When we're discussing Chevrolets that should have been market-dominating triumphs for General Motors but just weren't, three cars always come up: the Corvair of the 1960s, the Vega of the 1970s, and the Citation of the 1980s. I still find plenty of discarded Corvairs and Citations during my junkyard travels, but the Vega became nearly extinct in American knacker's yards decades ago. That's why spotting a genuine Millionth Vega in a Denver boneyard was so startling.
My latest Vega adventures all started a couple of weeks ago, when I found this rough Vega Kammback wagon alongside more than 20 early Ford Mustangs at a yard just south of Denver.
Even though I'm always looking to document junkyard Vegas, this one was missing too many body parts to qualify as a Junkyard Treasure. However, I have nearby friends who grew up in a Vega-driving family and who are brave enough to road-race a Vega. I knew they would need some parts, and I let them know about this car the moment I found it.
Granted, they swapped in an Iron Duke and five-speed sourced from an S-10 (because even Vega enthusiasts understand that the Vega 140 engine won't survive for long on a race track), but they always need hen's-teeth-rare Vega suspension and body parts. They dashed right over and yanked the bumpers and taillights.
The Hanger 13 team (which also fields a Ford Pinto, because of course they do) always has first-rate themes for their racin' Vega at Colorado 24 Hours of Lemons events. Here's the "Viva Las Vega" theme, featuring Elvis, Liberace, Hunter S Thompson and showgirls.
At the following race, they went with a Pulp Fiction-derived "Vincent Vega" theme, complete with free Five Dollar Milkshakes for the other racers.
A few days after Hanger 13 scored their junkyard jackpot from that Kammback, I got a call from the team captain: There are six Vegas at another nearby junkyard, including a Millionth Vega. I burned rubber over there and joined them at the yard within a half-hour.
The Vegas at the Denver U-Pull-&-Pay include a wagon, two notchbacks, and three GT fastbacks, from the 1971 through 1974 model years. It was obvious that all had come from the same collection, which had been sitting in a field for at least 30 years. Several members of the Hanger 13 crew descended on them like vultures sniffing out bloated raccoon carcasses in a field.
They had just begun harvesting tasty Vega morsels when I arrived, stacking them on one of the hatchbacks.
The biggest score of all was this non-rusty front fender, probably one of the last ones remaining in the country (Vega fenders were notorious for corrosion problems). This fender will go on one of the family's many street Vegas, since it's too nice for a race car that could get mashed by a Lincoln Mark VI on any lap.
Naturally, Datsun Jesus (he loves old Datsuns and Ford Model Ts as well as Vegas) removed the Millionth Vega commemorative door handles for installation on the race car.
Now it's time to get into some Vega history. Despite getting off to a poor beginning for the first model year of 1971, thanks to a UAW strike and resulting restricted production at Lordstown, Vega sales were quite strong for the first few years.
The millionth example of the Vega rolled off the line on May 17, 1973, and it was an orange GT hatchback with the white Sport Stripe package. Chevrolet decided to commemorate this achievement by selling a Millionth Vega option package for $497 (about $3556 in 2023 dollars). Most sources state that around 6500 Millionth Vegas were made, out of 427,300 total Vegas for the 1973 model year.
The Millionth Vega package got you a Vega GT hatchback in orange paint with white Sport Stripes and orange carpeting, just like the actual millionth car. The GT for 1973 came with better suspension and tires than the entry-level car, plus a bunch of convenience and appearance goodies.
The MSRP for a Millionth Vega would have started at $2689, assuming the $340 GT package was included in that deal (making this car $19,296 in 2023 dollars, before options). If you wanted the very cheapest 1973 Vega—a notchback coupe with three-on-the-floor manual and approximately zero luxury—the price tag was a mere $2087 (about $14,976 in today's money).
This one has some extra-cost options, the most obvious being the four-speed manual transmission. The base transmission for the 1971-1976 Vega was a three-on-the-floor manual; the four-speed added $51 ($366 today) to the out-the-door cost.
For 1973, Vega shoppers could opt for a two-speed Powerglide or a three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic, at a cost of $163 or $193 ($1170 and $1385 now). A five-speed manual appeared as an option during the Vega's last couple of years.
Chevrolet didn't offer a CB radio as a factory option in the 1973 Vega, probably because the CB boom in non-18-wheeled vehicles came a bit later in the 1970s. This 23-channel RCA CB Co-Pilot appears to be of circa-1975 vintage.
Under the hood… well, that's when we need to start talking about the Vega's drawbacks and the reasons that its sales fell off a cliff after 1974 (despite compelling reasons for Americans to flock to economy cars) and never recovered. This is a 140-cubic-inch (2.3-liter) SOHC straight-four with an aluminum block, unlined cylinder bores, and a cast-iron head, rated at 72 net horsepower.
This engine proved to be an unreliable nightmare in the real world, in very public, recall-heavy fashion, and most car buyers feared Vegas by the time GM fixed the 140's problems. To get the full story, head over to Aaron Severson's excellent Vega article and read the whole thing, then pick up a copy of John DeLorean's 1979 memoir (yes, long before the cocaine bust) and read the chapter that covers the Vega.
Still, more than two million Chevy Vegas were sold for the 1971-1977 model years, and the reasonably successful Chevrolet Monza and its badge-engineered corporate siblings (the Oldsmobile Starfire, Buick Skyhawk, and Pontiac Sunbird) were based on the Vega platform and stayed in production through 1980. In fact, the wagon versions of the Monza and Sunbird were just Vega Kammbacks, sold for a couple of years after the demise of the Vega name.
I'll write about some of the other five Vegas I found with this one, in future Junkyard Treasures.
Vegas are very happy cars. They enjoy their work. They enjoy being driven.
The Vega was a good design that should have crushed the competition, but the execution wasn't good enough.
The hatchback impressed a Greek chorus of Americans hovering outside this Vega owner's garage.
1973 Chevrolet Vega Millionth Edition in Denver Junkyard
