Chevrolet Monza Spyder

The name Monza harks back to that of the Corvair Monza, which introduced the concept of the sporty compact car to the USA in the early 1960s. The Corvair Monza was a kind of forerunner of the popular pony cars.

The Chevrolet Monza was based on the Chevrolet Vega, was produced from 1974 to 1980 as a counterpart to the Mustang II and the sister models of the Monza were called Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire and Pontiac Sunbird.

The Monza was presented to customers in September 1974 as a three-door hatchback sports coupé (Monza 2+2) with rear-wheel drive, a large tailgate and four seats. The standard equipment included individual front seats with imitation leather upholstery and a sports steering wheel. April 1975 saw the introduction of the notchback coupé with the model designation Towne Coupe. The car was also available as a convertible until 1977. John DeLorean described the car as a copy of the Ferrari 365 GTC/4, whose lines actually looked very similar to those of the Monza.

The car was powered either by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder in-line engine or by V8 engines with a displacement of 4.3 or 5.7 liters. The 5.7 liter engine was dropped as early as 1976, making way for a more «economical» 5.0 liter engine. In 1977, the 4.3 liter V8 was also removed from the price list. Shifting was manual with a four- or five-speed manual gearbox, the latter with a low gear, or with a three-speed automatic. The front wheels were fitted with brake discs, drum brakes were used at the rear and a brake booster was fitted as an option.

The Monza 2+2 was voted „Car of the Year“ by the trade magazine Motor Trend.

The Spyder nameplate was originally used to designate the turbocharged Corvair model from 1962 to 1964. The name „Spyder“ was introduced for the Chevrolet Monza in 1976. The Monza Spyder was the sportiest version of the line and you could get the upgrade, which included large front/rear stabilizer bars, special shock absorbers, steel-belted blackwall radial tires, wheel opening moldings, day/night interior mirrors, sport steering wheel, special instrumentation and „stitched“ instrument panel overlay with added wood grain vinyl accents (standard on the 2+2), unmistakable „Spyder“ identification (fender badges in lettering, horn button insert on the steering wheel and Spyder front trim and rear lock start), with or without light Spyder body kit for hatchback and notchback models and also for all engine versions.

The colors of the Spyder stickers and emblems were determined by the body color of the Monza ordered.