Welcome back to Forgotten Sporty Cars at The Garage! In this space we recall an era where small, economy car-based vehicles were sold with zippy styling. Whether there was any substance to the sizzle we’ll leave for you to judge.
1975-1976 Chevy Vega Cosworth Twin Cam
The rust-prone, engine detonating Vega needs little introduction to those who were around when the car debuted in 1971. Early in the Vega’s life race engine builder Cosworth was tapped to build a more powerful version of the Vega’s aluminum four cylinder engine. The first engine, rated at 180 hp, failed to meet US emissions. By the time the Cosworth Twin Cam was legal, power was down substantially. Still, the 2.0L inline four boasted four valves per cylinder, double overhead cams, electronic fuel injection, and stainless steel exhaust headers-stuff usually reserved for exotic cars at the time. Power was down to 110hp. Car & Driver quoted a 0-60mph time of 8.7 seconds-quick for the era.
Each engine was hand-built, and signed by the person who built it. It should come as no surprise that this technological tour de force of an engine came at a very dear price. In 1975, list price was $5,916USD, or roughly twice the price of a standard Vega, or only $900 less than a new Corvette.
Chevy had high hopes for the Vega Cosworth, pegging sales estimates at 5,000 cars per year. But for as exotic as the engine was for its time, it could not escape the stigma of being a Vega-which was simply a bad car. During its two year production run, Chevy sold 3,508 Vega Cosworths. Even though the Cosworth engine met 1977 US emissions standards, Chevy pulled the plug, and sent 1,500 Cosworth engines to the scrap heap.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Now this was a great car and had nothing in common with other Vegas. I had several customers that owned.
What are those chrome ‘tentacles’ that connect the intake to the exhaust manifold?
Too bad this car failed so miserably — it hinted at a very interesting future for American performance cars!
Those chrome tubes are California smog air injection tubes designed to help reduse emissions.
I ahtew to say it but the reason it didnt sell was it didnt win on Sunday like the Mustangs did. That was simply way of the times.
I liked the car, have fond memories of early saturday morning drives on 64w. It did well in its class on sundays, as i recall. Vega name was tainted by the time the Cosworth was introduced. Bought my dealer owned 76 in 78, in Portsmouth,Va.. My x-wife moved to Texas in 79 with the Cosworth. Would like to know where it is?