THG Podcast: 1970s Car Disasters: The Dale and the Vega

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

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This is an episode of the THG Podcast, which posts to RU-vid once every two weeks in addition to regular History Guy content, about a month after it releases to podcast services. Subscribe to the RSS feed: feeds.captivat...
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On today’s episode the History guy takes a drive through some automotive history from the 1970s. First, he’ll tell the story of the Dale, the first “space age car” with a laundry list of amazing features that turned out too good to be true. Then he’ll talk about the Chevy Vega, launched in 1971 to rave reviews that rather suddenly went sour.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy.
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The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
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Script by THG and JCG
#history #thehistoryguy #podcast #1970s #thedale #vega

Опубликовано:

15 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 105

@flagmichael 2 года назад

A friend had a Vega he had inherited from his father. One day his wife was driving when the warning lights came on and she found a place to pull over. There had been a coolant leak but by the time it had registered the engine had fatally overheated. With the cylinder head off we could see the problem. The aluminum alloy engine block was a bathtub with the cylinders rising out of the coolant. The loss of coolant cause the center two cylinders to droop and would no longer seat against the head. In effect, the engine melted.

@ericmelton4186 2 года назад

Nice People like you make the world better.

@2Brian 2 года назад

That defect was the reason for a massive recall from General Motors. Vega engines were replaced free! My grandmother had the same thing happen.

@robertheinkel6225 2 года назад

That is a lot of heat.

@evensgrey 2 года назад

@@robertheinkel6225 Not for aluminum. Many aluminum alloys melt at around 650 degrees Celsius. For an example of how much trouble that can be, the armor used in the movie Excalibur was all aluminum, and aluminum will melt before it gets hot enough to glow the way iron and steel will when they're hot enough to work. The armorer who made that armor had to find other ways to gauge when the aluminum plates were hot enough to work, like when a certain type of marker would disappear from the surface. Adam Savage's channel Tested has a video (or a series, it was a while ago that he did this) where he visited the guy who made the armor for Excalibur and was taught about forging aluminum and the guy made him a suit of armor of the design used in that movie.

@cjc363636 2 года назад

Problems with the Vega that should've been discovered in testing were instead shifted to the owners to handle. A method the software industry totally stole from the Vega!

@HikerBiker 2 года назад

Biggest problem with the Vega was the engine scoring and needed replacing with a steel sleeved engine. This was done under warranty at no cost to the consumer even if the vehicle was out of warranty. I know this for a fact as I was a technician in a Chevy dealer at the time doing many engine replacements. I also owned a Vega that had the replacement engine and it lasted me many years of driving, trouble free. What the tech companies stole from the car companies was when the government wrote a law saying that automotive companies were no longer required to produce parts for a vehicle older than 10 years. This is exactly what the tech companies are doing now when they refuse to update older computers, phones, etc. forcing people to replace these even though they don't want or need the newer model, just need some minor updates.

@billmandaue2168 2 года назад

You should look into the story of Roger Billings and his hydrogen-powered car. That was truly a story of the automotive industry stomping on an innovator.

@sterfry8502 2 года назад

Walking a corn circle this morning and this is going to make it a lot better! Thanks THG and Josh! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍

@joelb8653 2 года назад

At Lordstown Assembly we built 100 Vegas an hour. Amazing feat but not compatible with quality.

@eaglekeeper7737 2 года назад

my dad worked in van plant there at same time of the Vega. our neighbor bought one after my dad told him not to we literally watch it rust into a pile in his driveway. 😅

@joelb8653 2 года назад

@@eaglekeeper7737 G-Van line ran 18 jobs an hour. It was scary going from there to the Vega plant. The cars went so fast (comparatively) it looked like they were driving by.

@syxepop 2 года назад

I do believe the clip from The Price Is Right episode where the Dale "car" was offered as a prize is available somewhere in YT (either through the official account or the others that taped the gameshow's episodes) and NOBODY "won" that prize.

@drewfullam8873 2 года назад

My first "brand new" car was a '76 Pontiac Astre (Vega) I traded a '65 Mustang in on it. My bad. The Astre lasted 53,000 miles. It was a nice looking car but.....

@danr1920 2 года назад

I had an Astre too. Agreed.

@WillaHerrera 2 года назад

I think the amazing thing about Bob Ross is that he painted 3 of the same painting for one episode and NONE OF HIS PAINTINGS WERE EVER SOLD!!''

@danielsolano602 2 года назад

My earliest memories of riding in a car was in my Grandpa's Vega. I loved the sound of that engine. He kept it running from '74-'82. Practically a lifetime for how old I was then LOL. But he was always having to work on that darn thing!!

@robertheinkel6225 2 года назад

I was stationed in CA in 73. They had a $5 minimum and $5 max purchase at the gas stations. My motorcycle wouldn’t hold $5, but we found a station willing to bend the rules.

@-jeff- 2 года назад

The story of my lemon yellow Vega is in the comments in your Vega video. I loved it, even if it was in the shop a bit more than I liked.

@johnstevenson9956 2 года назад

Your personal opinions, observations and background are just as interesting as the history you're talking about. Keep up the great work!

@JohnJones-oy3md 2 года назад

Hey THG, can you please do an episode about the USS Liberty attack? I think that's history that deserves to be remembered. Thanks!

@flagmichael 2 года назад

The USS Panay incident in 1937 was very similar. Comparing the two would be more interesting than rehashing either one.

@WillaHerrera 2 года назад

My older brother put a Buick V6 in his Monza with chrome Rocket rims with spoilers in the front and back. That has been an iconic car to me growing up idolizing my older brother. Not to mention his Javelin that he would fill the world up with tire smoke doing donuts. I miss the 70s.

@jamesluke7377 2 года назад

The Dale car by appearance looks somewhat like a hybrid of a Ford Pinto (doors, rear tail panel and lights, maybe windshield, etc...) and a tad bit of AMC (rear quarter windows perhaps).

@bhzaddybhzolby1705 2 года назад

A friend of mine recently got a 72 Vega with about 10,000 miles on it and it still had the plastic on the seatbelts and the tags on everything. It's surprisingly a good car and quite comfortable for a cheap car. He got a new clear coat on it and only had to change the oil and the air filter and it was good to go.

@byronhk4197 2 года назад

Visited the Harrah's Auto Museum in Reno in the late 60's and they had a 3 wheeled (2 front, 1 rear) car called a Davis, all metal, one of five produced, again from LA

@-oiiio-3993 2 года назад

There were more than five Davis Divans, but not many. Jay Leno features one here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eCcqQOFayFU.html The Davis was built at Van Nuys Airport (then Los Angeles Metropolitan), very near to the hangar in which actor Reginald Denny's Radioplane built early drone aircraft for the Army Air Forces and U. S. Navy and where a young woman named Norma Jeane Dougherty was 'discvovered' by a photographer sent by Denny's friend Ronald Reagan, then a captain in the USAAF First Motion Picture Unit. The comely young lass would later be known to the world as Marilyn Monroe.

@frankpop9448 Год назад

First memory of a Vega was pushing one after the clutch went out at a light. Good times.

@hotwheelsbob2000 2 года назад

The Vega started out to have an all-aluminum engine but due to problems with the aluminum head, they went back to a cast iron head on an aluminum block. Delorean referred to it as a top-heavy engine. The silicon plated cylinders were prone to damage from low oil levels or overheating. The oil pick up would come out of the oil in hard cornering, which is why show room stock racers of the time would over fill their Vega engines with an extra quart of oil. There were several reasons for overheating which resulted in out of round cylinder bores which caused the silicon to be scraped off by the pistons. I could write a book on the rust issues. GM started a free program replacing rusted out front fenders, so it was interesting seeing these cars running around with rusted out inner fenders, cowls windshield surrounds but had new fenders on them. I worked as a mechanic and later as a body man all through the 1970s, so I dealt with quite a few of them.

@danr1920 2 года назад

Owned an Astre, yes it was garbage. It was a '76, the engine and rust problems were solved by then. But the reliability and workmanship was beyond bad. My actual MPG highway was 24, at the speed limit was 55. It was slow, really slow. 0-60 in 20 seconds. My sister had a Gremlin, saw what you want, but it was a reliable car.

@donovanchilton5817 2 года назад

That's pretty sad when you can say your sisters Gremlin was reliable in comparison.

@robertheinkel6225 2 года назад

The Gremlin was just ahead of its time. A lot of what it introduced, is now desirable in newer cars.

@michaeldougherty8344 2 года назад

Just really enjoy your videos, thank you.

@RadioHamGuy 2 года назад

I had a Monza as my first car at 16 and I loved that car, no problems and was perfect for me, wish I would have kept it longer than a few years but then I had to have a Camaro, all used of course but it was the new style at the time and I thought it was cool but I could tell it was cheaply built or had nothing very high quality or that was my thoughts back then. Thanks for the vide.

@jimd8008 2 года назад

I must have been unaware or just lucky. Bought a Vega GT new in 1974--4 speed manual trans. White with black stripes. Bought it because I read reviews, liked the looks and a friend had a 72 that ran fine. I did put headers on it, and always kept up with maintenance. Ran it for 3 years and traded it. Still was running with over 60K on it.

@65sunnyday 2 года назад

OH! The USA adopting a reasonable policy for all our future problems (economy, environment, etc, etc) Gosh, we couldn't manage to change to the metric system with the rest of the world. Too hard, too expensive! Sorry for rambling - love this show!

@robertheinkel6225 2 года назад

You will have to look into Elio motors. They promised an inexpensive three wheel car with tandem seating. Powered by a Chevy engine, it was promising 50 mpg. Cost was supposed to be about $5K. This was supposed to come out a couple of years ago, but now their website shows they went to electric. I can’t tell if any cars were actually delivered.

@cyboman9171 2 года назад

Re: the Vega's propensity to leak oil: even in the 1960's, before the Vega, Chevrolet cars had a reputation for consuming oil. The saying went,that if you owned a Chevy, you would pull into a gas station and say "Fill 'er up - and check the gas."

@K1lostream 2 года назад

Dear Mr. History Guy - can you do an episode on the history of the Strawberry? It's Summer here and I am eating strawberries. If you have already done strawberries, a link will do! Cheers!

@djsandvig1 2 года назад

I purchased a 1972 Vega GT brand new and it lasted for three years before the motor started to burn oil and the body began rusting through around the flippin windsheild. A really good looking piece of crap. Ordered a 75 Olds Cutlass Supreme……one of my favorite cars ever to replace it.

@b_uppy 2 года назад

Nova had a problem in the Latin American countries. 'No Va' was a 'no go'... I miss the time when we had energy independence...

@banditeastlick2471 2 года назад

There was a vehicle named the chugnot. Maybe because the engine no longer made the Chugga sound and it made a popping sound. Either way, the name did not have settle well with people

@flagmichael 2 года назад

FWIW, the US is a net exporter of oil. According to the EIA, "In 2021, the United States exported about 8.63 million barrels per day (b/d) and imported about 8.47 million b/d of petroleum, making the United States an annual total petroleum net exporter for the second year in a row since at least 1949. Total petroleum net exports were about 0.16 million b/d in 2021, and total petroleum net exports in 2020 were 0.63 million b/d." Sadly, external links are taboo - YT deletes any comment with an external link. I do not know for sure about internal links.

@banditeastlick2471 2 года назад

@@flagmichael did you hear about Taiwan buying up the closed down oil refineries in the United States

@-oiiio-3993 2 года назад

I grew up near Encino and recall the yellow 'prototype' Dale being on display at the glass fronted 'Corporate Headquarters' of the bogus 'Twentieth Century Motor Car Company, Even through glass a distance of several feet it was _very_ obviously a _very_ cheaply built prop only. Up close it was outright laughable.

@WillaHerrera 2 года назад

My 1959 Pontiac has TWO ashtrays in the dash.

@-oiiio-3993 2 года назад

Tailfins, as well.

@spacemutt1978 2 года назад

The Monza was sold in the European market as the Vauxhall/Opel Cavalier and was a very popular and reliable car. Probably because they used a Vauxhall four cylinder engine and not a V8. It was once a very common sight on the UK roads. Incidentally there was also an Opel Monza which was a coupé version with a straight six engine. If the aluminium engine is the same as the Buick 215 V8 then Rover bought this engine and used it in their cars, and the brand new Range Rover when it was launched in 1971. It was a fantastic engine and never had issues until they enlarged it from 3.5 litres to 4.6 litres. So many cars had it, including the SD1, Morgan, TVR, Land Rover, MG and Triumph.

@zoeyshoots 2 года назад

Most of the Vegas I saw were on the dragstrip.. I did see a cosworth as a kid and thought it was cool..

@spacemutt1978 2 года назад

Another comment on this topic (I'm writing as I listen to the episode).. British Leyland cars were awful. I heard stories of leaving washers out from under the screen wash nozzle to save half a pence per car.. And the attitude of the *highly* unionised workers was "that'll do". It was never done properly.. just ..that'll do.. And they broke. A lot. 😆

@martinross5521 2 года назад

I agree. The BL cars were a disaster. I bought one new in 1973 (Austin 1100) and it was built during a paint shop strike at BL. The completed bare shell was stacked in the open to get the rust going, then painted later on. It rusted through with hand size holes in just two years. Just utter trash…

@spacemutt1978 2 года назад

@@martinross5521 and they did it because they knew the unions had the country at their mercy. Like her or loath her, at least Thatcher broke the unions. Yet today, in a worrying echo of history that Arthur Scargill would be proud of, we are seeing a steady increase of general strikes in the UK..

@deechatterton5828 2 года назад

I bought a brand new Vega in 1972. With less that 13,000 miles the head gasket blew and the cylinder walls were scored requiring $750 worth of repairs. I only made $600 per month so I fought Chevrolet since it was less than 1000 miles out of warranty. After a month of arguing, they fixed it but that was only the start. I traded it in in 1975 for a Datsun and swore I would never buy an American made car again. Perhaps that was an over reaction but I never have and every other car I've owned I've been happy with.

@leehuff2330 2 года назад

GM didn't seem to learn, either. Look at the Chevette (shove it) and the Pontiac Fiero (appropriate name, given their reputation for engine fires).

@evensgrey 2 года назад

There were a number of cars, from more than one maker, in the UK similar to the Dale in some ways. One of the best known in the US is the Reliant Robin, due to it being the vehicle driven by Mr. Bean. Like the original vehicle that inspired the Dale, these were legally motorcycles under UK law when they were being made. (The famous Sinclair C5, sometimes billed as an early electric car, was legally an electrically assisted bicycle under UK law at the time of manufacture.) The Dale also sounds like the Dymaxion Car with it's fundamental problem (it had too high a center of gravity and was extremely unstable) solved correctly.

@paulqueripel3493 2 года назад

Mr Bean had an earlier model, a Regal Supervan.

@evensgrey 2 года назад

@@paulqueripel3493 I checked, and we're BOTH wrong. Mr. Bean always drove a citron-green British Leyland 1977 Mini 1000 Mark 4 with matte black bonnet (a very small 4-wheeled, 2-door car), although not always the same actual vehicle as it was destroyed on at least one occasion. They had three operable ones (one of which was destroyed) and two engine-less ones specifically for the time it was crushed by a tank. The light blue 1972 Regal Supervan III was driven by an unseen rival of Mr. Bean, and frequently had some upset at Mr Bean's hands (or more precisely, the wheels of his Mini) that resulted in it being turned over (all the Reliant 3-wheelers were notoriously unstable) or knocked out of the parking space or such with him often not appearing to notice. The notion that Mr. Bean didn't know what had happened to it would seem to be wrong, however, as there was an instance where he was hitchhiking and it stopped to pick him up, but he apparently recognized it and pretended not to see it until it drove off. Or perhaps one of Mr. Bean's numerous weird quirks is he really can't see light blue 1972 Regal Supervan III's.

@WeedMIC 2 года назад

In Japan they have the K-cars. Basically scaled a little down, but uses motorcycle engines. Look like normal cars (only tinier).

@banditeastlick2471 2 года назад

Sounds like the Vega might have had something to do with the Lemon Law coming around.

@flagmichael 2 года назад

The initial hype for the Vega was that GM swore not to modify it for 6 or 7 (I forget) years, trying to emulate the VW Beetle strengths. However, the initial design was so bad several things had to be changed for the second year., and one was very noticeable. I wish my memory was better, but that was half a century ago.

@syxepop 2 года назад

The most mayor flaw the Vega had was its' all-aluminium engine, a quite unknown thing at the time...

@banditeastlick2471 2 года назад

@@flagmichael will the number one gas saver that I knew of was the Ford pickup truck, Courier I believe is the name. For the car, it was a Chevrolet Chevette Super Sport. They both got somewhere around 40 miles to the gallon. You were better off siphoning the gas out before it tarnished then to burn the whole tank of gas. I remember driving 250 miles and didn't burn 5 gallons. I built a half ton pickup truck, 350 with 500 horses that I got 28 MPG at 60 mph. I built another one that had a thousand horses and at 60 MPH I got 18 miles to the gallon. Now if I opened it up, it's a whole nother story. I can drive 150 MI on 3 gallons of gas in 33 minutes. I also could run both of these motors as my daily drivers and run them 100% off of hydrogen. But hydrogen can be used in any car, if it has a computer you might have to jump some wires but the existing motor can run off of hydrogen. Hydrogen burn so cold, even in the southern Winters you'd have to put a fan over your radiator

@orbyfan 2 года назад

I'm still waiting for the flying car which is always just around the corner, and which we were supposed to have by 1970.

@spacemutt1978 2 года назад

An interesting future topic might be the engine that ran on water scam. I know there was one in America, but there was another in the UK (Scotland, he lived in Ballachulish (Ba-la-hoo-ish)) in the 1970s, I think.

@Badger13x 2 года назад

As a European American 1970's petrol or gas prices are a complete fantasy number.

@robozstarrr8930 2 года назад

was starting to comment on a Vega cross-country ( 2000 mile ) driving "experience" in the fall of '74 . . . . but got toooo depressed ! sowry

@ernestbywater411 2 года назад

One issue with making revolutionary cars is getting past the bureacrates who set the rules of what you can make a car out of. In the 1980s BMW had a concept car that gave incredible mileage simply due to the materials it was made out of, but it would not have been legal on any road in the world due to it not meeting the construction laws. the car was made from a aluminium alloy frame chemwelded with plastic body panels and the motor was plastic and allow with ceramic cylinders in the heat areas. The laws set types of metal to be used in the body , panels, and engines, and they're still that way. For the best performance of motor vehicle is to transfer to cars how we build long distance freight trains - diesel engine generator running and electric motor as the drive engine - yet they are not legal to build. I have to ask why the law makers won't allow them with their push for the environment and reduced emissions.

@mikeyost3672 2 года назад

The Dale was a straight up con job. "She" was going for a big payday, but those pesky automotive journalists kept asking the wrong questions, forcing her to flee before the big money came in.

@spacemutt1978 2 года назад

So the Dale was basically a Morgan, first made in 1905, or one of the many post-war German bubble cars like the Isetta, or Messerschmitt, or the Bond Bug which came out just a few years before the Dale.. But interesting back-story to it and why it failed. A good idea, scuppered by skull-duggery.

@orbyfan 2 года назад

Peter Sellers drove a 3-wheel Morgan in "The Party."

@bobalouie2413 2 года назад

I had to carry a case of motor oil with me at all times in my Vega. No kidding, burned a quart per week.

@jacksoncz8536 2 года назад

In 1978 shortly after getting out of the Navy, I bought a 1973 (I think might of been a 72’). Anyway it was a GT I loved it.

@Hot_Nachos 2 года назад

I have been wondering. In any war, or in multiple instances, has there been artillery crew/operator accredited with a aircraft kill?

@hendrikvanleeuwen9110 2 года назад

There is one recorded incident of a tank main gun shooting down an attacking aircraft, if that is close enough. WW2.

@WALTERBROADDUS 2 года назад

I could say the same thing about the Fisker Karma. Delaware lost millions on that deal. At least it was a functioning car.

@vinnynorthwest 2 года назад

Suggestion: A video about the SL-1 accident in Idaho, The only fatal nuclear reactor accident in the US as a result of the reactor itself.

@jamesluke7377 2 года назад

The Big 3 claimed Tucker to be a fraud so his/her claim may hold atleast some validity.

@captlazer5509 2 года назад

Tucker 48 is now worth over a million if complete. Any of the big three cars of the era even if mint condition is maybe over 100,000 and on a good day 150,000. So Mr Tucker got the last laugh.

@moss8448 2 года назад

don't remember the Dale but most certainly remember the Vega and the other 'compacts' coming out of Detroit Motors....that's when Nippon Motors turned heads.

@lgaines4086 2 года назад

wasn't there a Pinto that would explode into flames when rear ended?

@doriWyo 2 года назад

We also didn't have the internet, then. Imagine how far the lies could have gone, with it. We had a Vega GT, which I called a "Sports Car Wannabe."

@spockboy 2 года назад

Love your channel but please tell your editor to not compress your voice or whatever he is doing. You sound weird and robotic. Your regular videos sound perfect.

@dennispitz7488 2 года назад

It's obvious. She was a con artist.

@hlmoore8042 2 года назад

I had a Vega. It got carpeted (and four speakers) as it was a hatchback. 5 doors.

@DeconvertedMan 2 года назад

oil prices (gas) going up you say? histroy repeats eh? O_o;;;

@thejudgmentalcat 2 года назад

The Vega never out-sold the Pinto?

@hotwheelsbob2000 2 года назад

No, it didn't. Other than the gas tank fiasco, the Pinto was a pretty rugged little car. Both the 1600 and the 2000 engines had been used and abused in Europe for years, so they had been well tested before they went into the Pinto. Their main downfall a few years later was the smog equipment they were saddled with.

@Brian1Graves 2 года назад

I enjoy the presentation, but the after action palaver is just blather to my ears.

@glynnetolar4423 2 года назад

Does any of this remind you of Theranos?

@David.Anderson 2 года назад

Late class today better late then never.

@robertgiles9124 2 года назад

The 70s in the USA; Dear Japanese...now is your chance because we are just gonna make a lot of crap for a while.

@JONFATSARNOTT 2 года назад

my mom had a vega, I wreaked it....the spot welds on the roof popped off in the back. what a piece of crap.

@telestrat060 2 года назад

wrecked

@oneanddonetzone3673 2 года назад

Don’t forget the Elio…..Another scam

@marktocholke3954 2 года назад

Unfortunately, there are autos today that are just as bad as the Vega 😃

@flagmichael 2 года назад

Ah, but none in the US as bad as the Yugo. When Cartalk did their top ten worst cars of the millenium feature, the Yugo ranked #1 with 33.7% of the vote. "I once test drove a Yugo, during which the radio fell out, the gear shift knob came off in my hand, and I saw daylight through the strip around the windshield." The #2 (no gags, please) was - wait for it - the Chevy Vega!! "As near as I could tell, the car was built from compressed rust." "My Chevy Vega actually broke in half going over railroad tracks. The whole rear end came around slightly to the front, sort of like a dog wagging its tail."

@marktocholke3954 2 года назад

@@flagmichael Yes! The Yugos were death traps. My Spanish teacher (Mrs. Philips) in high school (early nineties) almost died in a Yugo...she was hit and the car flipped on its side and caught fire. Some people had to pull her out of the vehicle. I would imagine that a golf cart would have faired better.