The near-decade of the Chevy Vega kicked off in the 1970 model year and ended its run after the 1977 market offering, when General Motors decided to put an end to its run. Sadly, it seems the vehicle — though innovative for its time — was never given all the pieces it needed to make a long go of things.

It was notable, though, in how quickly it was brought from concept to final product, taking only two years, which was a record for GM back in those days. It also came in a number of 2-door body styles, including a notchback wagon and even a panel express delivery truck.

The Vega was brought to market to fill a couple of different perceived needs, including that it be something capable of going up against small imports. Additionally, it was hoped that would be attractive to first-time buyers who didn’t have a lot of money. This the Vega managed to do better at than in the execution of its mechanicals.

Initially, though, the car itself proved a good-selling machine, making into the top-ten in terms of sales by 1974. Weak engines — both in performance and reliability — proved to be the car’s Achilles heel, though, and a number of issues with the engine’s aluminum block caused more than a few issues in the first few years of its existence. Happily, most problems were fixed over the years.

Sadly, those little 4 cylinder engines would spell the eventual doom of the car, with their initial poor quality and anemic performance. Eventually, Chevrolet – which had also been making an evolutionary vehicle developed off the Vega’s body called the Monza – cancelled production after the 1977 model year, with the Monza itself lasting until it finally was killed off after the 1980 model run.

Though looked upon a little more favorably today, most auto experts believe that the Vega was emblematic of much of what was wrong with American automakers back in the seventies. As a statement of its time, though, the Vega tried to show off many styling cues which were believed to be European in nature. Also, it eventually offered fuel injection, which was relatively rare for American cars back then.

The Chevy Vega in all its iterations was a notable vehicle which General Motors was able to produce in only 24 months from drawing board to roll out off the assembly line. Given how long it normally took American automakers to produce any new model back then, it’s perhaps the Vega’s most shining and memorable achievement.

Andy Zain is the admin of Chevy Vega Forum , a place where fans and owners can get the right information for tuning, customization and general discussions on anything about Chevy Vega. Get the information you need when you visit Chevy Truck Forums