Chris' Object of Automotive Desire - 10/18

Yes, I realize it's nothing more than a Chevy Vega with swoopy styling, but the Chevy Monza has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. Not only is the Monza an awfully good-looking car by 1975-1980 standards, but it made an excellent race car in IMSA racing in the capable hands of Al Holbert. Plus, since the Monza could be bought with an anemic small-block V-8, it can easily be refitted with something a lot more potent so that its performance matches its look.

Even stock, by the end of its run in 1980, the Monza was a fairly fast car by the standards of the time, topping out at more than 120 mph. The car pictured here, in Spyder trim (symbolizing a performance upgrade consisting solely of paint and stickers) , had a 3.8-liter V-6 and was all original and with just a handful of miles as of last year.

Given how difficult it is to find Monzas nowadays, given that they succumbed to rust nearly as quickly as their Vega siblings, this is a remarkably rare car.