THE RIDES
So far, I have owned 5 cars, and loved every one.
Below is a BIO on each. In all honesty, I don't usually
put tonnes of money into my cars for upgrades, but I do
put in the effort to make them stand out. I think it's so
neat to see a car you once owned driving down the street,
and knowing it was yours by the little customizations. To see more photos, click on the picture of each car.
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OK, so technically there never was a Chevette SS
production car. Gimme a break, it was my first car. Come
on, you know what I'm talking about. The first car is for
most of us a pipedream of what it really was. A car that
is put high up on a "Pride Mantle" for all to
ooze over; or at least from the owner's perspective. That
was me alright, except my baby was cool, honest. I mean
how could you argue when it boasted a huge 60hp, and
enough torque to make that puppy go from 0 to 60mph in...
oh wait, it couldn't actually reach that high of speed.
Oh well, it was faster than my bike (top end, but not off
the line) and definatley better than Public Transit!
 The Down Low:
Make/Model: Chevrolet/Chevette
'Scooter'
Original cost: $5489CDN (1984) approx.
Paid: $400CDN (1993)
Name: 'The Vette'
I bought it from the dealership my dad worked
at. They had two Chevette courtesy cars they
wanted to sell and that's how I ended up with it.
Mechanically it was great, but needed a lot of
TLC for body work. When I was done fixing it up
it earned a reputation as being Calgary's nicest
Chevette (at least to me and mine).
Base specs
- 1.6L engine (60hp)
- Rear-wheel drive
- 3 door hatchback
- 13" tires (black rims)
- AM Mono radio
- Upgraded bumpers from regular model
- Orange striping
Custom Upgrades
- Leather steering wheel cover
- Outside/inside digital thermometer
- Silver wheel covers
- Tinting
- Tape Deck, 60watt amp, 2 pioneer 6x9
boxed speakers
- New blue stripe weather stripping
- Blue Chevette SS detailing
- Blue Chevy 'bow-tie' emblems on wheel
covers
- Silver Calgary Flames sticker on silver
'bow-tie' on the grill
- Restored paint and body to near-new
finish
Racing Stats
I only ever beat one person with it (not
including pedestrians and bicyclists). It was my
buddy Joe's 1979 Buick LeSabre. I can still
remember it like it was yesterday. We were
driving along side each other one day and he
taunted me (as he always did because his car was
far faster than mine), and I said, "Fine,
next set of lights, it's you and me!",
knowing I was going to lose again. The light
ahead turned red, we stopped, he reved his
engine, the light turned green and I had him beat
by 10 car lengths to my amazement. Little did I
know at that point he ran out of gas, but hey,
take it when you can get it.
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Where is it today:
I sold the car after a year for $1500CDN to a
student. She instantly loved it and that was the
last I saw of it. I actually had a lump in my
throat when she drove away with it (just can't
beat that first car). It was recently spotted by
my buddy Joe (Nov. 2001) and he said it was in
rough shape. That sucks, but I'm glad it's still
alive. No matter what happens to it, I'll always
remember it as I last saw it; shining, all
freshly cleaned, taking forever, and ever, to
disapear into the sunset.
For More Information
- What else is there to say. If I can find
a Chevette web site/ring, I'll put it
under my LINKs page.
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As I mentioned above, I like my
cars to stand out. This one did especially due to
the fact it was a fastback design where as 99% of
these cars were regular sedans. To me it looked
kind of funny until I added a spoiler to it, and
then I was much happier.
The Down Low:
Make/Model: Chevrolet/Corsica LT
Original cost: $11035CDN (1989)
approx.
Paid: $1500CDN (1995)
Name: 'Corey'
I picked this car up at a bank-repo auction
for very cheap. Granted the front doors had
broken pins and were falling off the car, and it
was poorly maintained, but I didn’t care, I
wanted *more power (*see chevette). Besides, my
dad was in the business and he knew that the door
pins were a common problem with those cars, and
were a $10 fix each. The poor maintenance was no
problem because my dad knew what to look for, and
I budgeted for it. So I was set. This car seemed
like a Cadillac to me coming from my Chevette, so
I was happy… for a little while. In all
fairness, the car was very poorly maintained
because the original owner knew they were going
to lose it to the bank, so I can’t blame
Chevrolet for the problems I had. But I’d
have to say I didn’t have much confidence in
the car. Too many repairs made it hard to trust,
though I was still thankful to have it.
Base specs
- 2.8L Multiport FI engine (130hp)
- 5 speed manual
- Front-wheel drive
- 5 door hatchback
- 14" tires (silver wheel cover/rim
combo)
- Delco AM/FM Stereo c/w tape
- Cruise
- A/C
Custom Upgrades
- Leather steering wheel cover
- Spoiler
- 5-star aluminum rims off of Chevy
Celebrity
- Tinting
- 60watt amp, 2 pioneer 6x9 boxed speakers
- Chevrocks windshield decal
- Chevrolet back window decal
- Light Covers
- Restored paint and body to near-new
finish
Racing Stats
I definitely didn’t beat everything on
the road, but I could put up a decent fight. I
just enjoyed no long getting blown away by my
friends. All in all, it had good enough power to
keep me happy for the time I had it.
Where is it today:
I sold the car over a year later for $2500CDN
to some guy. It turns out the car was very
reliable for him which makes me happy because I
knew it’s history, and felt bad about
selling a lemon, but it all worked out. I’d
see it from time to time, and he looked after it
alright. Even with the problems I had with it,
I’d still say I was very happy to have owned
it.
For More Information
- If I can find a Corsica web site/ring,
I'll put it under my LINKs page.
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