Wierd thought for the day...

[A Horse With No Name]

This isn't a game of gotcha...but balthazar once said that he didn't think any Post War GM car had gone extinct. Especially not one that was unique and significant.

I am offering this tounge in cheek...but we may have him here. This may also have been posted here before, I can't remember.

1982. Chevette Scooter diesel automatic. Only year you could get an automatic with a diesel in the Chevette Scooter.

Significance is...I know they built this car, as I have a friend that has seen one. Only year the scooter came with a diesel and an automatic.

Only postwar diesel automatic two seater regular production passenger car built by GM. (Scooter came without a back seat.)

Slowest GM postwar car.

Least desireable GM postwar car.

Least powerful GM postwar car, I think.

Least attractive GM postwar car.

Lowest resale value of any GM postwar car.

Probably none left! (thankfully)

Anyone ever seen one or know anything about this car?

Chris

[fightingbee]

Like the Vega, they've probably all had bigger motors dropped in by now.

:AH-HA_wink:

Seriously though, I have only ran across one Scooter and it was a plain jane white gasser.

Edited August 22, 2009 by fightingbee

[balthazar]

>>"...balthazar once said that he didn't think any Post War GM car had gone extinct. Especially not one that was unique and significant. I am offering this tounge in cheek...but we may have him here."<<

I had to ponder that supposed quote for a bit... I think I recall it now : that no production postwar GM car is completely non-existant today.

Pontiac built 17 '71 GTO Judge convertibles... the popular anecdote is that the car was so rare that GM never got a chance to get a factory pic of it.

Today- 14 are accounted for (last I heard).

One car that I know is possible is the (3) '63 Pontiac Super Duty GPs- none known to exist. That was the same story with the (16) '62 SD GPs, yet since '89, 3 have surfaced.

Yes- these are cars enthusiast would treasure and preserve.

You've got a strong contender with the above Chevette. I recall seeing the 'Scooter' badge on the hatch, but if I've seen 2 Chevettes in the last 8 years, I've seen a thousand. It's a friggin huge country... I'd still bet that there was one Scooter Diesel auto left somewhere...

Edited August 22, 2009 by balthazar

[Camino LS6]

This isn't a game of gotcha...but balthazar once said that he didn't think any Post War GM car had gone extinct. Especially not one that was unique and significant.

I am offering this tounge in cheek...but we may have him here. This may also have been posted here before, I can't remember.

1982. Chevette Scooter diesel automatic. Only year you could get an automatic with a diesel in the Chevette Scooter.

Significance is...I know they built this car, as I have a friend that has seen one. Only year the scooter came with a diesel and an automatic.

Only postwar diesel automatic two seater regular production passenger car built by GM. (Scooter came without a back seat.)

Slowest GM postwar car.

Least desireable GM postwar car.

Least powerful GM postwar car, I think.

Least attractive GM postwar car.

Lowest resale value of any GM postwar car.

Probably none left! (thankfully)

Anyone ever seen one or know anything about this car?

Chris

A friend's parents bought one for his sister back then, I remember mocking it without mercy.

Hopefully, all of them have been scrapped by now.

[cletus8269]

I had to ponder that supposed quote for a bit... I think I recall it now : that no production postwar GM car is completely non-existant today.

Pontiac built 17 '71 GTO Judge convertibles... the popular anecdote is that the car was so rare that GM never got a chance to get a factory pic of it.

Today- 14 are accounted for (last I heard).

One car that I know is possible is the (3) '63 Pontiac Super Duty GPs- none known to exist. That was the same story with the (16) '62 SD GPs, yet since '89, 3 have surfaced.

Yes- these are cars enthusiast would treasure and preserve.

dont forget about the SD tempests. remember last year one popped up on ebay for sale and no one quite knew what it was till a person chimed in on what he thought it could be.

[knightfan26917]

1982. Chevette Scooter diesel automatic. Only year you could get an automatic with a diesel in the Chevette Scooter.

...

Anyone ever seen one or know anything about this car?

Chris,

For the life of me, I can't remember if this one was automatic or not. Giving this friend's tendency towards manual transmission cars, I'm guessing this one is NOT an automatic, but I can certainly ask him. I'm just about sure it is/was a manual (he has since sold it).....

http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/200711/RT1...vette1_JPG.html

http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/200711/RT1...vette2_JPG.html

Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Where have you gone?" ... Glen Campbell ... 'Still Within The Sound Of My Voice'

[Sixty8panther]

Back in the days when I was renting the house with huge barn we at the T.W.C.C. often times discussed oddball cars, the Chevette scooter was one of my personal favorites for years and one time XP found a diesel Chevette on Craigslist/newhampshire but it was not to be.

Even more of a fascination of mine is the Pontiac T1000. I always thought they should have done a Terminator tie-in. I've only seen TWO T1000sin the 21st century. One was in a junkyard that is now long gone & the other was in the parking lot of a retirement home.

[Robert Hall]

Was the T1000 ever offered w/ the diesel?

Back when my folks were into RVing, my Dad bought cars to use as tow cars..hook on the back of the motorhome so we would have something to drive when we got to the campsite. The family Lincolns were too big and heavy for this purpose, so my Dad started buying small cars. First was a '76 Vega coupe. He replaced that w/ an '81 Chevette Scooter, 2dr w/ manual. He said that was the worst car he ever owned. He traded that on an '84 Ford Escort diesel, 5dr 5spd, which I learned to drive in and drove to school for a while...the only FWD car he owned in 60+ years of driving and the only one I've ever driven regularly.

[balthazar]

T1000 was NOT here yet by 1980- did it appear after GM pulled the plug on diesels??

Not that I paid a microsecond of attention to it (I did follow Pontiac, tho), but I don't recall the T being available with a diesel.

[Robert Hall]

T1000 was NOT here yet by 1980- did it appear after GM pulled the plug on diesels??

Not that I paid a microsecond of attention to it (I did follow Pontiac, tho), but I don't recall the T being available with a diesel.

I think the diesels lasted through '82 in the US, the T1000 came out here around '83...I wonder if Canada had a diesel version. Surprised GM didn't give Olds and Cadillac versions of the T-car (Buick got theirs in 'Opel' form)

[SAmadei]

I think the diesels lasted through '82 in the US, the T1000 came out here around '83...I wonder if Canada had a diesel version. Surprised GM didn't give Olds and Cadillac versions of the T-car (Buick got theirs in 'Opel' form)

T1000 came along in 1981, though I wonder if it was around before that in Canada (Acadian) in some form. The diesel was 1981 to 1987, according to Wikipedia, so I suppose it was available. This Link seems to think it existed.

I would check my Standard Guides, but I'm at my 'other' home.

[balthazar]

Was it a mid-year addition? - because the 1000 is not in the '81 U.S. Pontiac full-line brochure.

No diesel listed in the full-line '83 brochure.

Unfortunately for this discussion- I don't have an '82 brochure.

[Sixty8panther]

I can't help here except to add that the diesels were sourced from Isuzu.

[SAmadei]

Was it a mid-year addition? - because the 1000 is not in the '81 U.S. Pontiac full-line brochure.

No diesel listed in the full-line '83 brochure.

Unfortunately for this discussion- I don't have an '82 brochure.

I had forgotten about this thread... and the forum software flaked out and swallowed the first time I posted this...

So, Standard Catalog does note the '81 T1000 was a mid year addition... starting in Feb. Also, it appears no diesel T1000's or 1000's (renamed for '83) where ever created even though it was announced that the '83 would have a diesel option.

As far as the Chevette goes... the stand catalog is odd... there is no mention of a diesel in '81... and it was first offered as a diesel in '82, but in the production section in '82, it notes that diesels were produced for the '81 model year.

Production goes something like this...

1981

2dr 4252

4dr 8900

1982

2dr 4874

4dr 11819

1983

2dr 439

4dr 1501

1984

2dr 1000

4dr 3384

1985 (No Automatics available with diesel after '84)

2dr 203

4dr 462

1986 (No longer available in Cali)

2dr 124

4dr 200

Interestingly enough, someone had talked about a Chevette Scooter Diesel... Standard Catalog would cast doubt on its existence... The Scooter had a different Body/Style code... J08/J68 (2dr/4dr) from the regular Chevette (B08/B68)... diesels have either the standard Chevette code (B08/B68) or Z90. There are no production numbers for a Scooter with a Diesel.

Also, for GM folks that are familiar with GM's body style coding system, a Z90 is kinda odd... I don't have any listing on it, anyway. In fact, I know of NO body style code that starts with a 9 or ends in a 0. Special order? Unfortunately, there is likely not enough interest in Chevettes for this tidbit to ever be explained.

So, I wonder if a '85 Cali spec Diesel Chevette coupe is still floating around?