Of course, the technical platform is from Japan. This is just a basically a Isuzu Gemini for US Domestic Market So Chevy Chevette is a rebadged Isuzu Gemini for USDM
I had a porter job in 1989 at a used car lot. The owner went out and but 3 dozen red and white Chevettes from the auction. They were US post office vehicles. Half of em were missing passanger seats. It always seemed a salesman would sell one with a missing seat. I spent all summer taking one seat out of one and putting it in another.
No problem ! That boat and trailer would push you down a steep grade in a jiffy , might even beat you to the bottom of whatever lake / river / ocean that is there to crash into!!!
Right? My first car was an automatic transmission '86 Chevette, it was maybe 8 years old when I got it. It couldn't even do 55 mph up a steep hill empty, let alone tow anything. It was a terrible car. lol
Offering an even slower and louder diesel in the Chevette was just cruel. They should have made automatic + airconditioning mandatory to finish the deal. The car would have gone backwards when you turned on the AC.
@B Brunson of course currently, cars are pretty much gone, except for really small cars equally if not smaller than the Chevette and most people flocking to SUV's. It's a shame as many laugh about these Chevette's (along with the Citation's) considering the many faults they endured, but my guess it was the fast reaction to the invasion of imports back in the late 70's onward and the domestics threw out there what they had to in order to compete and once tweaked out everyone's tastes changed.
The Chevette is to cars what Huffy is to bicycles. Tough sounding but ultimately not very good. Bargain basement and it'll never let you forget it. I'm not trying to bash or troll Chevette lovers but by 1985 this car was very much behind the times (you could argue it wasn't great in 1976.) The organization I worked for in college during the early 1990s had a couple of 1985 Chevettes as fleet cars. Granted these were older, well-used - but also well-maintained - cars by this time. I have to say that the Chevette was the worst car I have every driven, before or since. I found the car to be slow, uncomfortable, noisy, and had 1970s Fisher-Price plastics on the dashboard. At least it was hard-wearing, I suppose, but the rear wheel drive was not ideal for Northeast weather. No wonder they were always the last vehicles to be snapped up at the motor pool. The Chevette represented basic transportation at its best (or worst). I must finally add that I love these old, nostalgic videos. You never see any Chevettes these days, or many cars from the 1980s, so it's fun to see them preserved on the interweb.
Until GM forced corporate styling on the Australian TX Isuzu, ours and the Isuzu 4 door sedan and 2 door coupe/hatch were the best versions of this spunky happy little car. Then GM fucked it up. As usual.
