Story
The 1975 Cosworth Vega was Chevrolet's small, technically ambitious performance car: a numbered black-and-gold hatchback with a 2.0-liter twin-cam engine, electronic fuel injection, a four-speed manual, and a handling package built around a Monza-derived torque-arm rear suspension.
The engine is more than a dressed-up Vega four. Chevrolet de-stroked the aluminum block to 122 cubic inches and paired it with a Cosworth-designed aluminum head, dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, forged pistons, Bendix pulse-time fuel injection, high-energy ignition, and a stainless tubular header. Factory specifications list 110 horsepower and 107 lb-ft.
Every 1975 model used an M20 Saginaw four-speed and a 3.73 axle; G81 Positraction was optional. Unique springs, shocks, stabilizer bars, a torque arm, and a forward-mounted Panhard bar made the chassis as important as the engine. Manual front discs and rear drums supplied braking.
All 2,061 first-year cars were painted black with gold graphics and Cosworth lettering. The gold dash plaque is useful history, but the VIN's E engine code, body tag, engine and component numbers, dates, original paperwork, black paint, interior, and surviving package hardware must agree before an individual car is described as authentic.