'73 Vega GT, amazingly nice time capsule

[scuncio]

I'd ruin this one with a SBC...what else would you do with it in stock trim? Very cool to see such a nicely preserved example.

Link to 1973 Vega GT auction









1V77B3U376450

[Bill Pritchard]

Belongs in a Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not museum.....a Vega purchased in the Midwest that has no rust 47 years later

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by Bill Pritchard

Belongs in a Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not museum.....a Vega purchased in the Midwest that has no rust 47 years later

Must have moved to CA before the first snowfall. Invoice does indicate rust proofing, but still, it would have rusted from the inside out, if it was up here very long.


Olds Toro swap...


I had a '71 I bought for $50 in '76, after the guys girlfriend threw his bowling ball over their apartment balcony....right thru the windshield...

[DW31S]

Originally Posted by Bill Pritchard

Belongs in a Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not museum.....a Vega purchased in the Midwest that has no rust 47 years later

Now THAT was funny!!!

[njsteve]

That Vega brings back memories. Back in 1981 I was living in Aurora Colorado and attending Denver Automotive and Diesel College. A bunch of us hooligans rented a house and proceeded to become an annoyance to the entire neighborhood. One of the neighbors was always calling the cops on us for having too many parties/girls/noise/cars parked, etc. They eventually moved out and out of spite, abandoned a 1972 Vega GT automatic, in that same color red, right in our front yard, blocking our driveway.

Well, when the neighbors leave you lemons...make lemonade. After a couple weeks I called the police to get it towed and they said since it was abandoned on your property, wait another month and then apply for an abandoned vehicle title. Then you can do whatever you want with it: junk it, part it out, get it licensed and drive it, etc.

So I waited, got the title and tags, pulled a door lock cylinder out, and had a key made. The thing started right up and I drove it for six months. It had zero horspeower, being that we were at 5,000+ foot elevation and it had an automatic. But it was a dependable car. I then traded it to a local used car lot/junkyard, straight across for a 1971 Cuda 383 convertible! Here's that cuda as I found it:

Best Vega Ever!

[scuncio]

Cool story Steve. Boy, that Cuda was a mess for being only ten years old or so.

[njsteve]

Yeah, cars sure dissolved quickly back then. The junk yard got it because it had been abandoned on Lowry Air Force Base by an airman who had been transfered and left it behind. The old paperwork in the car indicated that it came from Rochester, New York - hence all that pre-existing rustiness. But it had all its original drivetrain and was Curious Yellow. It also started right up! I applied for an abandoned title along with the junkyard-supplied paperwork. And the rest is history. Go here for the "after" photo:

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...149631&page=16

[Mr70]

Good looking clean car.
Sitting in an LS-6 Chevelle at a corner Drive-In one evening,parked next to a '71 Hemi Cuda & a GTO Judge in the summer of '79.
A Vega GT pulls up to the stop light,intoxicated passenger opens the door and proclaims to us,"The GT Package is No Slouch!" as he threw up on the street curb.Light soon turns green,the girl behind the wheel slowly drives away.
To this day,that has always underscored the Vega to me.

[seventieshow]

"...LS-6 Chevelle at a corner Drive-In one evening, parked next to a '71 Hemi Cuda & a GTO Judge in the summer of '79..."

Sincerely, that must have been great.

Nice Vega, agree on the SBC swap. Done in a manner that leaves the stock hood.

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Love it too also agree it needs a SBC, how could you not?
Sure did lots of T-Belts on these also wrecked a few decent ones for the Saginaws/Seats/Steering Wheels/Tires.

~ Pete

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