Faust

Nice! I think Toronto's mayor might have rented that car first, no? That would explain the open bags of powder! I love the cardboard door panels. They remind me of an 1981 Civic I drove once. So ghetto... As for Skydime and the rest who wanted to see progress, I put what I've got done so far up in the "on the workbench" section!

Oh man! I didn't even know there was a Cedric kit! That was an "executive saloon", wasn't it? Such a weird name, but nicely formal in its styling. I love it! I must find one! I don't know what colours they came in, but I picture it in dark metallic maroon, like my G8.

It seems that some people aren’t content to wait for the final product, so I figured I’d better give everyone some updates on how the Chevette I’m building is coming. If you want to see for yourself just how lame a Chevette can be, go and check it out here! http://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/chevette-update-1-the-start-of-something-beige/'> http://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/chevette-update-1-the-start-of-something-beige/

Just getting started now. I've got the body scraped and the tires glued together,but that's it. I'm going to be primering tonight, but that'll have to dry for a bit. I still have to mix up the paint, too. Don't worry, though, I'm working on it! It normally takes me a couple months to totally finish a car the way I want it. Oh yeah, I had to sand the windows, too, so they're opaque at the moment... I take it you guys want me to keep you updated as I build, eh?

SSNJim: Thanks so much for that document! That does indeed settle the problem completely! Black dash it is! I'm sure it will solve a lot of problems I run into while building it, too! You're a lifesaver! That emissions flag thing is exactly why I consider cars like this losermobiles. They're just there to be transport pods; they're almost engineered to be utilitarian and un-fun. Good thing some people have some passion and imagination and could get more out of them!

Man, this is confusing! I've seen the two-tone dash in some cars too, but the brochure doesn't mention this at all, and it could be a later-than-'79 thing. It is suggested by the brochure I have that scooters could only have the camel or black interior, and that colour-keyed instrument panels were only available in non-Scooters. Of course, it also says that the console wasn't standard either, but I believe I've seen a Scooter with it. I wish this was easier, but I think I'll just go with POS black and pretend like all the features are Scooter-like. There's no rear speaker, either, on the kit; this is a marker of the Scooter. It shouldn't be this hard to figure out the fit on a 34 year old, well documented and highly-produced car. Yet, here I sit... still in the dark. I feel like an automotive Indiana Jones... Thanks, GM, for another easy go of it!

Man, those pictures are helpful! I have found a few others on the net of Scooters with a door on the glovebox, but I'm having problems with colours. It seems that the dashboards on the Scooters were all black, to save cost, and the brochure I downloaded backs that up. However, I have pics of one scooter (it's beigy cream; you can see it by simply googling "Chevette Scooter") and the dash looks like the "camel" colour. Can anyone confirm this? I imagine that wmobie is the only one who's ever going to put the '73 SD T/A and the Ford Fiesta in the same sentence as "ones that got away"... However, his point's well made. A car that does you well is a good car, regardless of size, shape or style. Love the foot-pumped washer fluid, too; good reason to use Rain-X, I guess!

That's an awesome story about the Lime Chevette! I love to hear stories like this "from the inside", since not a lot of people really recall glory days of selling Chevettes, Citations and the like. I had heard that you could even get carpet in a Scooter, as an option. Is that true? If so, why would you bother getting a Scooter at all? I guess that DOES explain the rarity. Growing, my brother's best friend's dad had an '84 (I think) Scooter in dark blue. It was pretty basic, but it served on well for a long, long time.

I managed to find the Chevette brochure for 79 online this morning, but I haven't had a chance to look through it all yet. I think it will likely tell me the story I need. The Scooters weren't a big seller, eh? Not a surprise. I mean, that's BASIC basic transport! I wish the kit had the rubstrips, because really, the car's not that bad looking and it would be nice to do it a bit dressy. Still, the wheels it comes with are also pretty low-end looking hubcaps, so it must be fate! I'm sorry to disappoint you, Jantrix, but I've got to do this one stock. I have a rule; If I have two loser cars that are the same (like my two Omni 024s) then I will do one of them custom. However, I have to do the Chevette stock, since I only have one. I want to build a collection of what people actually drove while I was growing up! People did of course customize the little Chebbys, but I remember a lot of plain-jane beaters, too. It will go well with my Honda Civic and Cavalier, if it makes you feel any better. I do agree though that the custom setup is awesome. One day, when I get a second one, I promise I'll customize it all up! Any pics of the interior (especially in beige) would help me a tonne! Thanks, guys! Power to the Chevette Nation!

See Skydime! Wishes do come true! the 1979 is indeed a transition between the earlier round headlights and the later ones with the wrap-around. The front end didn't change a lot from '79 forward, but the back did in either 80 or 81, I think. They tried, I think, to make the car better equipped and more "value for the money" to combat Honda Civics and the like by making rubstrips standard in '79, except on Scooters, if I recall. I have to double check though. Hope I do the kit proud! Don't forget to click on the link in my first post to get a taste of what's coming, either! I've got a full Out of Box review up, and I'll be starting the kit in a few days!

I'm torn between the yellow one on ebay and a nice beige Scooter I also found pictures of. I think I'll do the beige, but the ebay yellow one is perfect for reference! Imagine how weak, small and econo I can make a car look. Right, that's what's going to happen here!

Yeah, I'd never seen it before either, before I picked it up really cheap (I think) at a toy show a couple of weeks ago! It is going to be awesome, and awesomely stock!

For the past week, I have been running a poll on my website, The Sprue Lagoon about which loser car I should build next. The winner, somewhat surprisingly, was the 1979 "Bear Bait" Chevette http://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-125-1979-chevette-bear-bait'>http://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-125-1979-chevette-bear-bait. So, to celebrate, I decided to post a first, “out of box” look at the little monster! The “Bear Bait” treatment is so over the top that I could hardly contain myself when I got it. I really haven’t been that excited since I got my Pacer, or my Monza. Check it out and get ready for an econoboxing good time! Just as a note, I think this particular kit is actually a Chevette Scooter, since it has no bumper rub strips. If that turns out to be true, you can kiss the chrome goodbye, and say hello to plain old silver paint! ROCK ON! As you can tell, I’m pretty pumped about this one. It’s going to be a fun build, I think!

The Gremlin is definitely something I should have put in here, I think. However, he'll be around for a rematch, I can tell you that! The Monza 2+2 coupes could get the 305, I think, too. That's the engine the kit comes with, and from what I can tell, that's legit. (Wikipedia says so, and so does the brochure I have...) I can't believe how much response this topic has gotten either; but I guess the "good old days" argument is as good as any! It's really fun to see what people have to say about these cars, and what people remember and chose. Right now, Monza is ahead by a 5mph-crash-bumper-equipped nose, so Chevette Nation better put it in gear if they want to see their favourite H-body on the table next!

Man, Cheluvs are a great idea! I wish they had brought more styles; they could have really had a nice, full, compact lineup to compliment the Monza line and to fight the smaller Fords, and even beat the Escort to the punch by 7 years! I like that red two-door. Reminds me of the Mazda Familia, in a lot of ways! Oh, if anyone wonders; the Monza is back in the lead! It's a one vote margin, though! I think the poll ends Thursday, so it's going to be tight. Poor Mr. Pacer; he seems so forgotten. It's a lot like real life!

Mike! That is one bad-arsed Chevette! Not quite the stock 1.6 in there, eh? That'll show you what some ingenuity and time can wring out of even the most humble motorcar! I agree with John on the drivetrain thing. Notice that all of these are rear-drivers! It's pretty neat to see that, actually. Another good reason that Omni and EXP wouldn't fit in. Gremlin would have, though, now that I think about it.

I see someone already pointed out that I have a couple of EXPs, so I'm glad that got noticed! I was a way for a couple of days, so I didn't get to see a lot of these posts. I'm sure the Chevette was something GM was really glad to have, from a sales standpoint, and as a world car, it definitely led the way to what we see today. I also don't disagree that all of these cars were likely tough and a lot of them gave sterling service. They're not losers necessarily in sales, construction or modifiability. I love the Chevette with the enormous motor!!! Traction issues indeed! I agree that the other versions of the Chevette are much nicer looking that ours, too. I love the notchbacks, and I think there's a Ute too, isn't there? It's just that stylistically, performance-wise and technology-wise these cars weren't exactly cutting edge. I mean, your Pacer or Monza could have an 8, but compared to the 8's of only 5-6 years before, both power and economy were terrible. These cars were the ones that really redefined the "era of lowered expectations", as one magazine put it. Sure, they COULD be modded to kick some royal butt, but they were a long way off from the golry days of 400 four-speed T/As, R/T Challengers and Hemi Cudas. I guess maybe they're more "loveable losers" than straight losers. I know I have a soft spot in my heart for all of them, because I was surrounded by them growing up! With my EXP, Cavalier, Probe, Civic, Omni 024, Gremlin and others, I have been working on amassing a collection so I can build a representation of the lowest point in style and driveability when it comes to cars. It tickles my fancy that when I do this it also brings back memories of trying to avoid these things while riding my bike and playing ball ("Bike Polo") in my townhouse complex! Now, if I could only find that 1/32 LN7 (neighbour had one) and a Pinto (Round 2 - you listening?) I'd be getting closer. It's a labour of love that will never really end, though. Keep the comments coming! It's still a dead heat between the Chevette and the Monza! They both have 21 votes... Am I going to have to flip a coin on this? Oh, yeah: GLH's are scary as hell. Fast as all get out, but weren't they hard on tires? A buddy of mine at work had one back when they were about 10 years old, and he said it ate tires like crazy. Of course, he also drives like a maniac! Up with the loser machine!!

I hear it all, I hear it all! I'm really happy that my selection of clearly "loveable losers" has gotten so many people excited, remembering the good old days and or at least the old days, and hopefully a few might even have dusted off their own versions of these kits! We should have a 70's/80's loser build-off!! Now, just to be clear, I call them losers because compared to the more powerful and stylish cars that preceeded them, they're quite a comedown. That having been said, they all do have their place in history, and I'm sure for every horror story there are great rememberances of these things too! I am overwhelmed at all the response. I'm ecstatic that there are people around who can have fun with this topic, and car models in general. That's what it's all about! On that note; as of 5:06pm on Nov 8, 2013, Monza and Chevette are tied. It's a brutal race, as brutal as any race between these two cars could be! I'm sure we're almost in second gear... anytime now... Keep on piling on the votes and the memories. The winningest loser of them all will be built next! Oh, if I HAD a Pinto, it would be in there, don't worry! As for the Gremlin... that will have to be in another race, I guess. We can always do this again...

Man, power to the people! The Chevette is now in the lead by a lot, thanks to you guys! Amazing! I never would have thought it. Any ideas on which colour I should do it?

I have a soft spot for all of them because I remember lots of all of them when I was growing up. I call them losers because they aren't the big, fast, powerful muscle cars and long, low and wide land yachts that preceeded them. They're cheap and nasty in a lot of ways, and definitely sub-par when it comes to power and style, I think. Most people, though, with the value of rose coloured glasses might not feel so harshly about them as they did upon trading them in in 1985-1995 for something else. Cube and Juke are especially abhorrent to me, agreed!

Skydime: I will definitely build whatever the poll shows is the most popular. Did you go and vote? It will matter, I guarantee it!

That's a lot of love and a lot of hate for these little old losers! I could have made it worse and thrown an OMNI 024 in the mix, I guess, but these guys seemed bad enough! At least they're all rear-drive! I hear you about the Chevette being the least lame. I personally think the Monza is the most stylish, though. I have a soft spot for losers too, as you can see, Erik! I think people have forgotten about these cars. However, they'll not go gracefully into that dark night while I'm around!

Well, my website, The Sprue Lagoon has been up almost a year exactly. I put it up on November 11, 2012, after getting back from Rememberance Day ceremonies at the Cenotaph downtown. A year later, I’ve had some fun, but now I need some help. I can’t figure out what car I want to build next, so I’m hoping you guys can give me a hand! Sure, maybe you’re not all car builders, but I would love to hear your opinions on what you think I should turn my attention to next. Check out your choices here! Thanks, guys! Here’s to another great year of the odd and obscure!

I'm starting to get tempted just to make the KITT into a normal coloured T/A, as if it was a production car. Paint the scanner black, as a breather vent, and just do the car in a normal colour with the custom wheels. What would you guys think of that? Would people understand it at all, or would they just think it was a badly done KITT? If I put the wrap-around spoiler on it, it would change things a bit, and I could maybe find a spare dashboard. That might be kind of interesting. Maybe do it in blue or maroon or something like that. Hmmm.... Gimme your thoughts on that one! That's weird about the TGTA's winged wheel; so they moulded it in, so you could cover it with cladding, and then they give you a decal for it? Sure, that makes TONNES of sense!

If you take a look at the closeup shots I have of the various cars, you can see how hard the guys at Lesney were working to really make these things as detailed as possible. I do like that they have scales on them, too.