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-...
For business inquiries or other inquiries, reach out to: [e-mail]
NOTICE: Clips used from other videos are fair use and fall under U.S. copyright law because this work is transformative in nature, and has no negative effect on the market for the original work. It is against the law to fraudulently claim a copyright on a video you do not own under the DMCA or to abuse KZbin’s copyright claim tool. Copyright concerns and takedown requests can be submitted to: [e-mail]
The visuals or audio herein may not be utilized to train a machine-learning algorithm of any kind without explicit permission

[@rarecars3336]

Use code RARECARS to get 55% off your first month at Drift.co drft.info/3zf1aCh

[@Nick-nm8om]

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 .

[@intermissionbuffalo]

You have to watch the full Roadkill Chevy Monza episode!

[@marksmith4346]

The 305 was a horrible motor but mostly because of how they were configured during that mid 70s through 80s timeframe. Everyone says long stroke and small bore is a bad combination and it is, but you can tweak a lot out of those engines with some free flowing intake and exhaust and a better compression scheme.

[@valengreymoon5623]

I had its brother, a 1975 Buick Skyhawk, in silver with a red interior, and the 3.8l Buick V6 with auto transmission.

[@jackbilger6858]

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.

[@KanyeKetchup]

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

[@MegaBlazed]

I had a blue one.that little thing would get it

[@MegaBlazed]

4 speed standard

[@keithmiller6521]

I had the same but red exterior and manual transmission.

[@onekoneb]

Always loved the look of that car. Wouldn't mine resto-modding one today.

[@sailordave1000]

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.

[@drobson8004]

A 2nd gen LT1, or a LS1, with c4 brakes, suspension, etc. Now that would be a relatively, economic blast.

[@seed_drill7135]

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.

[@chadhaire1711]

hahahhahahahahaha...sure kid.....they all died quicker than the Vega they were based on.....all disappeared within 5 years from rust or just falling apart.

[@seed_drill7135]

@@chadhaire1711 Cars don't rust in all parts of the country and the V6 was the same engine that powered Jeeps in the 1960's and eventually became the 3800. But, yeah, they were CHEAP. The plastic seatbelt guide snapped off mine, so if I'd ever been in a major accident my windpipe would have been crushed. All the seats cracked, the handles pulled off the doors, the dash split wide open and the welds that held the inside and outside of the doors together split. And there is zero aftermarket support.

[@babalui66]

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.

[@emo65170.]

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!

[@carlsandrews266]

i had a black and gold one it was a burnout machine lol

[@e28forever30]

venerable

[@sufferedenuf]

My mom had a Starfire that my dad bought her. I totalled it within a year. Loved that car!

[@ag4allgood]

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.

[@VAspeed3]

Mine was a 76 maroon and white GT. Ripped the panhard rod out of the rear suspension twice doing handbrake turns. Still sold it with 142,000 miles on the odo.

[@user-clayrush]

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

[@Hobotraveler82]

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. 😊

[@christopherweise438]

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.

[@Hobotraveler82]

@@christopherweise438 Another rare yet great car.

[@stoveboltlvr3798]

My Mom bought a 77 Skyhawk with the Buick V6, it would move out.

[@caskillet]

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.

[@PassivePortfolios]

The car was designed for a 4 cyl. or a V-6. The V-6 could be improved and still had room to work in the engine bay, unlike the V-8. The rear axle needed a limited slip differential. The 4 speed transmission was more durable than the 5 speed. With the V-6 the engine would not overheat in traffic, while the V-8 tended to overheat. The V-6 version also handled better than the V-8.

[@Bullwinkle056]

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.

[@perrybakr4252]

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.

[@Tramp-dm5xr]

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

[@86twin]

It’s like I say, sometimes you get a good copy of a bad model.

[@cindysue5474]

All those cars made for good super and pro stock cars.

[@Thumper68]

There’s absolutely no way Vega 4 banger was ever more reliable then a 305 sbc..

[@PassivePortfolios]

@@Thumper68 he was referring to the Iron Duke engine, not the original Vega engine.

[@mcgreen6882]

As a kid, I loved to see Chevy Monza Pro race cars. The NHRA 70's Pro drag racing had some awesome looking "Pro Street" Monza's. The legend Don "Snake" Prudhomme racing his ARMY Monza '75 Funny Car was mostly unbeatable, mean, bad ass and pretty. Street car Monza Spyder's were sporty looking.

[@carlshowalter9629]

Bill Grumpy Jenkins kicked ass in Pro Stock with Vegas and Monzas!

[@deanrivera8016]

I had 3 Monza’s 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

[@nealsidor1323]

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...👍🏁

[@rockdog2584]

I always figured that a nicely built 283 or 327 would have made this a really spectacular car to drive.

[@thomasouellette8870]

or a 383 crate

[@the_langss]

Had a 77 Spyder...Worst mistake in car buying I ever made... Total pile of 💩💩💩💩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.

[@garycamara9955]

Sounds like a problem of maintenance.

[@the_langss]

@@garycamara9955 Problem Of Maintenance...ON A BRAND NEW CAR...NOT EVEN OUT OF WARRANTY...YA A PROBLEM OF MAINTENANCE ALRIGHT...You Funny Guy...lol...

[@GrampsD63]

@@the_langss Other than all that how was the car to drive 🤣🤣

[@the_langss]

@@GrampsD63 I think if the car was a little better put together, it would have lasted in normal use a reasonable amount of time. Right after I bought it I started a new job and was commuting about 60 miles a day. It didn't take very long for that to shake, rattle, and roll. By the time I traded it in, it was like riding in a Tin Can Full Of BB's. Believe me, I could not have been more disappointed in the car. Hell even the rear hatch was starting to squeak and and if you can't turn the radio up high enough to drown it all out your screwed. Did I forget to mention that they shipped these POS in Rail Cars...ON THEIR SIDE. The day I took delivery I had to leave and come back hours later while they removed the shipping fixtures and serviced all the fluids...So if there were no fluids...How did they get it from the "Shipping Fixture" it was shipped in to the truck that delivered it. Humm...As a side note the 78 Trans Am I bought to replace it Came Radio Delete... Quietest 3 months I had in a long time.

[@GrampsD63]

@@the_langss Well my first 3 cars during High School were GTOs. '68, '67 & '70. Gotta say they were all solid cars. I switched over to bikes and rode every day for a few years until I got my first of 4 240Zs. Again solid cars. so besides that I never owned any 70's vehicles but growing up in that era I knew they definately had some challenges. Guess I dodged the bullet

[@ronniedale6040]

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.

[@CarsandCats]

And I've never seen one at the drag strip. I mean, why would anyone want a heavier Vega?

[@mattskustomkreations]

I used to see them up through the late 80’s but they’ve all disappeared since then.

[@buzzwaldron6195]

These were all derivatives of the Vega... still have my '77 Pontiac Astre FORMULA Safari (kammback) Station Wagon... Iron duke, 5 speed, posi...

[@SurnaturalM]

Because they rusted at a tremendous pace.

[@oscarwalton1188]

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.

[@bck2mono]

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 “WHAT IS THAT?!” 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 he’d ever had.. lol

[@liquefactionist]

As a little kid, this was (and still is) my dream car. Have the Hot Wheels version in green. This to me is the true beauty of design for a car.

[@chuckwhitson654]

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

[@tomcat630]

2 things incorrect. The Spyder trim was not released until 1976, to compete with Mustang II Cobra II. Ther was no "1975 Monza Spyder". Also, the Iron Duke rotor was brought out in 1978, to replace the aluminum "Vega engine". And the F body Camaro was selling hot and overshadowed the H body. For 1982, Cavalier replaced Monza and was more mainstream model with 4 doors offered

[@limulus61]

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.

[@rpkietur]

i had the same car 1980 starfire. i really liked it except for clutch problems. the design was really screwed up. i would see them in junk yards with the firewall crinkled . some folks put a metal plate there. i owned it 10yrs and we got real good at replacing the clutch. G.M. would not acknowledge the problem.

[@tommissouri4871]

The clutch issue was a problem across the board on the Vega platform (Vega, Astra, Monza, Starfire, etc.). The firewall had a flex to it and the cable sheathing would not align with the inner cable. The say to extent its life was to smear some grease on the cable where it entered the sheathing under the dash occasionally. Otherwise, it would start to cut a groove in the attachment fitting and it would be like a valley, narrower at the bottom, and bind the cable. I believe I finally rigged up a bracket that held the sheathing up at an angle on the firewall so the cable never slid on the bottom of the fitting.

[@rustybearden1800]

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!

[@thomashodges-qu9mw]

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.

[@nathanwalsh3028]

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!!

[@brad3042]

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.

[@cld2930]

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.

[@juliamiller2299]

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.

[@tommyblackwell3760]

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!

[@Brenelael]

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.

[@mb-fs1yo]

There is a 1975 Monza coupe with a 350 hidden away in a garage on a farm near me.

[@nolarobert]

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.

[@churchking2527]

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.

[@mattskustomkreations]

My college buddy had one up until 1990. It was a heap. I borrowed it for a weekend - I had to “spiral in” to gas stations and park way out in the parking lot because it had no Reverse! 😅

[@JD9mm]

The 77' Mirage, with the IMSA stage 1 body kit and F41 suspension, was the Canyon Carver. Not the Spyder.

[@warpigolet]

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.

[@carlshowalter9629]

I remember seeing a white Mirage on the showroom floor the day my granny bought a used Spyder from the dealer.

[@sixoaksfarm1556]

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.

[@georgetubbs8211]

I HAD THE SAME,CAME WITH THE 262. IT GOT PULLED IMMEDIATELY FOR A BUILT 350. IT WAS A BLAST TO DRIVE AND RACE.

[@adamh2203]

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.

[@ebenezerwheezer2957]

Did you have to raise the engine??

[@Thumper68]

Jesus 2.29 gears.. you could of put 3.11 or anything in the 3.00 and picked up couple seconds probably 😂

[@carlshowalter9629]

@@ebenezerwheezer2957 That's how the factory book said to do it. When I was putting in a 283 I cut a small hole in the fender well to get to it easy.

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Had the Oldsmobile varient. Silver w red interior. 5.0 with big car turbohydromatic. It had the big boy power steering box and pump. With all that weight up front the handling was less than ideal ( RPO 44 ) suspension. I never saw one spark plug and took every adapter I had to change that one plug. I really miss that car and if not overdriven was most pleasant to drive. Also very smooth and quiet as compaired to the buzzy little econoboxes.

[@Bargle5]

I remember one thing about the first V8 models. GM screwed up the chassis design and you had to cut a hole in the frame to access one of the spark plugs. I think later models had the hole from the factory.

[@SSO1025RET]

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.

[@StringerNews1]

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.

[@michaelyounger4497]

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

[@travisabrahamson5092]

I had the Pontiac Sunbird with a 350 and a 4speed. It was a ton of fun .

[@calvincrews3885]

The Oldsmobile star fire and Buick sky hawk are my favorites too even though they’re not mentioned

[@cuzz63]

I had a 78 Starfire with a 305 auto. The car was red and I had gold pinstripes put on it and replaced the rims with aftermarket rims that were chrome with gold centers . I added an aluminum intake and 4 barrel holley, it was a blast to drive.

[@alanwright7819]

I loved the Monza Spyders from the first time I ever saw one and I’d still love to have one today.

[@rarecars3336]

They are a car that is certainly growing on me - I used to hate them but now I do like them more and more

[@alanwright7819]

@@rarecars3336 - I know of one person who has one, but it’s in need of a complete restoration. Other than that one, I haven’t seen one since the early eighties. I think that’s because they were never very well-respected (weren’t very popular and weren’t taken care of of). It’s kind of a shame.

[@CarsandCats]

They should have used a Daddy Longlegs decal on the hood because this Spyder has no bite.

[@jamesgeorge4874]

'73 to '88 was the dark ages... For OEMS...

[@donabercrombie8534]

​@@jamesgeorge4874...'75-'82 range LoPerf era...imo

[@TheRealMattFromWiiSports]

I love how after he mentions the 305 making 140 hp, there's an irrelevant clip of a Monza doing a wheelie as if that has anything to do with the 305 making 140 hp

[@tommissouri4871]

He lays it on so thick, I need hip waders.

[@roraev9296]

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.

[@bln3576]

My 84 5.0 loaded Thunderbird weighs 2900 pounds and 142 hp. It still lights em up and still brand new. 17,000 miles. I worked with a guy with one of these Monza's. Fun car.

[@chadhaire1711]

Garbage car...worse than Vega....fell apart even quicker.

[@NeoGraena]

This car feels like a fusion between the Opel Manta & Opel Monza Manta for the front, Monza for the body

[@chuniquepaceno470]

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.

[@braddietzmusic2429]

I’d say Mustang II was its own runaway sales success that was greater than the Monza. Also THE VEGA was the Monza’s worst nightmare- the hangover from the Vega disaster and the rightful burning of GM and Chevy’s reputation and consumer trust to be able to build a good small car. I don’t 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 Vega’s failures were sorted out. Good hyperbole, though.

[@sixoaksfarm1556]

Performance-wise, the Monza was a nightmare for the paltry Mustang II which neither handled well nor was fast in any way.

[@CarsandCats]

@@sixoaksfarm1556 Yeah, if you want to call two snails racing a "nightmare".

[@sixoaksfarm1556]

@@CarsandCats maybe, til they hits some curves.

[@buzzwaldron6195]

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...

[@johnpronchik3730]

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

[@dennisnirmark1353]

Great video!

[@chairrider2462]

Buddy of mine in HS had a 78 Monza hatchback with the V6 and 4 speed. I loved that car! I wish I could have afforded one. But he drove it really hard and after some years it developed cracks in the unibody.

[@amr8457]

I never had the Monza or the Vega.. but I was lucky enough to have friends that did. The good ol days!!!

[@joeljohnson3676]

Owned 2 of them! Want another one!

[@carlshowalter9629]

My granny moved up from a Vega to a V8 Monza Spyder. The 305 expired early in life so I put in a 283 that I bought from a guy parting out a early Vette. Granny said that the car scared the crap out of her the first time she stood on the gas merging on the freeway.😛

[@joestephan1111]

The term "Spyder" is reserved for open top cars that have no roof or cloth top.

[@davidavard8461]

I had a '78 Monza Coupe as my first car. V-6 with a 5-speed. Bilstein shocks, Quikor sway bars, and a flex-dam, along with a pretty good stereo for the early 80's. I would love to have one to resto-mod, but despite having made over 1.5M of the various cars, if you can find one that hasn't been turned into a drag racer, they are insanely expensive.

[@vinniebarbone7219]

Thanks for using one of our Monza s in the video at 7:34

[@lawrencehubbard2985]

This was the first car I ever bought the Spyder. A white with everything you could put under the hood. All the stickers badges and everything else. I had a ton of fun with it taking the smog equipment off.

[@VAspeed3]

When I was 15 my father bought a 1976 Olds Starfire GT with the 3.8L Buick V6 and 4 speed stick. Handled great compared to most other 70's cars (a low bar) and I ripped the panhard rod out of the rear suspension twice, probably by doing too many handbrake turns. Somehow it lasted 10 years and 142,000 miles until he sold it to someone who I know was driving it 3 years later.

[@k00lkidz4]

Literally one of my dream cars

[@thomasdearment3214]

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

[@mattspontiacta]

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 couldn’t 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.

[@johnbehneman1546]

THANK YOU SO MUCH. A TOTALLY AWSOME VIDEO!!! I LEARNED A LOT!!!

[@lanky-x782]

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.

[@curiosity2314]

I bought the Starfire in 1978 with the 3.8L, as a kid it was about mpg and still is as an adult. 😀 Wow, brings back way to many memories. Wish I still had the car today. As simple as it was, it was a nice automobile.

[@BigJoe2.0]

The hatchback looked good! Thanks to your channel I'm learning more about cars I've never heard of

[@allencaruthers867]

My very first car was a Red ‘75 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.

[@dougcoxon5596]

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.

[@carlshowalter9629]

I cut a hole in the inner fender so you didn't have to jack the motor up to get the plugs out.

[@slicedbread9003]

At the time the Monza and it's GM siblings were good looking cars. They did have some European inspiration. The story with the V8 was that it was shoehorned into the engine bay. Service was difficult and the rear spark plugs were difficult to replace and were often not changed. But a V8 engine was a good move for this car because the other engines offerings weren't too good.

[@rarecars3336]

Could you have imagined a rotary monza - talk about a PAIN to service

[@slicedbread9003]

@@rarecars3336 For routine engine service, oil changes, replacing points, cap and rotor, adjusting the carburetor, it was easy on the Mazda. The engine was small for it's displacement or power output. I think it would have come down to how well GM handled the details.

[@ricg2011]

I had a 78 2+2 with the 262 V8...it was a beast with a little work.

[@jasonhunt007]

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.

[@Billyjack-Two-Crows]

I had the coupe in black primer with i4, it was a manual which is cool when your 15 years old.

[@jaycarlson927]

you just cant find too much information on these cars anywhere. Thank you

[@chadhaire1711]

Nothing to know--they were total junk..

[@okayestguitar66]

Thank you for making this vid! The Monza Spyder is the second best "sleeper" car that GM ever made, just behind the Fiero GT. Trans Am is nice, Z28 or SS is cool, Corvette, need I say more... But the Fiero GT and the Monza Spyder, when decked out, look so cool and can hold their own climbing a twisty mountain road! Thanks again!

[@user-ij4ng5wj8f]

Here comes Spyder into the night! Don't worry Honey, he ain't gonna bite! It's a Monza!.... I still have an '80 and a '75 V8 cars. Both are kinda sad at the moment. I also have a V6 Starfire. The 80 I have was the only one I had got done. I had it when I was in the Army in the early 90's. I built the 305 with ported heads, port matched iron intake and exhaust manifolds. True dual exhaust. It had a built turbo 350 trans that would bark the tires with the slightest amount of throttle from 1st to 2nd shift. I painted it '76 Corvette yellow and blacked the trim. It had a Dobi front and rear spoiler. Fun car. Brakes sucked over 75 MPH. But it would run about135 MPH on the top end. Nota lot of cars would do that inthe 90's. Good ti es!

[@marcosj7134]

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.

[@ssnerd583]

....yeah....they didnt last long in rust belt the winters

[@carlshowalter9629]

The second version of Vega with the big ass aluminum bumpers didn't rust nearly as fast as the early ones.

[@ssnerd583]

@@carlshowalter9629 ....YEAH.....they had to do something to the steel to make it less rust prone as there were BRAND NEW cars that were JUNK after just 3 winters. The Pinto's lasted a bit longer, usually.....but during the 'malaise era' nothing lasted long in the rust belt.....

[@brandonrohrer7914]

Love this stuff. Now we need

[@christopherw6309]

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.

[@jimjoe9945]

Friend had a 1975 monza with the 350. That smog motor would smoke those little 13 inch tires for days.

[@wilecatrexy]

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.

[@JD9mm]

The Oldsmobile version was the Starfire GT

[@v1-vr-rotatev2-vy_vx31]

Did collision repair back in the day between the Fords and the Chevys,, this Chevy 2 was NOT engineered NOT easily repaired in an accident,, Sheet metal had layers upon layers upon layers of steel , not thought out,,with spot welding.. a real nightmare to deal with,,, the Ford's always had a better thought out unibody structure body,,, which lended itself to easy excellent structural replacement sheet metal parts.... And lighter weight...

[@EFCLARK]

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

[@longlost8424]

I think my mom's monza was a 1976. it had the tiny v8 with hood emblem. would love to see that car again....

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

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.

[@racerboy2212]

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.

[@Akasnacker]

I had a 1977 Buick Skyhawk with the 3.8 V6 and never had any problems with the car it was an excellent vehicle the only thing is a hatch started rusting a little bit I had to fix that but really mechanically I had no issues I love that car it was a very strong reliable vehicle my first GM car I didn't even know the technology behind it it was better than I even thought!

[@briangmanning1752]

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. That’s what happened to most of these style of cars. Vega’s too: Light body and chassis and engine modifications. How racing works.

[@jackperry9369]

Love my 79 Chevrolet monza hatchback thanks for the video

[@MrTBoneMalone]

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.

[@jeffsmith9305]

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.

[@dand3975]

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.

[@carlshowalter9629]

@@dand3975 I still drive a gen 2 Camaro and the only Mustang II I see are in the junkyard. Seen a lot of old Ford Hot Rods with Mustang II front ends under them though.

[@chuckzamzow9]

Seen a few of monzas. Cool car and been looking for one maybe to build.

[@spavliskojr]

Such a cool little car. wish there were more out there still running. I had the 77 pontiac sunbird.

[@yamahaxs6501]

I had a 78 monza town and country coupe with a 327, and it was a hoot! It would spin that one skinny tire for as long as you held the gas to the floor. I just wish I had money at the time to build it into something fun.

[@skipast75]

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 Chevrolet’s lineup would have looked like if DeLorean had stayed at Chevrolet.

[@tommissouri4871]

DeLorean screwed it up. He took over Chevy in '68 and made Corvette part of the normal line of management and engineering with Chevrolet which didn't allow for its unique issues. As such, Quality went WAY down. They got him out of that, and he got into the styling side which popped up the Monza. Part of that was to visually replace the black sheep Vega upper management screwed up but that ended up with a new set of clothes that weighed 200 pounds more, raised the price $700, and never matched the production figures of the Vega they wanted to replace. His success at Pontiac with GTO made him the golden haired child at GM, but he managed to mess up everywhere after. Look what he did with the DeLorean car.

[@hilleryclifford1350]

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 in💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[@HeinousinAppearance]

Would be kinda fun to find a clapped out old Monza and swap in a Mazda Rotary - just to get a taste of what they originally wanted.

[@dennisnirmark1353]

2:12 thats NOT a picture of John Delorean! Thats a picture of Alec Baldwin playing John delorean in a movie!

[@SK1974ification]

There’s one of these for sale down the street from me in LA with the original 70’s decal/paint.

[@richardlahan7068]

One of my classmates had a blue Monza when we were in high school in the 80s.

[@GrampsD63]

Never forget late 70's going out to see Rainbow in my '68 GTO running at speeds I'd prefer not to mention with a white Spyder in tow. It was pretty impressive.

[@carlshowalter9629]

They had hella tall gears in them,weren't too fast off the line but when you got rolling,you could rockarolla!

[@GrampsD63]

@@carlshowalter9629 My buddy's mom had a Mustang II. Ghia I think. Top of the line fancy whichever. Had the 302 and it didn't move too bad. Nothing like my GTO mind you...

[@larryhaug71]

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