August 1, 2024
#492
Gentle reader,
As of this date, I am closing in on my 68th birthday. I bought my first car, a nine-year-old Chevrolet Impala two-door hardtop, in September of 1973. The beginning of my senior year in high school. The feeling of FREEDOM! was exhilarating.
I was a born car guy. According to Mom, I could name any car I saw: year, make and model at age three. Methinks she exaggerates. I have lost track of how many cars I have owned. Although this article from 2016 shows all that I could recall then: The Robb Collections: A Journey through time, via Automobile Sales Brochures Since then, we have purchased a 2013 Cadillac ATS Performance 2.0T which is factory equipped with a six-speed manual transmission. Neither of us ever imagined buying a Cadillac, but it was such a bargain, we could not resist.
Above is one of a number of purpose built Chevrolet Monza 2+2 hatchbacks which a company called DeKon modified for international sports car racing events. Their history can be seen here: DeKon 1003
Below are three scans from the Chevrolet brochure for the introductory year (September, 1974) of the new Monza models.
Some say it was GM's answer to Ford's Mustang II which came out in 1974. But, the average time it took (then) for a manufacturer to create, design, build, test and sell a new model was three years, minimum.
Check out those horsepower figures! 1975 was the first year the federal requirement that catalytic converters be installed on all new cars in the United States. The devices really choked engine's performance. And, we learned decades later actually make climate damage worse because the convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide! A major source of climate change!
Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac also sold their (thinly disguised) versions of the Monza, but, to my knowledge, only the 2+2 hatchback body style.
I decided quite young that I wanted to be a car mechanic when I grew up. Thus, the afternoons of my junior and senior high school years were in tech school learning the trade. I was fortunate (thanks, Dad!) to get a job at 17 at a Chevrolet dealer in 1974. And the first new car I bought was a 1979 Monza 2+2 like the red one above.
It cost me just over $3,000. I chose the, new-for-1979, Iron Duke 2.5 liter four cylinder engine, five-speed manual transmission, sunroof and sport mirrors. It is pictured below outside of my first apartment. This body style, available as a notchback coupe and thinly disguised (Vega) wagon. Not shown below is the 1967 Impala Super Sport convertible I was driving when I bought the Monza.
I added the fog light / driving lights, mounted to the bottom of the bumper, to it. First thing I did to it, was remove the emissions required idle mixture screw plastic guard from the carburetor and adjusted it so that it would idle smoothly.
Years later, I bought a 1976 Vega Kammback wagon, like the blue one above, but beige with brown interior and four-speed manual transmission. I had worked on a lot of Vegas and knew their quirks and problems, but bought it anyway.
Above is one of a series of photos of the team which ran the featured car originally back in the day. The source of this photo and story of the team, is on the DeKon page listed above. As well as stories about other teams who raced them back in the day.
Note the different type of spoiler the car now sports. It is still being raced in vintage events around the world.
The rectangular headlights were kept for many years.
Note the gap between the extremely widened race body panels and the original rear end seeming to being swallowed whole. Original DeKon rear spoiler is still in place.
The car now sports round headlights.
Chevrolet decided to honor the success of the IMSA racing DeKon Monza racers by contracting MATC to recreate, on a less outrageous scale, the widened and bespoilered DeKon cars by making an extra cost option for potential Monza buyer who love racing and want to look like they too are race car drivers.
While still owning the Vega Kammback wagon, our next door neighbors had a 1975 V8 Monza 2+2. It was not in great shape, but it had saddle brown leather interior and that all important V8 engine. My idea was to buy the car for cheap ($250) and swap the V8 engine into my Vega. I did buy the car, but as my wife seemed intent upon popping out a new baby every two years, money and time to do the swap was out of question. In her defense, I was no longer working as an automobile mechanic, but a subway cars electro-mechanic. Thus, I no longer had a shop to perform the swap.
Ever since then, I have wanted another Monza, specifically, one of these. What you may not know, is that these are sub-compact cars, which Chevrolet stuffed a V8 engine into! Below are images I found of a pristine example.
Here is a link to a video which I just found, from 2017 at Carlisle Pennsylvania's annual all-Chevrolet car show: Let's check out the 1977 Monza Mirage! - YouTube
Below, are some links to videos showing the race car in action today as well as some other articles for your enjoyment and education.
I just came across this in-depth look at Monzas. Fast forward past all the history he provides to get to the good stuff: Marvelous Malaise | The Chevy Monza - YouTube
To this day, my favorite kinds of car racing are: Vintage Sports cars and Endurance Sports cars. IMSA is the series owner here in North America and WEC (World Endurance Challenge) in the rest of the world. While ALMS (American Le Mans Series) no longer exists, Asian Le Mans Series and European Le Mans Series still do. All four: IMSA WEC ALMS and ELMS contribute cars and teams to race a the iconic and historic 24 Hours of Le Mans every June in France.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article. I'm closing in on my 500th article! Feel free to comment below, or via Facebook.
Scott Robb
August 1, 2024
#492
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