Iron Duke Survivor: 1980 Chevrolet Monza
The Chevy Monza was a sporty subcompact developed from the H-body platform that originated with the Vega. Produced from 1975 to 1980, it spawned carbon copies at Pontiac, Buick, and Oldsmobile, and two body styles were offered, coupes and hatchbacks. This 1980 Monza has the same “Iron Duke” inline-4 that I had in a similar Pontiac Sunbird, and it was a good little engine. Located in Canton, Ohio, this well-used but running survivor is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $2,500.
Though sales were more than adequate (703,000 units in six years), Chevrolet replaced the Monza in 1981 with the Cavalier. Its successor had front-wheel drive which would quickly begin to dominate production within General Motors. In its last year, Chevy built more than 95,000 Monza Town Coupes like the seller’s and we suspect most came with the reliable “Iron Duke” I-4 as in this car, but a Buick-supplied V6 was also available along with two small-block V8s.
Information about this ’80 Monza is minimal. It’s said to have 50,000 miles, which is not a lot for a 44-year-old car. It’s only had two owners and we’re betting the second one didn’t use it much since one photo shows it loaded on the back of a trailer. It has a floor-shifted 3-speed automatic transmission and is said to start, run, and stop, but we’re not told how well these tasks are performed. The Chevy may have never strayed too far from its point of conception as the Lordstown plant is only 60 miles away.
The body and black paint may be okay, but the dark photos don’t help a lot. The interior may be passable, too, though the seats appear to have cracks in them. I had my Sunbird for six years (it was the hatchback) and it was mostly dependable, though I found the workmanship to be off from prior Pontiac experiences. Little did I know I was living in the Malaise Era of auto production when I owned it. Thanks for the tip, “JDC”!
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Comments
Iron Dukes liked to go thru head gaskets in my experience.
I’d throw away the head gasket along with the engine, transmission, and differential. Build it tough with Smallblock stuff.
Handsome little car, doesn’t look like it needs a whole lot done to it. It appears to be in decent shape overall, and the Iron Dukes were a real good power plant. Could be a good buy for somebody – and when did you last see one of these?
Love the notchback Monza and Sunbird. One of GM’s better designs and underappreciated. Far cleaner than a Mustang II.
Too low to the ground though and a 6-7 cubic foot trunk. They had their drawbacks but their looks weren’t one of them.
Plus I am a fan of the Iron Duke. It’s crude, it’s rude and agricultural… and still better than the Vega 2300 it replaced. That’s it’s character. Peak 30s tech. That’s what makes it so much fun. It runs on irony.
OMG… the Craig’s List Paranoia Finger….been awhile since I’ve seen that trick.
55,000 miles. 44 years. 99,999 odo reading capability. Doubtful.
However… this might be possible given what one can see of the interior.
Good find. I wish it were closer.
Ah, the “Iron Puke” never had a chance. I think it was clearly a step up from the Vega motor, but didn’t matter. To most, they had no idea what was what, and still had awful memories of Vegas, and a Monza was a glorified Vega. These cars, I believe, relied on many Opel parts( that steering wheel is right out of a Manta), and by 1980, there were so many foreign car choices, the Monza, with its pushrod motor and RWD, was suddenly horribly out of date. As shown, plenty of people still wanted a RWD small car, but by ’81, the handwriting was on the wall for these, and an end to what many held dear,,,RWD.
For Vega & Monza, Chevy should have instead refined & used the proven chevy OHV 4 cyl used in some ’60s novas.
That is the Iron Duke. For the Vega, Ed Cole wanted a more technologically advanced design, the Vega engine. Then came the Iron Duke anyway in 1977.
My friend put a 327-350hp in one,beefed drivetrain, suspension it’s like a little missile,lots of fun to drive
Figure total weight 3,300lbs all in car and mods 8 lb per hp that would move pretty fast 😂
The Iron Duke was much better than what people might say. It was derived from the new L-6 Chevy of 1963, which itself was derived from the successful small block V8. When the engine went to Brazil, it was updated and improved, then when Pontiac got the engine they updated it further and designed it to run very smooth, for a 4 cylinder, with built in improvements. Further along, the engine received an efficient cross flow cylinder head. The engine made it into the 90’s as a GM dependable engine. Although not a exotic overhead cam, it’s simplicity made for a durable engine. An example was found in a wrecking yard with 450,000 on the odometer. I’ve had many of these, and even in cars that were mostly junk, the engines all ran well.
I Have a couple of what I think are “iron dukes”. They look like a 250 6 cyl. minus a couple cylinders. They put them in old Nova’s, 1964 Chevy vans, Jeep mail “jeeps”, swathers, boats and a few other things. But somewhere along the line they made a different engine that has a different looking valve cover. I believe this is a newer style engine than my old style “iron duke”??? I’ve been confused about this, and argued with a few people about them being different. Tim
Read my above comment. This engine went through several new designs.
So do the heads interchange? I plan on putting mine in a 1927 Model T roadster. I have accumulated 5 engines so far. A boat motor, 64 van motor, 2 jeep motors, a swather motor. Tim
Sometime in the 80’s , on a busy montreal street , i spotted a convertible monza but was never able to get up close ,did a company chop these or was it a hacksaw special ?
I also saw a few mustand II ´s with no roofs but haven’t been able to find anything on the webs ..
Originally designed for the Wankle rotary engine. That engine fell through because of bad fuel economy and emissions. Thats why it’s wide enough for a smallblock to easily fit. I had one with a V6 four speed, fun car.
Yes, the 1975 Monza was designed for the Wankel, even the floor and engine compartment was part of this design. GM later changed this for more passenger room, but the V8 still fit fine. However, it isn’t too difficult to install the small block v8 into the original Vega. Another successful conversion, was the Buick aluminum 215 V8 for the Vega, I believe it was D and D fabricators, sold kits. Also, the 1975 Monza v8 was the Motor Trend car of the year, beating out other candidates, including Mercedes