to the rear end. The real problem with these cars was the lack of options when it came to headers. If I remember correctly they were Headman 4 piece each side & you had to piece them together while dropping the engine & transmission together. No way possible to do it any other way. Don't get me started about changing plugs or if the starter went out. You had to pull the engine & transmission. The plus side is when it was all clicking right it was a beast. I was 17 yrs old in highschool when I had that car, I'm 53 now & I sure do wish I could drive that car one more time. Today when I tell people about it most don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Those were truly great days back then
As a late GEN X these cars would have been just a few years old when I started noticing cars. Yet to this day I have NEVER seen a monza or derivative actually on a public road.
And I've never seen one at the drag strip. I mean, why would anyone want a heavier Vega?
I used to see them up through the late 80âs but theyâve all disappeared since then.
These were all derivatives of the Vega... still have my '77 Pontiac Astre FORMULA Safari (kammback) Station Wagon... Iron duke, 5 speed, posi...
Because they rusted at a tremendous pace.
They were popular among hot roders and young people as a result there aren't many of them left and being a 70s gm low budget car they desove in a hard rain same as the Vega and chevete.
The 77' Mirage, with the IMSA stage 1 body kit and F41 suspension, was the Canyon Carver. Not the Spyder.
Yeah, with the engine set back about two feet!
My 75 GMC Sierra four-wheel drive. Sporting a big block, winch bumper and winch would out corner of the my V8 spider on a clover leaf.
Had a 77 Spyder...Worst mistake in car buying I ever made... Total pile of đ©đ©đ©đ©First the Cooling Fan failed. Then the Firestone 500 Tires Started Coming Apart. Then the Windshield Washer Pump Came On...on its own, overheated and melted the reservoir. Then the Upper Radiator Hose split and dumped coolant all over the engine compartment. Then the Driver Side Exhaust Manifold Bolts broke...Massive Exhaust Leak...Did I mention the Battery Sulfated and nearly caught the car on fire. Nothing Electrical worked right after that. Practically had to pay the dealer to take it in trade. Absolutely the biggest disappointment in a Chevrolet I have ever experienced. All of this and more happened in less than a year of ownership. Literally Gave It Away to get a 78 Trans Am.
Sounds like a problem of maintenance.
@@garycamara9955 Problem Of Maintenance...ON A BRAND NEW CAR...NOT EVEN OUT OF WARRANTY...YA A PROBLEM OF MAINTENANCE ALRIGHT...You Funny Guy...lol...
I always figured that a nicely built 283 or 327 would have made this a really spectacular car to drive.
One of my best friends had a Spyder with a 305 and a 5 speed when we were in high school (class of 93). We built a budget 350 around 275-300hp and put it in. That car was FUN to drive, but not fun to work on. Those v8s took up all the room in that little engine bay. Plus, we had a really hard time keeping it cool on hot days. Really poor airflow over a very small radiator at low speeds.
Very good times, though.
They should have used a Daddy Longlegs decal on the hood because this Spyder has no bite.
'73 to '88 was the dark ages...
For OEMS...
I had a high school teacher who had one of these with the 305 & 5-speed. It was nice, and fun to drive, even though the only time I got to drive it was when the shifter cable broke. I was the only one who drove stick well enough to get it home with no clutch.
I had a 75 2+2 with the 4.3L V8.. Miss that car. handled like it was on rails and the V8 took all the smae upgrades as any other SBC V8.. Good times.
I HAD THE SAME,CAME WITH THE 262. IT GOT PULLED IMMEDIATELY FOR A BUILT 350. IT WAS A BLAST TO DRIVE AND RACE.
I've got a friend who pulled his number matching motor, and built a 350 for his 4sp monza spyder. I have been a lifelong v8 vega enthusiast and the monza is just as awesome to me. Thanks for the video
Iâd say Mustang II was its own runaway sales success that was greater than the Monza. Also THE VEGA was the Monzaâs worst nightmare- the hangover from the Vega disaster and the rightful burning of GM and Chevyâs reputation and consumer trust to be able to build a good small car.
I donât think the Mustang II had nightmares about anything related to a Monza or the Vega.
I actually like the Monza. By the time it came out, most of the Vegaâs failures were sorted out.
Good hyperbole, though.
Performance-wise, the Monza was a nightmare for the paltry Mustang II which neither handled well nor was fast in any way.
@@sixoaksfarm1556 Yeah, if you want to call two snails racing a "nightmare".
@@CarsandCats maybe, til they hits some curves.
I think Mustang II had 140 HP...
Couple hundred $$$$ in parts would wake the Monza 350" up to around 350 HP...
GM was selling Vegas, Astres, Monzas, Starfires, Skylarks, Sunbirds, vs Ford's Mustang II/Capri...
Ya Mustang II'S couldn't touch a Vega or monza
I used to smoke Mustangs in my Chevy pickup on a daily basis back in the day
I had 3 Monzaâs in my lifetime and all three body styles 78 wagon w/factory 3.8 V6 , a 77 fast back w/ 305 V8
and the last one I had which I considered the rarest of the 3 was a 75 notch back w/262 V8
I pulled out the stock drivetrain and rear end out of every one of them and put in 350 c.i. engines with various high performance components, narrowed Gen 3 camero rear rear axle assy
They were a lot of fun, and fffffffffnnnn fast
I remember seeing plenty of Mustang IIs on the road in the late 70s into the early 80s. I only saw a few Monzas and never the Spyder version. I still see a Mustang II every now and then at car shows. While the cars from the Malaise Era were low on power, they made up for it by looking good.
I look at them, they seem like cool projects, but Malaise cars really have a ton of issues and parts are getting harder and harder to find. There's a lot of odd-balls and rebadging from Japanese cars. The original muscle cars and the 90/00 cars have a huge after market parts list available.
My college buddy had one up until 1990. It was a heap. I borrowed it for a weekend - I had to âspiral inâ to gas stations and park way out in the parking lot because it had no Reverse! đ
I had a 77 Cobra II that had a 302 and my friend had a Chevy Monza Spyder with a 305 engine and both were automatic transmissions and I raced that Monza up the Summit Mountain in Fayette County, Pa and outran that Chevy up the 3 mile hill and we stopped at a gas station and he asked what was in the Cobra II and I took the air cleaner off to show him a stock 302 with a 2 bbl carb and he said I can't believe you outran me up the Mountain and I told him Chevy's 305 never had any power no matter what car they put it in!!!!
I'll take "Bald Faced Lies" for $100, Alex..
@@frankhassle9366 Not my problem that Chevy couldn't keep up
âI will take a dumbass that does not know shitâ about cars for 200. A POS underpowered Chevy 305 will not touch a Ford 302 whether in car truck the ford 302 bore n stroke of 4" x 3" overbore stroke is what you want for a engine to breathe @@frankhassle9366
@@dennisthomas4766 IN YOUR DREAMS, BUCKO!! QUIT TRYING TO TURN CZcams INTO A HOUSE OF LIES!!!
My sister had a 77 V8 Monza Spyder, though she got it with the automatic. It handled well in spite of the heavy front end. She didn't buy it new but got it as a used car. I drove it a few times and for the period, it was pretty fast. I think it would have been more fun if it had a manual.
My sister's first car was a used 78 avocado green Skyhawk v6 auto, it was a quick little car but I agree, a manual (like Dad's 74 Vega GT) would've completely transformed the character of the car....in a VERY good way!
I had a 1978 Monza with the 305 auto. I put the front spoilers/ Flares on mine. Looked pretty good. Painted it bright white. Put a edlebrock performer plus cam and intake manifold plus a Holley 600. Ran true dual exhaust. Put a shift kit in the turbo 350. I had this car from 82 to 89
It ran really good with the Edlebrock cam and aluminum intake manifold. Believe it or not when the Buck GNs came out in 84 with 200 hp. My buddy got a brand new one . My Monza Spyder ate it up. Would beat him every time by 3 to 4 car lengths. As far as the Cobra II what a slow turd. I beat all the new stuff coming out from GM and Ford in the early 80s to mid 80s.
Ended up putting a 300 flywheel hp Chevy 350 in her in 1985.
Pretty much beat every thing except a 72 Trans Am with a 455. I couldnât get around him or pull away.
Loads of fun in that little Monza. Only complaint was the front suspension was weak. Had a ball joint break once on it fortunately I was only going about 10 mph when that happened. Fixed it. I had more problems trying to keep the front end in alignment. I ended up rebuilding the front end. It helped but still had to get it aligned every 6 months while it was my daily driver., it was a cool car. AC worked great , fun cruiser.
Ended up getting into Trans Ams which I am still into today.
My second car was a gold 1980 Spider with the 3.8 and 3 speed automatic. It was so slow, but it was so beautiful at the same time. It kind of reminded me of the front end on the classic Batman series. I would give anything to find one with a 305 and a four-speed. After watching this pretty positive I had the Z29 package.
I had an 80 sunbird coupe with the Iron Duke 151 cu inch 4 cyl and a 5 speed. It was gutless, but I have to admit, reliable economic and indestructible. The sporty handling of the suspension made it a great car on winding roads, mountains and even city driving. Too bad they all got crushed..people didn't appreciate them enough
The Oldsmobile star fire and Buick sky hawk are my favorites too even though theyâre not mentioned
My first car in 1992 was a 1980 Chevy Monza Coupe.
3.8 V6 3 speed automatic.
It was red with a red interior and had the red wheel covers to match the car had 118,000 miles on it. It had optional air conditioning and tilt wheel. That car was fantastic took it everywhere and it was in phenomenal shape I added an amfm stereo cassette which was one of those radios you pulled out carried with you LOL
I threw a set of four mud flaps on it and on that hood cowl I put two black stripes that went into a Chevy emblem down the middle and with black pinstriping I circled the hood scoop with black pinstripe.
I tinted the windows the car gave me no issues I sold it for a grand with 138,000 Miles.
The performance models were the spider, The Mirage, and not sure but there was a scorpion model as well but I don't know much about that one. Very rare.
Dad thought he must be the first guy in Detroit with the new 1975 Monza hatchback. People would stop him in parking lots or yell from the sidewalk or get him to roll down his window âWHAT IS THAT?!â It was pumpkin orange too! I loved it. Dad parted ways with the monza in 82. It got a lot of attention but he thought it was one of the junkiest put together cars heâd ever had.. lol
Back in the 90s, I found a good chunk of old car magazines at lawn sales, usually from the early to late 70s. I remember reading about this car for the first time and being fascinated with the design.
This brings back great memories. My uncle is the ultimate car dude. He loves making sleepers. He had a stock monza then put the motor & transmission out of a wrecked 1970 Montecarlo. I helped with the transplant and yes there was some cutting and some welding. Different motor mounts obviously had to put a different rear end in it. But at the end of the day it looked stock except for the nasty wide tires. Let me tell you it was a blast. It was the ultimate light to light blaster!!
I bought the Starfire in 1978 with the 3.8L, as a kid it was about mpg and still is as an adult. đ Wow, brings back way to many memories. Wish I still had the car today. As simple as it was, it was a nice automobile.
These (and their Buick/Olds varients) were very nice cars, with either the V6 or the V8 and a 5 speed manual, usually fully optioned. They didn't look like anything else and they drove and handled quite good. The 4 cylinders were crap. I had the Pontiac version, the two door notch back coupe Sunbird with the 305 V8, 2 barrel carb, AC, cruise control, 3 speed auto trans and the baby Trans Am Rally package with the rear spoiler and lower body stripes, rally wheels and genuine black Trans Am steering wheel. It was a fantastic little car and yes, it did look like a baby Trans Am. I LOVED that car. I don't remember it being 12 seconds to 60 slow, more like the mid 8 seconds. But it did handle very well and had a lovely, low key V8 burble at idle. I NEVER, EVER saw another one like it - they were very rare. But these swoopy Monza/Starfire/Skyhawk hatchbacks were everywhere and again, the fully optioned V6 and V8 models were very nice. Great post!
I had a 76 Olds Starfire, well, my wife drove it. 3.8 V6 auto, with the Firestone 500's. Of all the cars I've owned and drove I've always considered this the worst car I've ever owned ( and I've owned a Yugo) The tires may have some of the fault, but the roads in my area then were fairly rough, and the car bottomed out so much I never got the chance to see how it handled. We started a family and was glad to get rid of it for a Buick Apollo.
I had a V8 Monza with the 5 speed. Decent car initially but became a total PITA. Changing spark plugs was just about impossible. The local Chevrolet dealer wanted $29.95 to do points, plugs, and condenser on every other Chevrolet, but on the Monza it was $250. The thing I remember the most was that it had very heavy doors and the hinges were Vega sized such that the doors would sag out of the jam. My brother totaled it when I was overseas. Best thing that could have happened.
There is a 1975 Monza coupe with a 350 hidden away in a garage on a farm near me.
In high school, I had a 1975 Monza 2+2 hatchback with the 262 v8 and a 4 spd manual. It was not a Spyder but a few aftermarket spoilers from JC Whitney made it look the part. It had a pretty bad cable clutch that was very heavy and would bind up. I did get pretty good at replacing that clutch cable. It was also not fast and 75 MPH took an eternity. That was in 1978 and 75 MPH would have landed me in big trouble. It did look cool for the era and I really liked it. I had it until my freshman year of college. I hit some standing water on a rainy night and it went straight off the road into a ditch and the roof actually buckled just a little. The frame was also damaged and that was the end. The last I heard was someone bought it and turned it into a racecar.
In the midwest the Monza and Vega were completely rusted out in 5-8 years, it simply wasn't available as a first car when we became able to drive in 1988.
....yeah....they didnt last long in rust belt the winters
THANK YOU SO MUCH. A TOTALLY AWSOME VIDEO!!! I LEARNED A LOT!!!
Thanks for the video, appreciate the effort. I'm old enough to remember when these were new cars and still recall how impressive it was that they came with V-8s back in the day, although the horsepower output was pathetic, as it was with the Mustang, too. I thought they looked great and had no idea they were canyon-carvers, too. One of the things I didn't like about the Monza was the need to jack up the engine to get at at least one of the rear spark plugs. They're hard to get at in my Subaru, but at least I don't have to break loose any motor mounts.
In my early teens my neighbor's son got a brand new Spyder. Since I washed cars out of my parents driveway I would occasionally wash this car. I will say that it was fun to drive and I always thought it was a good looking car. They are hard to find today.
I had the Pontiac Sunbird with a 350 and a 4speed. It was a ton of fun .
Thanks for using one of our Monza s in the video at 7:34
Great video!
This was my second car back in the 1980's. Mine was a 1977 model that had a 305 in it. It didn't really need a lot of horsepower due to it's small size. It was the same size as a Ford Pinto with a 305 in it... I eventually sold it and don't know what happened to it. I've missed that car ever since. One of the best cars I owned early on. I bought it off someone's lawn for $500 in 1985.
My first car was a 1978 Oldsmobile Starfire GT with a 231 V6, 4 speed. I paid $625 for it in 1988. It was actually in great condition until I had it for a few years. I would love to have a resto mod one now.
years ago, my girlfriend /wife had a Chevy Monza notch back with a small v8 in it, a stick too. had an 8gal tank so just going to central Oregon had to stop and fill the tank every five min. plus no clutch cable could be kept in that car it would always pull through the fire wall, it was a fun car to drive in-between
I had the exact car shown in 1:15 of the video with white interior. The year model was 1979 and I bought the car from the first owner and put an Edelbrock intake and Holley carburetor and removed the catalytic convertor. I got the car going so fast sometimes, the windshield wipers would start to move up the windshield.
Love this stuff. Now we need
i had a 77 stick spyder, originally with the 262, and my sister had a 78 mustang II GT (the super pinto), also a stick - for the moment, the monza was generally more comfortable to drive, performance was roughly the same.
I had a 1978 King Cobra Mustang 302 4 speed, complete POS. Next car was 79 Camaro Z28 , 10 times a better car than A Manza or a Mustang II.
Niiiice. I took my first driver's test in one of these! Good ole granny's car. She had a 2 door sedan, 80s version...AM "stereo" onlyyyy lol
I have had several of these platforms. My first was a 1978 Oldsmobile Starfire with a 305 ci V8 and an automatic trans. It was fun as a back-up vehicle to my regular DD and relatively powerful but you were not able to tune it up on your own. The rear spark plugs were not accessible without pulling the engine! There was just no room! I am pretty sure that when I bought it and attempted to tune it up, the plugs & wires were all original!
My 2nd was a 1978 Pontiac Sunbird with the 231 V6 and a 5 Speed Manual. Also fun to drive but substantially underpowered. Neither were long lasting vehicles, just stepping stones to the next cars in my collection.
In the late 80's I knew a guy with a monza 2+2 4sp. It originally had a 262 v8 and he swapped in a 400hp 350. With the 4sp that car was scary fast when he dumped the clutch.
Its only hold up was the high gear ratio rear end. I think it had 308 gears in the pumpkin.
Had a 1980 with the 229cid V6. I drove that thing all over Kansas City with rust holes everywhere. It was in the KC flood of 1993. I bought it for $200, limped it home 15 miles from KCMO to Overland Park. Tuned it up, oil, plugs and wires, rotor. Ran like a scalded ass ape after that. My nephew had a 79 with the V8. Very punchy, quick agile little car as well.
This car feels like a fusion between the Opel Manta & Opel Monza
Manta for the front, Monza for the body
We hunted for the small block Chevy equipped monza for the motor mounts oil pan exhaust manifolds and the short water pump and took a 79 sunbird sedan and put a 400 sbc in there, lots of fun, direct bolt inđȘđ»đȘđ»đȘđ»
My 1975 Skyhawk had weak front axles which often bent. The front wheel bearing failed and the front wheel fell off. It had the front suspension of a Vega with an extra 1,000 pounds to hold up. The clutch cable sawed its way down the firewall. It was, by far, the worst car I ever owned!
Love my 79 Chevrolet monza hatchback thanks for the video
My very first car was a Red â75 hatchback with the 262 V-8 in it. It was a quick little car with great handling. At some point I would like to find one again, mainly for nostalgia.
My parents... looking at the Firebird, they discovered the "Sunbird" - So we ended up with a Buick V6 power sunbird. A peppy car, with a torque arm rear suspension and an independent front. The car was extremely reliable.... except things like, front spring snapping in half, inside pull door handles coming off (Standard for GM of the late 70s).
Still wished my parants bought the '78 firebird instead. Oh well.
The great thing about 70s and 80s cars, is, chances are, those engines are probably going to need rebuilding. Instead of rebuilding them stock, build more power in! Problem solved. Well, then again, youâll gave to upgrade the transmission, differential, suspension and brakes, but yeah, it can be fixed!
I just got a 76 Grand Prix ⊠big ol 18â boat⊠but a little work, which needs to be done anyway, and voila! Ill have a bad ass car!
Literally one of my dream cars
I was there. These cars were toads, performancewise. The handling you're speaking of had an excessive body roll issue which, coupled with the design understeer problem and driving them down the road they simply sounded and felt cheap. They were somewhat popular in the secondary market because many of them were already set up for a small block Chevy. The rear axles were weak, and to be able to flog them much at all required a cut down rear axle along the lines of a 9 inch Ford, or a GM 12 bolt. Their factory brakes were abysmal, they were simply too small for anything but a girls school car. I drove the V8 Starfire Firenza with a V8 & 5 speed and if was totally lacking. You see how few of these cars are left now, they were simply a successor to the Vega and it showed. You also simply couldn't get enough rear tire under the car without severe modifications, including a custom rear end, and a lot of bodywork.
I remember those in the early 80's still driving around, but you probably saw 10 pintos or mustang 2's for every one. A friend was fixing one for someone, I remember for such a newish car how the heavy doors sagged on their hinges, the bushings wore pretty quick, GM wasn't interested in making the hinges stronger. Sadly cheap was the theme for GM across the line then, and it showed pretty quickly in a lot of their lower end cars, which is too bad as the Monza was otherwise a good platform and drove nice. I've seen more Gremlins on the road than variants of the Monza, seems they didn't last.
Owned 2 of them! Want another one!
My second car , ( bought for 500$ when I was 17) was the Oldsmobile version,
1976 Starfire 3.8 V6 w/ 5 speed Borgs and Warner. I used to eat the Monzas up
When I was a kid the hot car for broke high schoolers was a Monza with a hot SBC.
Or a Gremlin!
@@CarsandCats Gremlins were pretty rare in my parts. It was mostly Monza's and Vega's.
I think my mom's monza was a 1976. it had the tiny v8 with hood emblem. would love to see that car again....
Good documentary. Of the various versions of the Monza, I liked the Spyder the best and the Mirage a close second. Don Prudhomme set a funny car speed record at the time in a Monza, I believe 252 mph.
Thatâs weird. I was born in 1975 and I donât remember ever having seen this car despite having grown up a gearhead in a heavily gearhead family.
I had a 75 Monza with the 262 in it. Nice handling car for the most part, but the engine itself was rather weak. The performance of the engine was less then impressive.
When I was a teen a neighbour had a coupe, silver with a red vinyl roof and the 305. It was his wife's car. Could barely hold it on the road he told me once...
I had two different 1980 Pontiac Sunbirds. They were the base model hatchbacks. I can tell you they handled atrociously-the front was much heavier than the rear. In wet or snowy roads, there wasnât much traction especially with the tiny 13â tires that came stock. And going around corners the car leaned so much I thought it would tip over. The nicer versions (or the âF41â or Radial Tuned Suspension cars) handled MUCH better than the base cars. The hatchback cars looked great, though. The base cars got the 2.5 liter/153ci âIron Dukeâ engines that made 90hp. My first one would not go over 75mph, and the second would barely go 10mph more. The late 70âs/early 80âs were like the darkest time in the automotive world and cars today are so much better.
I've always been a Ford man but I must admit, Chevy did a much better job of restyling the Vega into a sports coupe than what Ford did when they transformed the Pinto into the Mustang ll...đđ
Ive always been a gm guy but i didn't know about the spider. I knew about thr corvair snd chevy monza . Thanks for thsi great video. I actually really like the monza spider . The body style is my favorite. Its close to the mustang fox body and the celica and supra and nissan 200sx from the 80s
Its my favorite body style. I wish i could get one and fix it up and make it a daily. I would love pop up headlights but we cant have everything lol
Vegas are fairly easy to find, but the Monzas are pretty rare these days. Before Chevy S-10s, these cars were the V8 swapper's choice for the lightest weight vehicles. Some were factory V8.
The stealership I worked at in the late to 70s took a 4 speed V-8 Monza in on a trade. One of the slowest accelerating V-8s I've ever driven. We wholesaled that junk outta there.
Back in the 1970's I owned a Pinto wagon,a Vega GT and a Mustang II. My girlfriend has a Monza . The Monza and the Vega were just plain rust bucket junk ! The Pinto I drove through college and it had just passed 200k miles when it was totaled by a tornado in 84. The Pinto and the Mustang II were just better cars. Also how many Monza Spyders were sold ? Not many. The V8 made it too heavy on the front end and did not handle well .
Rich girl in high school had a monza spyder, if I remember correctly you had to take the tires off to change the plugs. I have been told you had to pull the motor and transmission to change the starter on them. It was a prety fast little car.
Lol, no.
I had a 79 with 305 and 4-spd. Brother and I swapped it to 5-lug so we could get bigger brakes and wheels from a Z28 on it and put a posi out back. Was fun but definitely never was âgood handlingâ even after putting in Konis and all urethane bushings.
I know a guy with a Monza Spyder. Has a built 406 in it. It's green with a huge spider on the hood.
I had an Oldsmobile Firenza. I believe its was built on the same platform, looks similar. It had the 3.8l with a 4 speed manual. It was a fun car.
The Oldsmobile version was the Starfire GT
I had 1978 back in the late 80's. Put a 307 Chevy in it out of a old 70 chevelle 4 door. Then i bought a Oldsmobile Starfire Firenza from a guy thet i knew. Put a built 350 Chevy in it making about 450hp. a Th350 trans with a 3000 stall and a set of 3:73 gears with a welded up spider gears. She was a 80's Mustang GT eater..
I remember that Monza Spyder, it came standard with a 350 CID, Mustang II had NOTHING for that!
One of my classmates had a blue Monza when we were in high school in the 80s.
The race car version was seriously cool in the imsa series. Occasionally seeing it in vintage races. There was a race version in the 1977 brained race in Minnesota sponsored by lancer men's clothing stores.
WOW!!!!! I NEED TO BUY ONE!!!!!
There's one in a junkyard not too far from me here in central Oklahoma. Car was beyond. I robbed the badge's off it. The 4.3 v8 was still chillin there.
Yes GM needed to try something! I had a couple of those funny looking German 2002,s and a 1600. It was a lot of fun to gap the American iron, especially on the twisty 2 lane roads in Vermont. Corvette owners were the most fun to humiliate. đđ€Ł
For, at least one year, the Monza edged out the Corvett as the fastest American production car.
Lil brother had a Monza as his first car. Had a Buick 3.2l V6? and manual. If was fun to drive! Not fast or anything but the stick shift helped the fun factor.đ
Oooo now I really want one with a high output crate 350. Would be a blast to drive.
Our engine builder that we used to work with as drag racing partners built a 79 Monza with a 512 engine. Won many Super Stock titles.
Thatâs what happened to most of these style of cars. Vegaâs too:
Light body and chassis and engine modifications.
How racing works.
did they say that you have to pull the motor to change the spark plugs? now that's some quality engineering right there !
Not true, however on a factory V8 car you could unbolt the motor mount from the sub frame and just use a jack with a block of wood and just pick the engine up off the mount enough to get clearance with your spark plug socket
If my memory serves me correctly it was only the plug closest to the firewall on the drivers side that had this issue đ
Seen a few of monzas. Cool car and been looking for one maybe to build.
The Corvair Monza Spyder, Corvair Corsa, Vega Cosworth and Monza Spyder are the only desirable RWD compact cars Chevrolet has ever made. Corvairs last forever, which is why there are still so many of them on the road and in fields waiting to be put back on the road⊠but the Vega and Monza had major rust issues. Even so⊠I wonder what Chevroletâs lineup would have looked like if DeLorean had stayed at Chevrolet.
Thanks man for the 55% off on my order on drift. My truck was really starting to smell like ass!
As a kid I really liked them, (Could have done with fewer decals , I thought: especially when it was a time when those didn't necessarily mean anything was backing em up) ....seemed they didn't last very well, though, particularly in New England salt. Loved the shape and size, though, particularly when so much on the road were still wallowing boats. :) It's kind of a form factor I really miss. It just seems hard to get much usable interior space out of a car that small these days with all the crash protection and other stuff piled in.
They also had the Buick Skyhawk with the v6 231. It was fast but very costly. I had one and that engine broke down constantly
I have a 1975 Monza town coupe White with a red vinyl top I had to 262, v8, end it was built in Nevada so it had a four-speed. I put a where is spoiler off of a2000 in Sunbird, I ended up getting rear ended, and then my wife hit a deer with it, then I got my 71 Camaro with that moneyâ€