1975 Chevrolet Monza 2 dr. Coupe 262 cid V8 from North America

Summary:

A sporty feeling car in a contemporary looking body

Faults:

Minor engine part.

General Comments:

The car was fun to drive. VERY responsive with the small V8 motor. Felt sporty inside.

Tires could have been wider from the factory for better handling.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 15th February, 2010

1979 Chevrolet Monza 151 Iron Duke from UK and Ireland

Summary:

My true opinion is unprintable

Faults:

Gear selector would frequently engage two gears at once.

Fuel tank leaked.

Door locks often hard to open.

Speedometer failed.

Rev counter failed.

Coil broke down.

General Comments:

It was a dreadful car, noisy, uncomfortable, unreliable and uninspiring to drive.

Chevrolet's answer to the MGB GT perhaps?.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th August, 2008

28th Aug 2008, 08:42

It was old, beat & used up - what did you expect, a Bentley?

4th Jan 2009, 00:38

2 gears at once? I'm afraid that's quite impossible. The laygear can only be running on one gear at a time.

19th Jul 2011, 09:01

Not so. Maybe with a single rail selector. Multi rail selectors can and do fail to disengage one gear before another is selected. I wasn't the only one this happened to, nor is the Monza the only model it applies to.

1978 Chevrolet Monza Spyder 231ci V6 (3.8 liters) from North America

Summary:

A very reliable car for not much money

Faults:

The car performed flawlessly until about 30,000 miles. At that mileage, the car developed a severe front end shimmy at speeds between 65 and 80 mph. Neither the dealer nor independent shops could find the problem. I replaced the rotors, rebalanced the wheels, even replaced wheels, to no avail. After living with this for 60,000 miles, I reluctantly traded it in.

Other than this, it was a terrific little car that gave me few problems. The worst problem was that the transmission went out at about 60K, but it had given me weeks of warning in the form of worsening slippage. I purchased a rebuilt Turbo 350 for a couple hundred dollars, and swapped it over a weekend. No transmission computer chips back then!

One other thing. The car was originally equipped with Firestone 500 radials, which were subject to a recall due to problems with tread separation (sound familiar?) At about 30K miles, the tread was separating on at least two tires, so I replaced them with Goodyears. I always thought that there may have been a connection between this and the shimmy, but as the tires didn't fail catastrophically, there seems to be no causality between the two.

I've always wondered if others had this problem, and if so, if it was solved. I'd love to find out what caused that problem. I hate unsolved mysteries!!

General Comments:

The Monza was a vast improvement over its ancestor, the Vega. I know because I did have a Vega once. Even though they shared the same unibody and most components, the Monza was more comfortable and solid-feeling than the Vega.

I took it on many long road trips, and it never failed me. It never stranded me, and never had to be towed. After 90K miles, it looked as good as ever - I received many compliments on its appearance. Wish I still had it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 12th April, 2005

6th Oct 2005, 03:51

The shake was probably caused by the pathetic OEM shocks that the factory put on in those days. I replaced all shocks on my 78 Monza Coupe right after I bought it.

1979 Chevrolet Monza 3.2 V6 from North America

Summary:

I got a lot of walking accomplished thanks to this car

Faults:

Driver's side door bushings were shot and I had to lift up the door while closing it with the knee.

The headliner kept sagging.

I went through four or five left front rotors in 3 years.

General Comments:

This car was specifically bought to ship to the Philippines while I was in the service. While the car took some abuse due to the roads over there, the headliner, brakes, AC, etc. were problematic and the build quality of this car was rather inferior in comparison to more contemporary vehicles. With credit to GM, I did own a 1979 Caprice, which was a faultless car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th February, 2005

11th Aug 2006, 23:08

Ouch! You had to bring up the bad points. Honestly, there were quite a few, but I liked my '80 Monza w/the 3.1 V-6. It ate front brakes, tires and yes, I had the door bushing problem too. By today's standards it would be a P.O.S. For some reason I have a soft spot for the car. Maybe it's because it was my first car. The styling was clean and attractive. It was dark blue with light blue pin striping.

My sister had a '77 w/the 305 V-8. It kicked butt! Silver with red interior. Sharp car! Aaahhh the old days.