I’ve been known to preach the Corvair gospel around here, extolling Chevy’s little rear-engined gem as a bargain classic. But there are bargains, and then there’s just cheap. If you ask me, $700 still counts as cheap, and that’s just what’s being asked for this ’63 Corvair Monza club coupe. We don’t have much to go on to figure out what kind of bang those bucks will buy, but let’s head here to craigslist just west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and take a look.
We really only have these two photos of the car to go on. It was last registered in 1987, and has been in indoor storage since 1996. Mileage is claimed to be just 66,000, and the ad tells us that it’s an automatic, the Corvair’s two-speed Powerglide. The Corvair flat six displaced 145 cubic inches for 1963, and Monzas were available in two states of tune, 84 or 102 horsepower. No telling which one this car has, but it’s going to need some love. The seller describes the car as both “rough as you can imagine” and having a body that is “straight [and] solid.” Make of that what you will; I doubt this paint will hold a shine, but it might look okay after heavy cleaning.
There are a lot of unknowns with this Corvair, but it’s had only two owners in one family from new and while it’s been off the road for a long time, at least it’s been indoors. Obviously, any prospective buyer should look it over carefully—and being handy is a minimum requirement to take this one on—but if this is a complete car that isn’t being eaten alive by rust, $700 is a steal. Corvairs used a lot of materials and engineering that were advanced for their time, which made them an expensive pain for GM to build, but in their collector-car afterlife, they enjoy readily available, inexpensive parts and an incredibly dedicated, helpful owner base that should make this a fun project for relatively little money. This little beauty is ripe for a revival—that’s the gospel according to me!
grew up with a similar-colored ’62 sedan as our family vehicle & have distinct memories of feeling the slush coming off the front tire hitting the license plate turned into floor pan repair beneath my feet.
later i could see the texture of the asphalt at the edges as we drove. great little car with plenty of room for our family of five & unstoppable in the snow.
this one looks to battered for me but it is close by…..definitely worth the ask if it’s anything remotely as represented.
The twin-flags on the rear deck indicate that this would have had the 102hp engine when it left the factory.
I don’t understand why he bought it.
So we can assume that it sat outside from ’87 to ’96?
My brother inlaw had a red 62 Corvair he bought used in 69. Yes in the winters of the Chicago area it would go anywhere as long as you dressed warm and had a ice scraper to keep the windshield clean of ice. I sure wouldn’t pull a trailer that had much weight on it or try to stop it.
Nathan, I agree, it could be a good buy if the whole car is present. In either case, all the parts are at Corvair Specialties in Shelbourne Falls Massachusetts. When you’re done, it’s a great driver.
CLARK’S CORVAIR PARTS–is the business in MA that you describe.
Corvair Specialties is the name of my friends Corvair resto business in NC
It may be solid but I certainly wouldn’t call it straight. Lots of very hard to remove on drivrs side. Who knows what the pass side looks like.