Man what a flash back. I had a Chevy Monza in college. It’s engine was so anemic, I had to turn the AC off to get to highway speed. You couldn’t see the lanes behind you. It sounded horible. You had to make sure a girl REALLY like you before she saw the car.
I drove the crap out of that car. At least three times, I had idiot buddies pull the emergency brake as I was driving, as a joke, throwing into spinning skids on gravel roads.
I put over 100k miles on the car and wouldn’t die, I eventually had the money to buy a newer car. A decade later, I drove back to my home town and that clunker was still on the road. It had rusted out, the head liner hung down to the back seat, the suspension was gone, the muffler drug on the ground but it was still being driven. Unbelievable.
I hated that car, it’s still probably out there making somebody miserable.
Sounds like you had the 4 cylinder version, I had the V6. I didn't have quite the horsepower issue you had. It got up to speed just fine, it just broke down constantly. I couldn't afford to spend every spare dime I had on fixing it, so I babied it. Slow acceleration, never abused it - if you are poor and fixing a car constantly - you NEVER abuse it. Transmission 'locked up' on the interstate causing me to come to a screeching stop during a blizzard. Thankfully there was little traffic or that could have been serious.
This car should NEVER have made it on to the market. Like I said; when a car company has utter contempt for it's customer base, and intentionally designs their cars to wear out to the point they are not worth fixing, with the idea that you will rush out and drop another year's wages on a new car - only an idiot would purchase that car company's car again. Contrast this with Toyota and Honda who decided to make the best and most reliable cars on the planet.
Like I said, Chevy could call me and offer me $500 to take a brand new flagship car off their hands - and my reply would be "Never call me again, and you can keep your car; I would honestly rather walk". Yes, it's hatred that intense. I don't forgive companies with pre-meditated programs like Chevy. Ever.