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15 Chevrolet Chevette
Competition from foreign manufacturers led to a dark period of American automotive design and manufacturing during the decades beginning with 1970 all the way to the late 2000s. As consumers realized that cheaper, more reliable, and more efficient cars could be had that were built abroad, Detroit was forced to either double down on classic American motoring or to try to adapt their models to compete with the newcomers. The result was years and years of compromise, from overall design to mechanical engineering to marketing decisions.
Chevrolet’s Chevette came during this period, debuting for the 1976 model year as a smaller American product. In either 3 or 5-door hatchback form, the Chevette offered a range of sluggish inline four engines which initially produced as little as 53 horsepower. Even taking into account that laughable figure, probably the most egregious aspect of the Chevette is that Chevy essentially combined the words ‘Chevrolet’ and ‘Corvette’ in a marketing ploy to somehow equate the lower-cost car with its legendary Corvette stablemate. Despite a few years of solid sales, though, no one truly should have gone with the Chevette at the time, and certainly, a used Chevette should never be considered as an option for driving on the modern highway.
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