page_title: Chevrolet Chevette
section_title: Latin America
hierarchical_section_title: Chevrolet Chevette / Latin America
caption_attribution_description: English: Early Brazilian Chevrolet Chevette, two-door sedan. Lowered, otherwise original appearance.
context_page_description: The Chevrolet Chevette is a front-engine, rear-drive subcompact manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet for model years 1976-1987 as a three-door or five-door hatchback. Introduced in September 1975, the Chevette superseded the Vega as Chevrolet's entry-level subcompact, and sold 2.8 million units over 12 years. The Chevette was the best-selling small car in the U.S. for model years 1979 and 1980.
  The Chevette employed General Motors' global T platform. Worldwide, GM manufactured and marketed more than 7 million T-cars — rebadged variants using the T platform — including the Pontiac Acadian in Canada, Pontiac T1000/1000 in the United States, K-180 in Argentina, Vauxhall Chevette, Opel Kadett, Isuzu Gemini, Holden Gemini, and as a coupe utility, the Chevy 500. A T-car variant remained in production in South America through 1998.
  Introduced on a full-color nationwide campaign in 140-150 of the country's largest daily papers, the New York Times said the "little American car holds its own with the foreigners." Looking back on the Chevette in 2011, the same publication called the Chevette "haphazardly made, sparsely trimmed and underpowered."
context_section_description: The Chevrolet Chevette was first launched by General Motors (Brazil) in 1973 as a two-door sedan. A four-door sedan followed in April 1978, and then a three-door hatchback was added in November 1979. The hatchback had unique bodywork for Latin America, longer than the European Kadett City and with a notch at the base à la the period Ford Escort. A three-door station wagon version, called the "Marajó" in Brazil, was added in September 1980, as was a sporting version of the hatchback called the 1.6 SR (with a mere four more horsepower, achieved by a somewhat higher compression ratio). In 1983, the Chevette received a thorough facelift with rectangular headlights, with the turn signals located underneath the headlights, a flatter hood, and a single-piece grille. The dash was also new, as were ventilation windows in the front doors. Mechanically, the 1.6 was now also available to run on gasoól and a five-speed manual gearbox was available as an option.
  The Latin American Chevettes underwent a series of facelifts, in 1978, 1983, and a major one in 1987, which meant new headlights and a black plastic grille. Where available, the station wagon used the Chevette name outside of Brazil.
  The hatchback remained in production until 1988, while the Marajó continued to be available until 1989. Marajó is an island located at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. The four-door sedan version was built until 1989, mainly for export to other Latin American countries. The two-door sedan remained in production until 1993, only outlived by the pickup version (Chevy 500), which continued until 1994 after having been first launched in 1983. The four-door sedan continued to be built for a few more years in Ecuador and Colombia.
  The Chevette originally appeared with a 1.4-liter inline-four of Isuzu origins, albeit with a single overhead cam rather than the pushrod model originally used in the United States. In 1981 this was augmented by a locally developed 1.6-liter version, it too with a single carburetor. The Brazilian 1.6 was somewhat larger than the Isuzu-developed G161Z engine used in North America. For 1988, the 1.6 gained a twin-carb setup and now produced 78 PS (57 kW) rather than the 72 PS (53 kW) in earlier version. This engine remained available until the end of Brazilian Chevette production. The lower-powered 1.4 was only available for gasohol as of 1981 and was discontinued entirely after 1982. A gasohol-powered version of the 1.6 appeared in its stead for 1983.
  As a tax cut for sub-1-liter cars appeared in late 1990, General Motors do Brasil responded with the 1.0-litre "Chevette Junior" for early 1992. This used a narrow-bore, short-stroke 50 PS (37 kW) version of the OHC engine with a catalytic converter. The Junior did not do particularly well in the market, competing against the much more modern Fiat Uno Mille, Volkswagen Gol, and Ford Escort Hobby. Being rather underpowered and heavy at 865 kg (1,907 lb), with a top speed of 134 km/h (83 mph), the 1.0 had a brief sales life. It only remained available until 1993, after which the Corsa took over. A 1.8-liter Isuzu diesel-engined version was also built in Uruguay, exclusively for the Uruguayan market. In the Brazilian market, both the 1.4 and the 1.6 were available in gasoline and alcohol versions.
  In Argentina, the Kadett C was originally marketed as the Opel K-180, but between 1992 and 1995, the equivalent of the Brazilian Chevette was sold there as the GMC Chevette. Production in Colombia, where a special version for taxi usage was also built, continued until 1998. The Chevette was the number-one seller in Chile for some time, last in 1991. When catalytic converters were made a requirement in that country, GMB was unable to develop such an engine and the Chevette was withdrawn from the Chilean market after the 1992 model year.
  Around 1.6 million units were built in Brazil, with the Corsa replacing the Junior and the Chevrolet Kadett/Ipanema replacing the bigger-engined versions. About one quarter of the production was exported.
caption: Early Brazilian Chevette
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