• The last year for the Chevy Monza was 1980 after a five-year run as a sports coupe. The car was designed for a rotary engine, but the engine never materialized. An optional eight-cylinder allowed the car to compete with the Mustang and other sports coupes even though sports coupes were fading with the demise of the muscle car era. Modified Monzas continue to be popular in racing circles.
  
  

Engines

• Several options were available on the 1980 Monza, with hatchbacks, notch-backs, coupes and sedans, but just two engines were offered. The base engine was the 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder. This engine put out 86 horsepower at 4,000 RPM and 128 ft-lbs of torque at 2,400 RPM.
  
  The relatively small engine had some power with a compression ratio of 8.2:1, which measures how much the fuel and gas mixture is compressed in the engine before ignition. The bore and stroke as 3.43 and 4 inches. The bore is the width of the cylinder head and the stroke is the distance it travels. The engine used a naturally aspirated two-barrel carburetor.
  
  The more sporty engine was a V6 with 231.4 cubic inches and 110 horsepower at 3,800 RPM. It had 190 feet of torque at 2,000 RPM. The bore and stroke was 3.43 and 4.17 inches. The compression ratio was 8:1. It also used a two-barrel carburetor.
  
  

Dimensions

• The Monza was a relatively small car and considered a sports coupe. It was 179 inches long, 65 inches wide and 50 inches tall. The car had a 97-inch wheel base. Its front track, or distance between wheels, was 54.8 inches and its rear track was 53.6 inches. The curb weight, without a driver, was 2,937 pounds.
  
  The Monza had a turning circle of 34 feet. The car ran on BR70X13 tires.
  
  

Performance

• The Monza was a sports coupe, and had a standard four-speed with the gearbox on the floor. There was an automatic also available. The car's top speed was rated at 110 mph. It could go from zero to 60 mph in 12 seconds and could complete the quarter mile in 18.9 seconds, translating to 75 mph.
  
  The car got 15 mpg in city and 18 mpg highway driving.
  
  There was also the Monza Spyder package, which was a sports trim package. This included the largest engine and a special modification to the two-barrel carburetor to get more acceleration. There was special striping, sports suspension, Spyder lettering and lots of black trim around the car.