In the early 70's, friends of ours had a Vega wagon. They went camping in it one weekend (put the rear lid up with a tarp over it, fold down the rear seats, sleeping bags). Six weeks later, she finds that she's pregnant. "Damn," she says, "married six years and I still get pregnant in the back seat!"

If that's a Vega, then body work could easily become a full-time job. My wife had a '74 Spirit of America model, which was pretty, but the body was rusting off the frame in a year. I wrote a letter to the head of GM, expressing my hope that the true Spirit of America was more enduring than the rustbucket in my driveway. The local Chevy division manager called me a week later and arranged to have the entire body replaced on their nickel. A year later, they replaced THAT body on their nickel. Still rusted off the frame. And went through oil like crazy.

One of the great hopes of GM as they tried small cars in the '70s.

I'm enjoying your pictures. I'm a contemporary of yours, though a couple of years older. Please keep them coming and for a slightly different experience, see mine.