1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3 454

                        

My inclusion of the 1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3 454 as an object of Car Disgust might seem puzzling. Why would a 454-cubic-inch Chevelle-based muscle car wind up lumped into Car Disgust, especially when the 1970 Chevelle SS454 was one of the very first Car Lusts?

Well, in truth, the Laguna Type S-3 454 wasn't so much a muscle car as it was the decaying, bloated corpse of a muscle car--the dug-up remains of the glorious Chevelle SS454, reanimated Weekend at Bernie's-style, with nothing more substantial than a freshly pressed leisure suit.

While the Chevelle SS454 was one of the brightest stars of the resplendent automotive firmament of the late 1960s, the Laguna was just the opposite--an impossibly inky black hole in the considerably darker sky of the early 1970s.

In a 1970 Car & Driver comparison test, a Chevelle SS454 had battled the legendary Shelby Cobra to a draw and established itself as one of the most powerful and seductive muscle cars of its era. Only four years later, changing tastes and emissions regulations had turned the smooth, torquey engine into an unresponsive weakling, and the bold Chevelle into a tacky Laguna.

The 454 dropped from 450 to 235 horsepower (though part of that drop can be blamed on a change in the rating system). For reference, a Hyundai Sonata is available with that same 235 horsepower--in an engine less than half the size; in a car with vastly more interior space, that is much quicker, and making more than three times as many miles per gallon.

All of this resulted in this tawdry "muscle car" managing a 0-60 time of only 7.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 16.2 seconds--slightly slower than a modern Honda Odyssey minivan, and just a touch faster than a four-cylinder Kia Spectra. The Chevelle SS454 of four years prior would have passed 100 mph and still been accelerating hard by the time the Laguna hit 80 mph.

To cap things off, the Laguna achieved that stultifying performance while averaging 7.5 mpg in the city and 13 mpg on the freeway--just the ticket for an era of cataclysmic fuel shortages. But, at nearly $6,000 in an era in which a Datsun economy car could be had for $2,500, at least the Laguna was expensive.

The most damning comment on the Laguna actually comes from its own cousin, the Pontiac Trans-Am SD-455--yes, I'm finally tying back into this morning's foreshadowing Car Lust.

The only possible excuse for the Laguna's weakness is that the realities of the era made high performance impossible. The SD-455 eloquently answers that excuse. The SD-455 debuted in 1973 and was still available in 1974. It was just as devastatingly quick as the 1970 Chevelle and miles ahead of the laggardly Laguna. It even got slightly better fuel economy than the Laguna.

Yes, those were bad times for cars, but the Laguna was, shockingly, worse still. It hit rock bottom in a variety of ways--it was a slow muscle car, a gas guzzler during a major fuel shortage, and a huge but nevertheless cramped car.

Nevertheless, I still want one--the idea of a 454 muscle car that can only manage to wheeze along in stride with a Kia is irresistible. So, yes, I do still lust after the Laguna, just as I can't shake my affection for the Yugo GVX. This means I'm still wussing out on providing true objects of disgust--something I intend to rectify with a vengeance tomorrow.

--Chris H.

Comments

[RacerS3 on November 07, 2008 at 11:06 AM]

I have to say it is nice to see someone write an article on the 73-77 A bodies, though not a very flattering one. They are an easy target to pick on and will never live up to the “legendary” no scratch that “mythical” status of the 60’s era cars. The 70’s era cars never had the freedom the 60’s era cars had from high fuel costs, higher emissions and raised safety standards. But really other than the afore mentioned emission and safety equipment the 73-77 cars are not that much different than 66-72 A-bodies. The chassis and drive train on the 73-77 A body is virtually identical in design to the earlier 66-72 A-bodies but have improved suspension geometry and larger brakes both front and rear with front discs standard, even on the base model cars. In the engine compartment these cars had similar motors as the earlier cars with small blocks from 305 – 400c.i. and the big block 454. The compression ratios were dropped in order to run on the new low octane no lead fuel. Do any of you remember trying to find a place with high-octane fuel for your old high compression motor in the 70’s or early 80’s? Basically the same hot rodding parts, tricks and tuning worked just as well on these motors as they did in the early cars except they would actually run on the low octane gas.
Looks are subjective, but you need to take into consideration that the bulk of the styling and engineering was already complete on this model before the government bumper mandate went into effect, and it is clearly obvious when you see how the federally regulated crash bumpers hang off the car, and ruin what could have been a much more attractive car. Also, those engineered shock-absorbing bumpers were the biggest contribution to that models weight increase. Front and rear combining to as much as 300lbs. Depending on options A 70-72 big block Chevelle weighs 3800-3900 lbs. and a 73-77 big block Chevelle weighs 4100- 4200lbs. Subtract the massive bumper weight and they are even similar in weight.
What about build quality? Really, lets be honest, the build quality on these cars was not that much if any worse than the 60’era cars that came before them, But I would agree that the materials used, mostly in the interior, was not as good, and carried on into the 80’s.
I have to say I thought it was silly to compare these cars to one year only or low production cars like the like a 1970 L-S6 SS Chevelle (less than 6000 made) and ultra rare SD-445 Trans-Am/Formula Firebird, as was done in the Laguna “Disgust” article. There are not many cars new or old that compare to those iconic automobiles.
It has been my experience that a comparably configured 73-77 is as fun to drive as the 66-72 cars, they just look different. Over the years I have owned several Chevelles, a 68-Malibu, 70-Malibu, 70-SS396, 71-SS396 71-SS454, 73-Malibu and two 76-Laguna’s big block and small block powered. To be honest I like the 73-77 cars just as much as I like the older ones. Good artical, I enjoyed it reading it and the comments from other readers.

[LoneWolf on May 11, 2009 at 01:19 PM]

Drop a 454 LSX in it :)