Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1979 Chevrolet Chevette, Animal Rights Edition
General Motors developed the American-market Chevette in the immediate wake of the 1973 oil crisis, based on the "world car" rear-wheel-drive T-body design, and its low cost of manufacture and simplicity kept it in production here from 1975 all the way through the 1987 model year (for you trivia fans, the very first Chevettes were sold in Brazil in 1973). With versions sold by Isuzu, Vauxhall, Daewoo, Holden, and just about every outpost of the sprawling GM empire, a large percentage of the world's population had the opportunity to drive these cars. Here's a '79 Chevette Hatchback Coupe, found covered with animal-rights and political bumper stickers in a Denver self-service car graveyard.
Yes, The General once used live animals for crash-safety testing, but a PETA campaign starting in 1991 resulted in the cessation of such testing by 1993. Here's a bumper sticker from the "Heartbreak of America" ad campaign of that era, much faded after nearly 30 years in the Colorado sun. Did this Chevette's owner buy a newer GM car after 1993, or was the Chevette good enough for the long haul?
These dashboard calendars seem to indicate that the car may have been parked for good after early 2004 (though some of the stickers on the hatch hail from many years later).
In addition to the pro-animal stickers all over the car, we find stickers from presidential campaigns starting with Dukakis-versus-Bush in 1988.
After being burned by support for Ralph Nader in 2000 (note the lack of Bush or Gore stickers from that year), the owner of this car appears to have opted to support both major candidates in the 2012 election. Strangely, the dog-on-the-roof incident didn't seem to rule Romney out from this animal lover's honor-roll hatch display.
