Owned by Mike Young of Salinas, CA. Is being turned into a Bonneville racer. Original motor/ 5 speed still available. Just don't know which way the current owner will go.- Facebook Post 12/17

Supposedly owned by Mike Young of Salinas, CA.

Michael Young- 2610 is being turned into a Bonneville racer. Original motor/ 5 speed still available. Just don't know which way the current owner will go.- Facebook Post 12/17

Today we have a rare 5-speed 1976 Chevy Cosworth Vega, California car. This is a one owner car and a clear title with 38,224 original miles. It runs like a dream and is all original and very clean inside and out. We also have the original rim and spare. This is a limited edition Cosworth number 2611 of 3508 made. It was purchased on February 13, 1976, and we have all the documentation that came with this car when purchased as well as owner's manual and a variety of service manuals. All in all, this car looks great, but has minor damage as shown in the pictures. The hood has a dent measuring approximately 8" as well as a scratch measuring approximately 9 1/4". The rear quarter panel on the driver's side has two small dents, one measuring approximately 2" and the other approximately 1". There is a ding on the passenger door that measures approximately 1 1/2". As shown in the photo of that door, there is some paint loss as well. The rims do show loss of gold from wear. The interior has one tear on the seat, driver's side that has been taped. The tear is approximately 1 3/4" but the rest of the interior is in almost new condition. The original clock and radio are not in working condition, but it is possibly just a blown fuse. Finally, when transporting the car, the owner pulled a little hard on the visor on the passenger side, pulling it off but the visor and plastic part are included for an easy repair. The sticker on the inside of the door reads:
Manufactured by General Motors Corp
01/76 - GVWR 3507LB GAWR
FRT 1635LB RR1872LB
This car is sold as is with no warranty and has a very low reserve. It has been very well maintained throughout its years and would be a great car for anyone. At the end of this auction, we do require a $500 deposit to PayPal with the balance to be paid by money order, cashier's check or cash. Los Angeles or Orange County area.. This is a black/black car with a VIN of 1V7706U180599

Then there is 2613 in Australia owned by Gordon Clough. As of late 2009 he still owns it. He wrote in several emails:

I have attached a photo of the rear of my Cosworth Vega. Thought you might like to see my personalized number plate for registration to drive my Cosworth left hand drive on Australian roads. It is a Queensland, Australia number plate. The plate is “76COZ”. I have attached 3 more photos to this email.  The dash tag, the first registration form and the dealer inventory details from LORDSTOWN, OHIO. You might note that the VIN number on the first registration form differs from the dealer inventory details form. This must have been a typo error that carried on for some time as I have a lot of invoices with subsequent owners with the same number plate but varying VIN numbers. It looks like the dealer may have had the car in stock from March 1976 to March 1977. I purchased the car from a friend in California in 1995 and imported it to Australia. In Australia, we can only register vehicles left hand drive once they are 30 years old, consequently it sat in my shed until 2006 before I could get it complied to drive on our roads left hand drive. What initially took my interest was the motor because I raced a speedway midget with a similar Cosworth motor. I believed until recently my Cosworth Vega was the only one in Australia. I have heard of a 1975 model also in Australia. My wife and I have visited Chris Wheaton and Duke Williams and attended a Cosworth Vega club meeting at Chris Wheaton's warehouse many years ago. We met a lot of nice people at that meeting. The VIN is 1V77O6U180667.

According to a for sale ad in Duke Williams' December 1994 newsletter, this car was offered for sale by Vic Hinojos, 714-545-4156. He describes it as a black/black vinyl, rebuilt engine and clutch, new tires, and asked $2500.

Supposedly the second non-black Cosworth according to Chris Wheaton in Yahoo message 1166. Also, as far as I can tell so far, the next colored car was #2614 and it WAS mahogany. I say was because that was Sy Scheinberg's car that got sent off to the junk yard with a car load of NOS parts for a tax write off. Chris

The previous owner (Mr. Machado) told me that ha had the motor rebuilt with stainless steel valves and sleeved cylinders by an engine shop in West Palm Beach, unfortunately he has no invoices and the shop has apparently gone out of business. He had the motor rebuilt about a year before I bought #2615 through his nephew and supposedly had only been driven about 500 miles since the rebuild. Mr. Machado also had #2615 repainted, the paint isn't perfect but has held up well. We hope to continue to enjoy #2615 and hope to have the original motor rebuilt.

Update from Ted Padich via website transfer ownership request...
I purchased this car from Mr. Machado on 4/3/21. It currently has 80253 miles on it. The car is still rust free however it hasn't been run much and it'll take a little bit of work before its a good driver..
7/11/23- #2615 is running great, the Webers were rebuilt by CVOA member Michael Young are perform beautifully. Seats are now recovered as well. Radiator has been upgraded to a 3 core. #2615 attends all local car cruises (South Florida).

This car appeared on eBay in January of 2008. The posting read: “This is a very, very nice and all original 1976 Chevrolet Vega Cosworth Twin Cam #2615.  A Black/Black CV with 4-speed. This is a two owner Atlanta, Georgia car that is in excellent condition.  It was purchased new in the Atlanta area by an enthusiast/collector.  Twenty years later (3/16/95), when it was purchased by the second owner, it had traveled only 20,985 miles.  The second owner used CV #2615 as a daily driver from March 1995 through mid 1999 and put an additional 51,000 miles on it during this period.  At this point, in 1999, the Vega developed fuel pump problems and was put in storage.  Due to his job relocation in 2006, the second owner had to sell the car before he was able to diagnose and fix the problem.  I purchased the car at that point and it has been stored in my warehouse until last month when we finally got around to taking a look at the car.  We replaced both fuel pumps and cleaned out the fuel tank and lines and #2615 came back to life after a long ‘nap’!  I’m happy to report that car runs beautifully!  I’ve put about 300 miles on it so far and it just seems to get better as it wakes up and gets rid of the ‘cobwebs’.  It starts right up, does not appear to smoke or leak, shifts well, sounds awesome, stops well, everything! No, #2615 is not in show condition, but it is very, very nice.  Maybe one of the nicest overall ‘driver condition’ CV’s out there.  I know there are a few perfect ones that were put away new and never used, there are the few full-time race cars that have been preserved but highly modified, and then there are lots and lots of used-up and rusted-out basket cases and parts cars.  This one falls into the category of a driver that needs a few things and can be used and enjoyed while you do the weekend project stuff to make it nicer. The car is extremely solid and I believe it is completely free of rust-through from what I can tell.  The original paint is all mostly there, the original interior is very, very complete and nice overall.  The engine compartment is much nicer than a typical 72,000 mile car.  The original wheels are excellent.  Most everything seems to work as it should. EXTERIOR:  The original paint is nice, but is faded and ‘crazed’ on the top surfaces (hatch, hood, and roof).  There are a few chips on the roof that have some minor surface rust.  There is an area on the cowl that had surface rust that we sanded down and put a coat of black paint on to keep it nice.  Door jams are very nice, gaps are factory-correct, doors close perfectly, etc.  In short, the car will need to be painted for show, but there is MINIMAL prep work needed. The four road wheels are perfect and look like they were restored at some point.  The original Cosworth spare wheel is very nice, but not as nice as the other four.  There are perfect-looking Michelin Metric tires in place and they drive well, but they are probably 1999 vintage.  The plastic chrome drip rail moldings and door edge guards are missing their chrome, but I believe these are available as reproductions.  The rest of the trim is nice and will clean up well.  The rubber bumper strips are all very nice.  The gas cap needs to be replaced (about $30 on eBay). INTERIOR:  Overall, the interior is very nice.  Original seats are perfect except for one 4” seam split on the driver side bottom cushion.  There are a few typical dash pad cracks and the gold on the dash bezel needs to be re-done (as with all CVs).  The passenger compartment carpet is nice, but somewhat faded and could easily be re-dyed instead of replaced.  The hatch area carpet is faded and has a couple of tears but could easily be re-created from the original if these are not available aftermarket.  The headliner is excellent.  The driver’s sun visor is there, but has a hinge/mount problem (easy fix). The door panels are excellent except some of the plastic chrome tape has come off. Speedo, Tach, Temp and Volt gauges work, clock doesn’t.  The gas gauge seems to stick. Heater, wipers and lighter work, horn does not. There is surface rust in the spare tire well, but it looks like it will clean up nicely.  I would do a coat of POR and then re-do just the well area with spatter paint and keep the original spatter paint and jack decal in the rest of the hatch area.  All of the original jack and jack mounting items are present and very nice.  The hatch struts are weak and need to be replaced (these are available for about $40). MECHANICAL:  The CV runs great and we did not notice any leaks or smoke.  I think I would probably just go through it mechanically for typical maintenance items and maybe do a little bit of underhood detailing. Please see the attached pictures, and email Jeff@CruisersSpecialtyAutos.com, or call 770-451-9000 with any questions. We do not disclose reserves, but will entertain offers...please call. See lots more pictures at CSAcars.com. (Also click on "Cruisers Showroom" on the left and scroll down to 1976). Note that the CosVeg is also offered for sale locally and we reserve the right to end the auction early if sold locally.” VIN is 1V77O6U180789, and the mileage is 70k.

The engine from this car is supposedly in a ’29 Ford. No word on what happened to the body.

I Already Sent In Application And $30.00 Membership Fee And I Am Waiting And Hoping To Get Some Kind Of Info On This Engine. I Only Have The Engine And The Dash (#2617) From The Cosworth...the Engine Is In A 1929 Ford A Model I Purchased. I Wanted To Set The Timing And Decided I Needed A New Belt,& Distributor Drive Belt And Cam Cover Gasket. Not Knowing Of The Difficulty In Finding These Parts Or Even A Repair Manual!!! Could You Tell Me What "Hme" Is And How
I Can Get In Touch With "Hme".. Thanks For Your Help. My Name Is "Berky",(Yeah, It Really Is Berky.)

Offered on www.racingjunk.com in September of 2006 with the following text: I am selling a 1976 Cosworth Vega. It is #2618 of 3528 built. It has 38,250 miles and is in very nice shape. It has the rare RPO M75 5 speed option and big rear end w/ 4.10 gears. You could drive it or show it as is OR put a V8 in it to make a nice street/strip car and sell the Cosworth motor and other misc stuff to the Cosworth collectors. Where can you find a mint body to start a project car with for what I’m asking? This car has a very nice body, very nice interior and runs great. Asking $4900 will negotiate some.” It is located in Tinley Park, IL. The ad says it was posted by dragracerz.

Offered in August of 2006 on Yahoo: 1976, #2618, RPO M75 5 speed 4.10 option, rear speaker option, 38276 original miles, VIN # 1V77O6U197076, Body Tag 197076C90, Car is very clean, paint is a little faded but should buff out. Clear title. Email me for more info or pics Dragracerz@sbcglobal.net thanks, Brian

Belongs to Jon James. He says, in December of 2002, “Everything on the car is just the way I bought it (it came with chrome headlamp buckets) except this year I found a chrome roll bar on eBay and installed some xenon headlamps.  The roll bar was a great find. I always wanted a Cosworth and I always wanted a car with a roll bar in it! Jon Ou812vega2618@aol.com

Owned by Don Reeves Of Fort Worth TX

Owned by a guy in Indiana as of 4/2024. (No Name given) phone number is 765-470-1515
Black/ Black vinyl fair shape.

According to an ad in the April of 1981 Clark Kirby Regional Newsletter, this car was then owned by
Richard Neal of Stillwater, OK (405‐372‐3007). It is Black/black with a 5‐speed, posi, Webers, and has
28k miles.

According to Robert Bowen’s January, 1978 Registry, this car then belonged to Myron F. Overton, 4201
La Mirada Dr., Bakersfield, CA 93309

Black/ White Vinyl 5 speed. 6100 actual miles. Owned by Eldon Baker, long time CVOA Member in Texas. Good to very good condition. Daughter is Vicki Baker, looking to possibly sell based on Facebook Post 4/23/2024

2628 Burnt to the Ground in CA Forest fire in 2022.

1V77O6U181373 Black/ Black Cloth

Reported to Bryan Pridmore from owner.

According to Robert Bowen’s January, 1978 Registry, this car then belonged to Roger Langford, 2014
Wimcrest St., Galveston, TX 77551.

Unknown date. Owned by Gary, who says, “Not running yet, but getting lots of ideas.”

According to a March 2010 membership application, this car is owned by Joe R. Jones of Bivins, TX
75555.

Appeared on eBay in July of 2009 out of Madison, MN, listed by ratrodrust, with the following
description: A friend of mine found this in a barn a couple of years ago it had been well stored for 10
years. We cleaned it up put gas and a battery in it and it started and he drove it 35 miles home. The
short story is that mechanical it is in pretty good shape but the body needs a lot of work. The breaks are
excellent, the clutch seems fine, the 5 speed works and sounds very good, the 4:11 pos traction works
well and is quiet, and steering is tight as are the shocks. New tires on the back and 85% tires on the
front. The engine starts and runs well with no oil smoke from the exhaust. There is an oil leak coming
from under the valve cover/cam cage. The battery is weak. It runs down the road quite well and owns
the unpaved roads around here. I hope the pictures give you an idea of the poor condition of the body.
The floor is good except the drivers floor is rusted out but it looks like the uni‐body under it is ok. The
trunk has a small hole in the left side but otherwise solid. The rear 1/4s look good but the front fenders
and doors all have some rust through. The top pillars have some rust through and a little up by the
heater intake vent. The paint that is on solid body is in poor shape. The glass is good; seats are good
with the exception of a couple cuts on the driver’s seat. The original wheals go along with the ones on it.
I also have the window sticker and some interesting history on this car. I had a birthday
recently…counted my projects and the math doesn’t add up. So I am selling a few to finish a couple.
The reserve is lower than the sum total of the street rod parts. I just couldn't gut it. So if you do, don't
tell me. Local pick up only. Good luck. The VIN is 1V77O6U181814. It has 85,703 miles. It is a white car
with a black vinyl interior. It has swingouts, the PAIR is missing, and the A and C pillars are rusted
through, as are the bottoms of the front fenders and the driver’s footwell. It has a blue stripe filling in
the hood decal, and running the same width over the roof and hatch.

Owned by Edwin Williamson in 2006.