And......

The Vega continued to kill GM sales even after it was put to death. GM found itself with a lot of auto transmissions and rear-ends that had been ordered for Vega production, but with no car to put them in they dropped them into the 1979 Chevy Caprice.

A transmission made for a smaller car burned up quickly and the read-ends wound up with a lot of broken gears. A friend of mine went through two transmissions at $650 each. Years later GM offered to pay back anyone who could prove they had purchased a transmission and he was able to pony up his paperwork.

They paid him back, but he has not bought a GM car in over 30 years.