1975

1975, the Chevrolet Monza is born. Due to the energy crisis of the early '70's, car manufacturers were concerned with fuel prices emmisions control and introduced numerous smaller vehicles to provide an alternative to the big gas-guzzling cars of the early '70's. Chevrolet introduced the Vega in 1971 and this was the platform that the future Monza was to be based on. The Monza, based on Ferrari designs and originally to be named the Chapparall, was to be powered with a Wankel rotary engine. This engine never came to be and Chevrolet dropped in the Vega's 2.3L L4 engine and Chevrolet's small block 262 V8. If you had the pleasure of living in California, you also had an option of a 350ca 5.7L V8 to power your little 2,800 lbs car.

The first Monzas were 2+2 hatchbacks

with quad headlights and an entire front

end was a soft urethane that enclosed the

grill, parking lamps, headlights and a small

front air dam. The rear end on the Monza

was also the same urethane that included

the wrap-around taillamps, licence plate

and trunk lock. The 2+2 included 2 front

bucket seats and the 2 bucket-style rear seats had a common seat-back that folded flat to provide more cargo space in the hatch. Standard features included a high-rise centre console, advance torque-arm suspension, power ventilation, full guage instrumentation, wheel covers and steel-belted radial tires. The interior included vinyl upholstery trim and sound insulation. Knit cloth, vinyl and genuine leather were the available seat cover options. For those that wanted a few extras, the Monza 2+2 included numerous options. Space-Saver spare tire, aluminum wheels, power brakes and steering, numeros radio options, rear seat speaker, auxiliary lighting, tint glass, air conditioning, body side moulding, reaer window defog, deluxe seat belts, tilt steering, positraction rear axle, heavy duty radiator and battery options, sport mirros and an automatic transmisson. This 2+2 Monza entered the car market on a high note when it was voted Motor Trends 1975 Car of the Year.

Later on in the 1975 model year,

Chevrolet introduced 2 more Monzas to

the public, the Towne Coupe and the 'S'

Hatchback. The Towne Coupe was a

"dressy" Monza with a trunk instead of a

hatchback and the 'S' hatchback was

basically a bare-bones 2+2 with minimal

options to keep the cost to the comsumer

down. The Towne Coupe with it's vinyl roof was set with large "opera" windows. The front and rear end of the Towne Coupe was much different from the 2+2 in that it included metal bumpers with black bumper guards with a single round headlight design instead of the quad lights found on it's hatchback sibling and a different rear lighting assembly. Essentially the standard and optional features were the same for each model as they were for the 2+2 hatchback.

The new Monza provided a sleek-

looking small car platform that enabled the buyer an option of a powerful V8 engine, an option that was never offered on it's predecessor, the Vega. It was the beginning of a 6-year run that would provide the market with an small, sporty, yet economical car for years to come.