Vega, Motor Trend’s Car of the Year…

A few weekends ago, I found myself watching a Let’s Make a Deal marathon on GSN a cable television channel – and I was amazed that I actually remembered some ofthe hilarious deals that contestants made by trading for what was behind a curtain or in a box.

Canadian Monty Hall would offer California contestants dressed in funny attire strange gifts, sometimes valuable, sometimes not, but the funniest of the prizes to see today are the cars of yesteryear. These television programs are not all that old, and yet the cars look so odd and outdated compared to today’s elegant, sleek, and expensive versions. These television awarded gifts were pricey back then… Wow, I wish we could purchase a new car today for a mere 3000$.



The television show aired in the 60’s and 70’s, and people really did dress in strange getups, and hoped to be chosen to trade in a postage stamp for a car or a chance at what was hiding behind the curtain…. maybe a cool prize, or maybe a worthless one, such as a farm animal or popcorn.



Those days are long gone – but some of those automobiles are still around. The television marathon jogged my brain and the car that was a usual giveaway was a Vega or an Astre – those were the days.


Today, we don’t see very many of these automobiles around the countryside – but it sure is fun to sit back and watch television and remember all the cars from the past.

The Vega was a subcompact car, available from 1971 to 1977 – the Vega was available in a variety of versions, notchback, hatchback, kammback and panel express. From 75’ to 80’ the Monza coupe was based on the Vega, as was the Monza wagon. The Pontiac Astre was a Canadian version, available from 73’ to 77’. Hard to believe, but Motor Trend actually chose the Vega as the car of the year in 1971.

I believe that there were a total of 2,154,434 Vegas and Astres built in those years – and despite their problems, they were a huge hit. A few of these beauties were built right here in Ste Therese, Quebec.

These cars were also prizes on many other US game shows such as Hollywood Squares, Wheel of Fortune, The Joker’s Wild, Gambit, Truth or Consequences, and the debut broadcast of the Price is Right hosted by Bob Barker gave away a blue 1972 Vega Kammback wagon. The price of the prize was 2,746$. That seems like such a small price to pay for a new automobile today. In today’s marketplace, I’ve seen them on the internet selling for around 7000$ US – but the decked out versions, that have been used for drag racing are selling for about 13,000$.