Chevette (Drift Build)

The cheapest, lightest rear-wheel-drive car you can get in Brazil. Mine is a first-gen hatchback, no documents, no headlights, no floor, and no regrets.

This is a dedicated drift missile. It will never be street legal, and that’s the point.

The Heist

Getting this car home is a better story than anything I’ll ever do with it on track.

I found it in Atibaia, São Paulo - about 3 hours from home. Went there on a Sunday afternoon with my dad and brother to pick it up. What followed was a 6-hour nighttime adventure that turned into family legend.

The Situation

Here’s what we were working with:

• No documents - can’t be seen on public roads
• No headlights - can’t see anything at night
• No idle - dies immediately at low RPM, had to keep it revving
• No floor - just a piece of carpet between my feet and the road

And yes, I drove it home.

The Rally Stage

We couldn’t take highways or main roads - too visible, too legal. So we mapped out a route through gravel roads and dark back streets. Dad drove my GM Classic ahead of us, acting as our headlights and scout.

Six hours of:

• Left-foot braking while keeping RPMs up
• Heel-toe downshifts to not stall
• Google Maps navigation through roads that barely existed
• One lucky stretch of road under construction - freshly terraformed, smooth dirt, zero traffic

When crossing through small towns, dad would scout ahead with the legal car first to check for cops. We were basically running a two-car convoy operation.

The Close Calls

Passing through a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, we spotted a cop car parked outside a restaurant. The officers were probably having dinner. We rolled past, hearts pounding, and they didn’t move.

The Final Stretch

Home stretch. My tiny hometown, just had to cross through to grandma’s farm where the car would live. Dad was behind us being our headlights on the paved road.

My brother spots red and blue lights blinking in the distance.

No time to think. I threw the car across the road and parked it in front of some houses like I lived there. Killed the engine. We sat in the dark - not hard since we had no lights anyway.

Cops rolled past. Slowly. Suspiciously. Then kept going.

Dad, who had driven past when I suddenly veered off, calls me: “Get out of there, they’re probably coming back.”

I turn the key.

Nothing.

The Escape

We jumped out, pushed the car backwards uphill to get some room, turned it, and gave it a running push. I hopped in, brother kept pushing, bump-started it, revved it to hell, he jumped in while we were rolling, and we bolted for the nearest gravel road to finish the trip.

Made it to grandma’s farm. Did some celebratory donuts. The shitbox had survived its own rescue.

Current State

The Chevette currently lives at grandma’s farm in disassembly mode. We stripped all the internals, and the drivetrain is coming out next so we can address the… let’s call it “structural opportunities.”

The floor situation needs attention. And by attention I mean it needs to exist.

The Build Plan

Bodywork - Cyberpunk Nomad Style

We’re not trying to make this thing pretty. We’re learning to weld (that’s a Welding note for another day) and will stitch it back together with visible patch panels. The scars become the aesthetic. Raw metal, exposed welds, functional ugly.

Engine - AP Swap

The VW AP engine is the move in Brazil. High availability, massive aftermarket support, and you can make decent power without selling organs. The stock Chevette motor will get replaced when it inevitably gives up.

Drivetrain

• Welded diff - obviously
• Everything else - replaced when it breaks, which won’t take long

The Fun Stuff

• Custom hydraulic handbrake - for the skids
• Sound system - because priorities. A drift car with no floor but a kickass stereo is peak shitbox energy

Drifting Experience

Have I drifted before? I’ve done mud slides. That counts, right?

The plan is build first, learn to slide second. The car will teach me - ideally without hitting too many walls in the process.

Why Chevette?

It’s simple math:

• Cheapest RWD car in Brazil
• Lightest option available
• Parts everywhere
• Zero guilt about beating on it
• Already worthless, can only go up in value (not really)

It’s the perfect drift missile platform.

Related

• Cars - The car hobby hub
• GM Classic - My first car, scout vehicle during the heist
• Toyota Bandeirante - Another project car
• Welding - Learning this for the bodywork
• Car Audio - Because every drift car needs bass