The Cars That Drove Detroit's Customers Away

First off, your referrence of the Chevy Vega's on this list, should've only covered the years '71-75, because I owned a '76 (the year they introduced the "Durabuilt Engine")I bought mine new, and bracket raced it at the local drag strips. I not only won my high school bracket category, but also won the "King Of The Hill Championship" runoff @ Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Co., as a senior from South High School, back in '77!!! Furthermore, I (in '79), won five bracket races in six final rounds, and drove it from Denver, to Marion, Sd. and made it to the semi-finals with the car. My Vega was a hatchback, with 2bbl 140c.i. engine and an automatic trans. I think I had a very good car that also withstood the rearend impact from a Volvo at 30mph, that only scratched my back bumper, and jammed my rear hatch, however dented it's early 70's front end very good...try getting one of those 70's Corolla's or Datsun B210's to withstand an impact like that with such minimal damage...not likely!!!

Secondly, the Cavalier was such a great car to me that I owned one '82 (bought with 33k miles on it from Avis), two '86s (one of which is my current NHRA Stock Eliminator drag racing car), one '04 Cavalier, and an '83 Cadillac Cimarron. My starting a family, was the only reason I parted with the '82 (after 132k miles). My second '86 RS Cavalier and I parted after it was hit broadside by a full-sized truck...it had 155k on it! My first '86 Cavalier is the Z24 model that I currently drag race. It's one of the best (most successful) fwd stock eliminator drag cars in the country (especially the western half! I've made this (former high school girls) car into a star in the drag racing world, and only my errors as a driver have kept it from winning several drag races that I've runner-up'd, semi'd, or quarter-final'd in over the years, but I have won a King-of-The-Track title at a Pueblo, Co. dragstrip this past decade! My '04 Cavalier had a great USA made engine, but a lousy Italian 5spd tranny (I had to take it to the dealer twice within the first 5mths of ownership)! The durability placed in their sports car trannies was not placed in this car, because if it were driven the way you car evaluating people do, then it wouldn't hold up for long!!! My Cimarron lasted 118k miles, before I sold it to another satisfied owner!

Finally, I happily own an '04 2wd Chevy Colorado with the 3.5 5cyl engine and the auto transmission. This truck now has 104k miles on it, and has (for the last 5yrs +) towed 4400lbs of trailer, my Z24(plus tools, and gear for racing), up hills and through valleys (with some good inclines), from Mn. to Ca. The most challenging climb I had was the stretch of Cal. Hwy 58 heading east from Bakersfield (because it was a gradual climb, that lasted a bunch of miles), but my Colorado handled that, and is ready for more! I'm waiting to see a Toyota, or a Nissan do what it's done for that long, with their V6 engines, while mine is only a 5cyl!

Gary of AZ 4:49PM November 27, 2010