The Corvair was Chevrolet’s first foray into the compact car market in 1960. And borrowed some engineering concepts from the VW Beetle, aka it had an air-cooled engine mounted in the rear. It was popular, but its unorthodox approach may have inhibited sales, so the “normal” Chevy II was added to the roster in 1962. This 1963 Corvair is a Monza convertible with a rebuilt and enhanced drivetrain. Located in Graham, Washington, this nice running weekend driver is available here on craigslist for $7,500. Another great tip from, who else, “Curvette”!
Corvairs were powered by 145-cubic-inch “flat-six” engines until 1964, when they grew to 164 cubic inches. Many Corvairs came with a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission that was adapted to work with the car’s transaxle. The pair in the seller’s car has been rebuilt and the engine updated to the 140 hp version of the motor with 4-barrel carburetion and dual exhaust. So, from a performance perspective, this Monza should be up to snuff at 90,000 miles on the overall package.
Cosmetically speaking, there are some issues here, but none of them involve rust. The turquoise paint has issues, particularly on the lid over the engine bay, and the interior is okay, though some seam separation in the upholstery has started to materialize. The white convertible top will shield you from the Sun, but not necessarily rain.
The Corvair was starting to hit consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s radar screen by 1963. That led to some suspension reengineering in 1964 that should have alleviated Nader’s concerns, but the car still ended up being the focus of his 1965 book, “Unsafe at Any Speed”. But if you behave yourself, this Corvair should be a nice little summer cruiser.
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