[3] General Motors' John DeLorean nicknamed it the "Italian Vega", citing styling with a strong resemblance to the Ferrari 365 GTC/4.

The 1975 Monza 2+2 houses then-newly approved rectangular headlights and a slot-style grille in a slanted nose made of resilient polyurethane.

The Monza 2+2's two-door hatchback body style is shared with the Pontiac Sunbird, Oldsmobile Starfire and Buick Skyhawk.

The smallest V8 ever offered by Chevrolet, it featured a Rochester two-barrel carburetor and generated 110 horsepower (82 kW) at 3,600 rpm.

For 1975 only, Monzas sold in California and high altitude areas met the stricter emissions requirement by substituting a version of the 350 cu in (5.7 L) V8 engine with a two-barrel carburetor tuned to just 125 hp (93 kW).

[6][7][8] The basic design was also incorporated into GM's third and fourth generation F-bodies, the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.

In April 1975, the Monza Towne Coupe was introduced — a notchback body-style with a conventional trunk featuring different sheetmetal than the 2+2 hatchback, but sharing its windshield and front fenders.

The Towne Coupe is 1.5 inches (38 mm) shorter and 135 pounds (61 kg) lighter than the 2+2 and has slightly more rear head room.

The 1976 model was the introduction of Chevrolet's new 5.0 liter (305 CID) V8 engine with a two-barrel carburetor generating 140 horsepower (100 kW) at 3,800 rpm, but only for California and high-altitude Monza customers, and replaced the 350 V8.

It featured a two-barrel carburetor version of the four-cylinder engine as standard, a floor console, sport steering wheel, F41 suspension with larger front and rear stabilizer bars, and special shock absorbers.

The standard Vega 2.3 aluminum-block engine was discontinued at the end of the model year, replaced with the Pontiac 2.5 "Iron Duke".

The 1978 Monza line gained a new base coupe and 2+2 hatchback with round headlights in an upright front end with a crossbar grille and new tri-colored taillamps.

The new Monza Sport series was offered in both 2+2 hatchback and notchback body styles, using a modified version of the previous quad rectangular headlamps, now above a full-width open-slot grill.

Discontinued at the end of the 1978 model year were the S hatchback, Towne Coupe sport option and the estate version of the wagon.

Added standard equipment for 1979 included an AM radio, tinted glass, bodyside moldings, and sport steering wheel.

All Monzas had a color-keyed instrument panel, and all except the base coupe had a center console, and corrosion protection was improved.

The wagon was discontinued as the Citation hatchbacks offered equal cubic cargo capacity with the rear seats down along with better rear-passenger accommodation.

The Spyder equipment package included a two-barrel, Dura-Built 2.3 litre engine, floor console unit, large front and rear stabilizer bars, special shock absorbers, steel-belted radial ply blackwall tires, wheel opening mouldings (chrome), day-night inside mirror, a sport steering wheel (two-spoke), a special instrumentation and "stitched" instrument panel pad with added wood-grain vinyl accents (standard on 2+2), distinctive "Spyder" identification (script fender emblems, steering wheel horn button insert) and Spyder front facia and rear-lock cover.

The General Motors Rotary Combustion Engine (GMRCE) had two rotors displacing 206 cu in (3.38 L), twin distributors and coils, and aluminum housing,[17] Unwilling to face the gas mileage criticism that Mazda withstood, GM felt it could meet 1975 emissions standards with the engine tuned to provide better mileage.

[17] By December 1973, it was clear the Wankel, now planned for the Monza 2+2, would not be ready for either production or emissions certification in time for the start of the 1975 model year.

Motor Trend in April 1974 predicted the outcome[18] — On September 24, 1974, Cole postponed the Wankel engine ostensibly due to emissions difficulties and retired the same month.

[2] General Motors replaced the rear-wheel drive (RWD) H-body Monza, Sunbird, Skyhawk, and Starfire in the spring of 1981 with a new, front-wheel drive (FWD), line-up, the J-car models: Chevrolet Cavalier, Oldsmobile Firenza, Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac J2000 and Cadillac Cimarron, introduced as 1982 models.

The IMSA racer and future triple Le Mans and dual Daytona 24 Hours winner Al Holbert saw the Monza's potential.

By the end of the 1975 season, he had ordered a brand new car, built and prepared by Lee Dykstra and American-based Australian Trans-Am driver Horst Kwech at DeKon Engineering.

Allan Moffat otherwise imported a DeKon Monza to Australia and won the inaugural ASCC in 1976 (also driving a 'Cologne' Ford Capri RS3100).

In 1978, driver and prominent businessman Bob Jane imported a DeKon Monza, which was rebuilt and engineered by his chief mechanic Pat Purcell and driver-engineer Ron Harrop.

Brock and the Monza consistently matched the speed of Jones and the two put on some of the best racing ever seen in Australia, but reliability was still a problem with the car and results were not forthcoming.

After being rebuilt again by Purcell, Jane sold the car to former race driver Alan Browne, who put his 1982 Bathurst 1000 pole winning co-driver Allan Grice in it for the 1984 GT championship.

After 1984, Browne sold the Monza to veteran racer Bryan Thompson, who used it (along with his usual Chevrolet powered, twin turbo Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC) to win the 1985 Australian GT Championship.

Thomson competed in the car over the next few years before rebuilding it over the 1988–89 off-season which also saw the Monza body shell replaced with that of a Toyota Supra.