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Chevrolet Chevette

city car and mid-size car

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ1071100 ↗
Source-derived summary

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 Introduced in North America in September 1975, the Chevette superseded the Vega as Chevrolet's entry-level subcompact.

Production reached 2.8 million over 12 years, and the Chevette was the best-selling small car in the U.S. for model years 1979–1980. It was the first American car built to metric measurements, and also the first American car to feature a diagnostic plug for pinpointing service issues.

Overview

The Chevette used General Motors' global rear-drive T platform which was co-developed by Opel and Isuzu in 1973. The first to use the T platform was the Brazilian Chevrolet Chevette released in 1973. Six months later the Opel Kadett C was released in Europe. Worldwide, GM manufactured and marketed more than 7 million T-cars – either as rebadged models or locally-built versions in different countries. T-platform variants were marketed internationally as the Pontiac Acadian in Canada; Pontiac T1000/1000 in the United States (1981–1987); K-180 in Argentina; Vauxhall Chevette in the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and Uruguay; Opel Kadett C in Germany; Isuzu Gemini in Japan, Holden Gemini in Australia; AYMESA Cóndor in Ecuador (from 1978); Saehan Gemini and Daewoo Maepsy in South Korea; and as a coupe utility (pickup), the Chevy (or GMC) 500 in Brazil and South America. A T-platform variant remained in production in South America through 1998.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Chevrolet Chevette” as city car and mid-size car. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chevrolet, Chevette and city.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1976, 1987, 1975, 1979—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Chevrolet, Chevette and city providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Chevrolet Chevette”, the useful work is to connect “city car and mid-size car” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1071100. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1987, 1975 and 1979.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Chevrolet Chevette”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Chevrolet Chevette primary sources, Chevrolet Chevette archive and Chevrolet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chevrolet Chevette”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Chevrolet Chevette” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.