1971 Chevrolet 454 Motion Super Vega

Once again, in the AJ Car of the Day...we journey back to the 1970's, and check in with another monster street creation from the Legendary Baldwin-Motion Performance group. A quick re-cap to bring those just joining this feature, the original Baldwin - Motion Performance Group represented a partnership between Baldwin Auto Company ( which was a franchised Chevrolet dealership ), and Motion Performance, ( a high profile speed shop ). They had the reputation for building fast Chevrolets, and both were based in Baldwin, Long Island.

All Baldwin- Motion cars were custom built to order, and powered by big block engines that displaced up to 482 cubic inches, and horsepower to over 500. They would stuff these monster motors in your choice of Camaros, Chevelles, Corvettes, and were built with a guarrantee to turn at least 120mph, and deliver a guarranteed 1/4 time. They were completely streetable, and there was never a single comeback, as all their cars delivered what the customer ordered. They were truly the supercars of their day, hands down.

The compact Chevrolet Vega was added to the roster of the super fast street machine portfolio, and Motion "Super Vegas" could be ordered with a naturally aspirated or turbocharged small or big block V8, ranging from a 350 to a 454 cu inch mill . Yessss....Can you say..."Rocketship ?" After Baldwin Chevrolet and it's successors closed their doors in 1974, new Chevrolets were sourced from other dealers as well as customers, and were now known as Motion cars.

Unfortunately, with speed sometimes comes publicity, and with publicity comes trouble. And that's when things took an ugly turn for the Super Vega. Word has it, an article in Car Craft Magazine about the 454 Motion Super Vega titled, "King Kong Lives on Long Island" , focused on some of their 427 and 454 Vegas, and how these subcompact screamers pushed the envelope beyond federal limits. Suits began to sniff around, the Justice Department allegedly issued a summons, the whole deal set off an alarm at the Enviromental Protection Agency in 1974, and the owners were allegedly slapped with a cease and desist order to halt the building of new cars with powertrains that were not available from the factory. It was executed by the Department of Justice. Bottom line: (allegedly) if Motion did not cease production of their specialty vehicles, they would be fined $10K for every emission device that was removed in the building stage....which basically translated to approximately $50K in fines per each Super Vega. Ouch.

Again, allegedly. An agreement was reached, a small fine paid, and from that point on, all cars  were special ordered and invoiced as "For Export" or " For Off Road Use Only. " Motion had a short stint of super awesome Motion Iroc Camaros and Monte Carlos in the 1980's, and had some specialty works on Ford 5.0 Mustangs and Buick Grand Nationals.

Today, Baldwin-Motion and Motion Supercars are collectibles, and fetch high prices at resale. They are legends to car guys everywhere, but especially to this former Long Islander. Everytime I see any article about these cars online or in a magazine, I still recall living on Long Island,and seeing these beauties when they were new...and just waiting for their turn in history with the lucky owner about to pick theirs up. I'm still in love with them..and still just as envious. Baldwin-Motion cars have earned their spot in Hot Rod history. Well done, gentlemen...very well done! A tip of the hat to you!