Wouldn't this comparison have made more sense if Chrysler had compared their Dodge Demon with a Chevrolet Nova? I would think that a Vega would be in a different class of car.
Well yes and no. The Vega was a subcompact and the Demon was considered a compact. In today's world it would be comparing a Honda Fit to a Toyota Corolla. Buyers do that pretty often.
Correct¡ The Nova and The Ford Maverik were its rivals. Dodge didn't have any domestic competitor for the Vega/Pinto. So they had to convincente the Demon was a better alternative yo buying a small car.
If I was a car buyer in 1971 I would pick the Dodge Demon & I'd order mine with the optional 275 HP 340 V8 engine with the 727 Torqueflite automatic transmission.
My dad bought a Vega, total POS. I remember it didn't exactly get great gas mileage either. Better to just get the Dodge with a slant 6 and single barrel carb.
One of my aunts married a guy with a Chevy Vega. It was truly a POS, he replaced the engine at about 40K miles, he dumped it when the second engine went to hell after about the same amount of mileage (fortunately he paid cash for it so he didn't have to deal with a car loan payoff when he dumped it). The aluminum and cast iron parts didn't mate well and General Motors didn't try that one again. Also, I hated riding in that thing -- my 400 pound ass didn't fit very well. Fortunately he also had an early 70's Chevy pickup and after one or two rides kindly used that when I rode with him.
I remember tagging along with my parents when they were car shopping. We stopped at the Chevy dealer and test drove the Vega. Same thing with the Pinto. Our final stop was the Buick store. Ended up with a Opel Spotwagon. Lasted over 20 years and 200k miles.
That video should have said at the end of it... Look at the Vega it's already rusted out and a quart of coolant is on the ground.... The Demon still has it's paint on it and no leaks...
Likely it was a shot from a Demon vs Pinto film and the editor missed it! PS even as a GM guy, I'll take the MoPar "a" body over the Explosive Pinto or the Vega (with new, exclusive self destructing aluminum engine!) any day!
Weird how the pricing worked back then...totally different platforms. Demon (Valiant) was considered a large mid-size / full-size car in UK and here in Australia...Vega is clearly a small mid-size.
Ironic how the names change in the UK. Here in the States the Valiant was a smaller car than the Demon/Duster. The Valiant was a four door car, though. Both came with the 225 slant six as the standard engine, at least in Michigan (I don't recall hearing of any actually equipped with the 198 six cylinder engine).
Not a realistic comparison. Demon was a compact, Vega was a sub-compact. A level playing field would have been a comparison between compacts Demon and Nova, or sub-compacts Colt and Vega. I'd prefer the Demon over the Nova, but both sub-compacts stunk.
Christian Motley I feel for you, why should you have been expected to know that cast iron ( the head) and aluminum ( the block) expand and contract at different rates, causing the head gasket to blow. And that all the previous successful aluminum engines had steel or iron cylinder sleeves.
Vega with a few improvements would have shifted the tide on Japanese market in the US in the 70s. It was small and economical with the optional GT package offering a handling package, tach and gauges, GT wheels and hotter cam and two barrel carb. It was available in a wagon, sedan delivery wagon, coupe, and hatch. GM had the perfect recipe for a successful car. But they took shortcuts to save money and ended up with customers sorting out the problems GM shouldve found before production. The demon is a cool car but not the same type as the pinto vega or Datsuns , not the same market. You could argue it was still a successful car, by its third model year chevrolet had sold a million Vegas..
The Demon is actually a mid-size car, unlike the compact Vega. The Vegas were designed to be shipped on rail cars standing on the front end. I think around 16 - 20 per rail car. I understand price comparison issue and know that the Vega was a hurry up to compete with the invading foreign cars and fuel economy. What compact did The Dodge Boys offer? Not sure when the Colt came along but, after all, it was a joint venture too.
A Vega with a small block Chevy V8 topped off with a blower and a tubbed rear end was one of the coolest cars that would Cruze on the weekend back when kids would Cruze the strip on weekends and every night in the summer back when I was 13
The Vega was an absolute TURD mechanically. But that Camaro look alike front clip was awesome. Today, if I had my choice between a Dodge Demon or a Vega, both rollers w pristine body and interior, I'd take the Vega. Drop a 383 stroker in that baby.
This was some kind of filmstrip presentation, where the tones would advance the frames automatically. I remember filmstrip front projection kiosks in dealer showrooms, used for promotion.
Chrysler didn't make a car smaller than the Valiant/Dart to compare against a Vega or a Pinto. The Valiant/Dart is class equivalent to a Nova and a Maverick.
@@tenfourproductionsllc Two years later, the junkyards got the Vegas and the people went to Chrysler and Ford to buy replacement vehicles. GM had some very nice full size cars but their subcompacts were horrible in the 1970's.
I haven't seen any Vegas for sale recently on eBay, but Demons in decent shape bring in close to 5 figures, V8s well over $10K. I'll take the Demon hands down
I owned a '74 Vega GT between the years 1978 to 1980 . . . the steering and handling was very good, BUT, the engine and clutch were junk at less than 60K miles, and the rust between the hinges on the rear hatchback was the final straw to rid the car. On the other end of the spectrum, my '91 Honda Civic lasted 21 years, at 235K miles, with the body and engine still in good shape. But, the drivetrain and electricals showed signs of deterioration and I parted ways with the car.
Both cars are very nice,the Vega GT are very nice hot rods especially the Vega split bumper,my brother has one with a 383 stroker motor,but I love Dodge demon's and Mopars 🔥💯💪.
A 340 4-speed equipped Demon may have changed your mind. 275 listed horsepower was way under rated. It was a 350hp beast that would make your girlfriend's nipples hard.
It seems that Dodge was comparing two entirely different class of cars! The Dodge Demon should of been compared to the Chevy Nova! Because the Nova comes with a 6cyl. Standard and an optional V8. Plus the size of the cars are compatible. And the idiot talking about the cars shows a Ford Pinto for car hight comparison.
Did you notice that they put the 6ft man in the Vega. And the 5ft women in the Demon. For the interior comparison. They buy as well compared to Van to a pickup! WHAT A JOKE, Dodge! WHAT A JOKE!
And by the way Dodge. The Vega looks like a smaller Camaro! Not the Nova. You need to get your eyes checked. And use some integrity when comparing cars!
Dodge trying to sell the outdated. Just like today: Vega had coil springs, aluminum engine, bucket seats. Dodge trying to sell bench seats, leaf springs, heavy iron engine!
He said that the Vega was suppose to be a miniature Nova. I would say that it was suppose to be a miniature Camaro. Also, my first car was a 73 Vega. Great on gas, but terrible on oil. It used three quarts of oil a day! I didn't worry about miles per gallon .I went by miles per quart.
If you notice in the trunk of the Demon you’ll notice that the fuel tank pipe is right in the way of loading luggage on the drivers side so no car is perfect
I was a 21 year old when I bought a 1972 Vega. 6 months later at 29,000 miles, the oil turned brown. I owed $1500 on it at a time when I was only making $100 a week. I was screwed big time by general motors. Bastards, wish I had bought the Demon.
Coil springs are superior to leaf springs. The small size Vega, if engineered better, would have an advantage for a commuter who sometimes needs to parallel park. Cars have different missions imho
The girl is so beautiful! Because they never say anything against that Demon, look at those tires.. sooo tiny tiny. The Vega got bigger tires, better grip.
At this time Chrysler was taking a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach to the small-car market. Besides an aggressively-priced larger entry-level model (the Duster/Demon) they had THREE captive imports for a while - the Simca 1308 which was highly advanced, the Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi Colt Galant) which was well-built and rugged, and the Plymouth Cricket (Hillman Avenger) which was none of those things.
I do believe the AMC Gremlin offered more options and the like in a package closer to the Vega's size. except the back seat. no one should suffer the back seat of a Gremlin.
You've convinced me. While Vega's "cute" appearance led me to believe that it was the car for me, I've decided to purchase a 1971 Demon instead. Sometimes the older bodystyle is best! Too bad Dodge never made a hatchback!
Do not buy either car! Invest a little more and buy a Challenger, with a 426 Hemi. Better yet, a 'Cuda with the 426 Hemi. Trust me, they will be worth a fortune. Don't drive them...store them away in a temperature controlled garage.
This is a hilarious comparison. The Mopar A-body, especially with a Slant-6, is known as one of the best and most durable all-around American cars ever made. And the Vega has gone down in history as possibly the worst American car ever made. The sad part is that the Vega could have been a great car. Should have been a great car. Like we Mopar fans know from the aluminum block Slant-6, die cast aluminum was not ready for mass production at the time. Never mind the Vega's body rust issues. No Mopar A-body would have been able to touch the much smaller GM H-body's fuel efficiency in a well-running Vega... but no Vega will run well for long with its undersized cooling system. And the Vega's engine shook and rattled like something out of a 1920s tractor. I have driven many Vegas and Astres. That OHC aluminum engine was a disaster. I've owned many A-bodies - Valiants, Darts, Dusters. I also owned a Chevy Monza (a Vega with a new name and rectangular headlamps). There is no comparison between the two. I want nothing to do with a Vega. Phil Edmonston used to write a book called the "Lemon-Aid Used Car Buying Guide". His review of the Vega and Astre did not elaborate on the problems, he didn't bother. He just scorched the car with two sentences: "GM's first disposable car. Use either car once, then throw it away."
That slant 6 wouldn't even been broken in while that TRASH VEGA engine was ready to be melted down for a new replacement among ALL the other VEGA 'defects'
To compare the 1971 Dodge Demon to the 1971 Chevrolet Vega is a very unfair comparison. The 1971 Chevrolet Nova would have been a better and fair comparison in both class and size. I am sure Dodge was aware of such an unfair comparison to the Vega, and knew they should not compare and/or contrast the 1971 Demon with the 1971 Nova; because the Nova blow the Demon away. That's my opinion at least. Anyways I am a Nova fan, but like the Vega also.
I'm a Dodge guy, but I think you're right. The Nova was indeed a good car. We had a used 69 coupe with the 230 6 and 3 speed auto, p/s and p/b. It was a very good dependable car. Rust killed it. I like A bodies, but they were very dated by 71, even more so by 76. Nova lasted until late 79 I believe. The real difference here is looking at just 1 thing.. Chevy made a factory cop car Nova package, whereas the A body never got an official police package, even though some military police and other agencies adapted them for service. That in itself tells 1 how dependable and rugged those cars really were. I had a 73 Valiant sedan, with the 225 and it was loaded. It had factory a/c, p/s, pb, dual outside mirrors, carpeting, deluxe interior, AM FM radio, deluxe wheel covers, frt sway bar, electronic ignition, h/d cooling and electrical groups, etc. While it was a good car dependability wise, it's brakes were terrible. The p/s was very sloppy, even after a new box, and it's ride was very firm, yet heeved over bigger road bumps even with new shocks. I got a chance to drive our old very worn out Nova, and it tracked fine with n/p, very little correction was needed. It's power brakes stopped short and straight, no pull. It took bumps better. It started easier and warmed up quicker. I will say that my Valiant was quieter on the highway, used less gas, and was more powerful to be sure than our old 69 Nova. But the point is testing Vega against a car nearly twice it's size with a completely different rating system in modern standards, is apples to oranges. BUT we all know that the Vega turned out to be a POS, even after the Iron Duke was used.
I noticed that nothing was said about comparing the gas mileage. Though I did have a 1976 Plymouth Volare with the 225 c.i. slant six and automatic trans. I frequently drove the 180 miles to Austin from Houston and averaged 26 mpg at 70 mph. The Volare is also a bit larger than the Demon. Good road car. Considering that maybe their mpg might have been close.
The Volare/Aspen were essentially a reskin of the Valiant/Duster/Demon/Dart. The bigger rear quarter window may have made it look bigger, but it really wasn't.
@Make Me Believe Here in SoCal, I encounter a 1960s or early '70s Dart, Valiant or one of their variants every day. I can't remember when I last saw a Vega...
The Dodge Demons with the slant 6 sold more than with the 340.The religious groups did protest when the Demon came out in 1970,did not like the model name of the car.Chrysler ended production of the Demon in 1972 for this reason
I remember that, I with parents bought the last 71 Demon on the lot. No pwr steering, brakes (4 wheel drum) nonpower, no carpet. Did have automatic transmission, but no radio. But was mine, cash in hand, after discount (last one), $2170.
You don't care what I have to say either way and why would you? It's just my opinion. Who cares what Jim Beekman thinks. If I don't care why would you?
