914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
1/23/21 9:18 a.m.
cultus66
cultus66 None
1/23/21 9:22 a.m.

Yup! H-body GM. The 80's version Sunbird was a Cavalier clone.

APEowner
APEowner GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/23/21 10:09 a.m.

Weirdly, only the wagons were Vegas.  The Sunbirds and Monzas were the same car and the Astras and Vegas were the same.  Around '78 or so they dropped the Astra but continued to sell the Vega wagons under the Sunbird name.

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
1/23/21 4:02 p.m.

Man if I didn't have the SBC Safari I'd be all over this.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
1/23/21 7:33 p.m.
APEowner said:

Weirdly, only the wagons were Vegas.  The Sunbirds and Monzas were the same car and the Astras and Vegas were the same.  Around '78 or so they dropped the Astra but continued to sell the Vega wagons under the Sunbird name.

So, in 1971 Chevy launches the Vega (and Astra) in hatch and wagon form.  They are economy cars, all 4 cyl.  The Vega/Astra sells till 1977

In 1975 GM launched the Chevy Monza, Pontiac Sunbird, Olds Starfire, & Buick Syhawk.  These are generally just trated-up Vegas.  The chassis is the same but they get a different front clip than the Vega and different rear hatch/trunk area that makes them a little longer.  Part of the "upscale" is that these cars offer 4cy, V6 and even small V8.  
Two years later, the Vega is discontinued and generally replaced by low trim models of the Monza-esque models.  Really just a Vega in a different wrapper.  This fresh wrapper is an attempt to shed some of the negativity the Vega had earned.  The Vega hatch is then replaced by the Monza hatch, but...the wagon?  

To keep the wagon, what really is a Vega wagon gets the front clip of the Monza (or Pontiac Sunbird) and is rebadged to be sold for a few more years.  

1974 Vega wagon:

1978 Monza wagon (its the same car w/ a different grille/badge and maybe now a V6)

1978 Monza hatch: 

cultus66
cultus66 New Reader
1/24/21 7:30 a.m.

 It's the Pontiac Astre. The Astra is an Opel. Just sayin'. 

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