Here’s a good Motor Trend write-up on what went wrong with the Vega.
1 Like
Yup!
Arguing with management and drug-taking seemed to be two of the favorite pursuits of the workers at Lordstown. I can recall reading a news article for which the reporter went undercover into that plant as a new worker. In addition to rampant drug abuse and slipshod assembly, he witnessed actual sabotage. He observed one guy placing a glass soda bottle inside a door before affixing the interior panel, and the worker’s comment was, “That’ll really drive the customer crazy”.
Yeah… so crazy that the customer might never again buy a GM product.
IMO most of the hourly workers went to work straight every day. They probably suffered one of the downfalls of a strong union as we did in my steel mill. There was little downside for the shop steward and union management to defend anyone disciplined for drug or alcohol violations no matter how useless they were. The foreman would send the drunk/druggie home and the process would start. There were four levels in our mill and then it went to HR where there were even more levels of review. In the end, the miscreant was always given another chance. The solution in our place was to just put them on a bench to sleep it off so that they didn’t kill someone. Sad but true. I worked on a tiger team with hourly guys and they were all upset about how this went down, but it didn’t matter.
From my observations at the time the quality problems went far beyond the Unions.
On the Labor side there was an expectation that no matter how unskilled and/or unmotivated the person there was a Right to a well paying job, with all the benefits and lifetime job security.
On the Management side there was the expectation that the Consumer would always buy whatever US automakers produced no matter how obsolete the manufacture, technology or quality. The mindset was just “Make it bigger and add more chrome”.
Then in the early 70’s the Imports arrived … Honda Civic CVCC (front wheel drive, 5 speed stick, handled like a go kart) , Datsun 240Z (overhead cam 6, a dream to drive), Volvo “Safety Cars” (your kids would survive a crash) About the same price as comparable Falcon, Chevy II and MGB but much better engineered and built.
After unloading my Vega it was 10 years before I even considered buying a Domestic vehicle.
.
I think that summarizes the attitude of the powers-that-be at GM, Ford, & Chrysler very accurately.
I agree that the Volvos of that era were very well engineered from the safety standpoint, but the reliability of their electrical systems was an ongoing, never-ending nightmare, and the durability of their engines was worse than that of the US-made makes.
1 Like
Oh here we go. Lets blame the American worker for how they were treated in that plant at the time. The speed of the assembly line was ridiculous and the workers were treated horribly. There was a slight uptick in workers using drugs to cope with the horrible conditions but overall the industrial mite of the American Workforce was on full display. They made so many units per worker it was unfathomable the way they pushed those people it was borderline criminal.
Perhaps if they bathed more often, they might have had fewer mites on their bodies.
3 Likes
My '81 Chevy Citation (one of the now-infamous X cars) had the Iron Duke under the hood, and while it did vibrate a lot, that engine was both reliable and durable–unlike the rest of that problem-plagued GM design.
I had a friend who had a '74 Vega GT. I’m not sure what the “GT” meant. After a couple years it started over heating. I actually helped him remove the head. Try to refrain from laughing, but we used a big flat file to “shave” the head (we thought it might be warped). A new head gasket (or maybe 2?) and a bunch of sealer or permatex and it ran “ok”. I told him to check the coolant level all the time. But after a few weeks or months he started to slack off. The car overheated again and that was the end!
I, along with 2 friends, had a Vega station wagon in the early 90’s. It was by far the most unreliable car I have ever had. Constant problems with overheating due to the radiator not having enough cooling ability to keep the 350 with a big cam from boiling. The left exhaust header was a nightmare, and the air cleaner sitting on top of the Holley Double Pumper was always rubbing on the hood. The copper fuel line coiled inside an ice-filled coffee can helped with the vapor lock a little bit.
The rear diff/axles blew up twice before we replaced the unit with a larger one. The car was horrendously loud with a tremendous amount of body flex, but in retrospect going around the car and removing sheet metal with a hole saw to lighten the car was probably responsible for that.
On the plus side, 6 cans of Krylon orange engine enamel was enough to cover the whole car. 
Might be the car for the poster that wants a <$12,000 car to beat an SRT.
1 Like
In high school my friend had a split bumper Vega. the motor went, so he put in 327 and 411 gears. it was quick as hell.
And today, the assembly lines that still exist run at double the speed with half the workers.
Robots don’t complain nor leave soda cans in body cavities.
3 Likes
Back in 1971, I needed to replace my 1961 Corvair. I test drove a new Chevy Vega, a new Datsun 510 and a 1968 Toyota. The Toyota seemed like the best assembled and was the quietest of the three. However it had a 2 speed automatic transmission which I didn’t like. The Datsun was a 4 speed manual as was the Vega. The Vega was the least impressive of the three.
I ultimately bought a 1968 Javelin from a used car dealer. When I took it for a test drive, I found the state inspection record in the glove compartment. This was in May of 1971 and the odometer read 33,000 miles. It had been inspected in February with 55,000 miles. The price dropped from $1695 and my $50 Corvair to $1200 and the Corvair. The Javelin had the 232 cubic inch 6 which didn’t make it popular with young people wanting a sporty car. I drove the Javelin 5 years and put another 100,000 miles on the car. I sold the car for $600. I don’t think I could have done as well with neither the Vega, the Datsun 510, nor the 1968 Toyota.
Additionally, robots don’t take breaks for the restroom, or for meals, or for drug-taking, and they don’t call HR claiming that they are sick.
4 Likes
Why dont we just fire everyone and replace them with robots?!? Thats a great idea! How dare a human get sick! Shame Shame on bad humans!
It’s a little hard to follow what you’re saying but I believe you are saying the dealer “rolled back” the odometer and you caught him on it!
The Datsun 510 was a good car. I actually owned 3 of them. It had a nickname: “Poor man’s BMW” as it had a great OHC 4 cylinder and rear wheel drive with independent rear suspension.
If that is the way that you interpreted my comment, then you are off on the wrong track.
I believe that we should have as many people productively-employed as possible.
However, some employees claim to be ill when they are not, and some of those same people are essentially non-productive when they are on the job, and that reality leads companies to seek automated solutions.
5 Likes
@glasspilot Yes, I caught the dealer. The dealer has to admit the odometer had been rolled back, but claimed it had to have been done before he got the car.
I agree with you that the Datsun 510 was a good car. Unfortunately, even though I live in a university town with a population of over 65,000, there is no Nissan (formerly Datsun) dealer. A couple of times a Nissan franchised dealer would open, but would close within a year. The Subaru and VW dealers are gone. The only foreign car dealers besides Toyota and Honda are the Kia and Hyundai dealers.
There are independent shops that work on foreign makes, but these shops have to go through a dealer 60 miles away to get some parts specific to the brand.
1974, I test drove a 1970 Fiat 128 Spyder, 69 Opel GT, and 1974 (new) Honda Civic. All of them sounded a little on the tinny side, especially the Honda, so decided on a one-year old Ford truck instead. It was the most expensive of the selection. Currently it’s my only mode of long-distance transport … lol …