All-American Week: The "Spirit of America" Chevrolets
If anybody remembers our Nation's Bicentennial Year, then they remember these limited edition cars. 1976 seemed to start out like most any other year, except we had "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" to suffer through. "Charlie's Angels" gave us some great models to gaze at, and the cars weren't bad either.
But in 1974, a couple of years ahead of schedule and maybe to boost sales, Chevrolet sold a really nice trim package on their El Camino, Impala, Nova, and Vega models. Some dealers may have added this trim to other Chevy car and truck models as well.
The outsides were painted white with red and blue stripes, and sported "Spirit of America" emblems; the insides had white seats, red carpeting, and black dashboards. Looks like they had some nice wheels, too. They were not featured in the sales brochures that year, and getting detailed information on all of them is a bit tricky.
So let's just look at a few images of these cars:
This may be the rarest of the "Spirit of America" Chevrolets
The "Spirit of America" Impala was a two-door pillarless hardtop
The "Spirit of America" Hatchback Nova with a black vinyl half roof
The Nova's cargo area was large enough to watch the fireworks from
The Vega Hatchback may have looked its best in this trim
If I had my pick of the four, would anybody be surprised if I chose the Nova? The El Camino is just not me, the Impala is too big, and, well, the Vega...
--That Car Guy (Chuck)
Image Credits: The "Spirit of America" Vega poster is from ChevyInfo.net. The El Camino image is from SNAS.NBCuni.com. The Impala photo is from Upload.Wikimedia.org. The "SoA" Nova picture is from Farm6.Static.Flickr.com. The inside view of the modified Nova Hatchback photo is from MWMCars.com. And the "SoA" Vega image is from 30.Media.Tumblr.com.
Al Sapp on June 28, 2011 at 12:33 AM
I Like 'em All. I Find Myself Choosing The Nova As Well. I Like The Impala Alot Though.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on June 28, 2011 at 03:03 AM
There's something suspicious about that Nova's vanity plate.
Deaner on June 28, 2011 at 05:44 AM
That El Camino rocks!
Lee Sullivan on June 28, 2011 at 08:00 AM
I remember Ford had a similar trim package, at least for Pintos.
Chris Meirose on June 28, 2011 at 08:30 AM
Impala has me drooling. I miss my 75.
--Big Chris
John B on June 28, 2011 at 02:36 PM
"I remember Ford had a similar trim package, at least for Pintos."
And Mavericks too, IIRC. They had a Capatin America-ish looking shield.
Back in the day, I recall seeing several Novas, a couple of Impalas, but never an El Camino.
I love the white interuior with red carpet. Much better tyhan today's "You can have any color you want as long as it's black or dark gray".
You'd think with advanced computer-controlled "just in time" production methods, they could give us more interior choices today.
Yankee on July 01, 2011 at 01:37 PM
John B, the similar package on the Pinto and Maverick that you're thinking of was called the "Sprint" package, it was available in 1972 only and also included the Mustang.
I didn't realize the Spirit of America package was also available on the El Camino, I don't recall ever seeing one. That would have to be a true rare find today if any of them still exist.
That Car Guy on July 02, 2011 at 08:03 AM
Yankee, I'd never seen an El Camino with the "Spirit of America" trim either until I started this post. "Spirit of America" Vegas were plentiful. I'm going on faith that the El Camino image is a real factory package; it could be a dealer kit.
Either way, it looks pretty darn good.
Greg on July 05, 2011 at 07:23 PM
My girlfriend's ex-boyfriend had the Nova. Even though it was a thoroughly ugly and non-cool car, it sure made it easy for me to spot him coming!
Bruce on July 12, 2011 at 03:23 PM
None of the above cars strike my fancy, but I'd definitely take a Cosworth Vega.
That Car Guy on July 13, 2011 at 08:22 AM
Bruce, you got me thinking... I wish they had built a Cosworth Vega station wagon. They did build one in GT trim. That would have been cool!
Bruce on July 13, 2011 at 10:37 AM
I agree. Also, the '76 and '77 Vegas had improved rust protection, suspension, and brakes. With a better engine they would have been quite a car.
That Car Guy on July 13, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Here's some light technical info on the '76 and '77 Vegas. It's too bad that the improvements came so late.
http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/02/1976-chevy-vega-cabriolet.html
toronado455 on July 05, 2012 at 12:47 PM
Those are all awesome.
In response to today's post "Red, White, and Blue: a Car Lust Retrospective"(July 5th, 2012),
There is another model that fits in with this theme. The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Bicentennial Edition Convertible:
shttp://automotivemileposts.com/eldorado/eldo1976lastconvertible.html
The red white and blue stuff on it is more subtle, along the lines of the Impala above. But I think it deserves to be mentioned here.
That Car Guy (Chuck) on July 05, 2012 at 01:42 PM
Thank you, Toronado455. Yes, subtle it is!
gary_tomlonson on July 29, 2012 at 02:57 PM
my brouther had a blue one with a white top and a 400 and white interior..
Andy on February 14, 2013 at 03:13 AM
I had the El Camino. It had blue carpet with blue dash, white bench seat, Didn't have the sport wheels but rather the wheelcovers. I bought it used in 1979. It had the fender badges (decals) and stripes.
Jenny on April 06, 2013 at 09:25 AM
What the pricing for the 1976nova hatchback it has been in the garage for years little rust but all origanal parts i have a buyer but not sure how much is a good price
Kelly Koepp on May 05, 2013 at 06:30 PM
The Spirit of America series Chevrolets only came in Malibu, Nova and Vega. I can still remember the day in May, 1974, having to decide which vehicle I liked the best. Specifically, I remember having the sales person tell me there were three models because I had originally gone to the dealership to look for a truck. I chose the Nova because the Malibu was too big and the Vega was too small. Whoever did the kit on the El Camino, did a good job, however, it's not original from the factory....
Kelly Koepp on May 05, 2013 at 06:37 PM
I had stated Malibu.....I meant Impala, Nova and Vega. Noticed the El Camino didn't have the logo on the back as the other vehicles all had logos on the back and that the hub caps on the El Camino do not show the eagle as the others had from the factory.