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Not One, But Two Corvairs For $3,000

It’s rare enough to find a nice Corvair, but to find what could end up being two cars for a really good price seems like a really great find to me (thanks go to reader Clarke B for this one)! They are located in Traverse City, Michigan and are advertised here on craigslist for an asking price of $3,000.

Based on the tail lights on the silver car, I believe the red car is the 1962 and the silver car the 1964, but I could be wrong. Either way, the 1962 car is said to be the Spyder, with a rust free body, a fresh engine rebuild, a rebuilt turbo charger and rebuilt suspension. There’s also a large collection of parts going with the cars. I’m not sure I’d keep the aftermarket aluminum wheels but I’d have to see the finished product first. It looks like the body has either been painted or prepared for paint, but there is no mention of either in the ad.

The 1964 has no engine, but has a “perfect interior” and if I’m right and it is the silver one, looks pretty darned good in these pictures. Certainly not a car I’d want to turn into a parts car! Corvair engines can be readily found on eBay for well under $500 — I’d want to put this one on the road as well. We don’t know the transmission type in either car–if you are interested, a call to the seller would go a long way.

Here’s the rebuilt engine mentioned in the ad; it certainly has some shiny parts, but may have acquired a layer of dust during storage. How do you feel about these air cooled rarities? I think this has the potential to be a great buy for someone, and I hope it’s one of our readers so that you can tell us all about your new purchases and plans for them!

Comments

  1. Avatar Wagon master

    Rebuilt Spyder turbo engine and 2 cars sounds awfully sweet to pass up if a real deal.

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  2. Avatar Adam T45 Staff

    I have no reason to doubt you Jamie, but to me it’s a little bit confusing to me. Looking at the photos I would assume that judging by rear wheel cambers, the silver one has the engine installed and the red one doesn’t. Just a thought….

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    • Avatar Jamie Staff

      Adam, that’s what I thought at first, too. Basically, I was going on the tailights :-) Either way, it seems like a pretty good deal to me!

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      • Avatar Adam T45 Staff

        It’s a ripper deal Jamie. What a shame I’m in Australia!

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  3. Avatar Sam

    Nice deal for someone! My parents first new car was a “64 4dr door yellow Corvair with black vinyl interior. Long pants in the summer as the interior was hot. I remember drive in movies with blankets on the fold down rear seat. My uncle had a “65 Corsa.

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  4. Avatar gbvette62

    I’ve always been a fan of the Corvair, especially the Monza’s and Spyder’s, but I’m hardly a Corvair expert. In spite of the tail lamps, I think the silver car might be the 62, it’s at least a Monza, if not a Spyder. If you look closely, you can see the Monza emblem on the lower front fender of the silver car. If it’s a Spyder, it will have a Spyder emblem below the Monza one. The picture isn’t good enough to see it the Spyder emblem’s there though.

    I’m wondering if it’s actually a Monza, that someone added a Spyder turbo too? 62-64 Spyder’s have a round deck lid emblem, with red arrows circling it, and says Turbo Charged in the center of it. The silver car has the crossed flags emblem typical of a Corvair with the 102 hp engine, not the 140 hp Spyder turbo.

    For a car being sold in Michigan, the silver one looks like it has PA tags on it.

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  5. Avatar dogwater

    Not a bad price for a couple of headaches

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  6. Avatar Blindmarc

    In the 80’s a friend of mine had a “vair” engine in his sandrail. It was dyno’d @ 325 hp at the tires. We went to Glamis every weekend for like 6 months and walked all over the Porsche power rails. Now they make V8 versions of everything….

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  7. Avatar Caveman Pete

    The silver car looks like one that I sold to a fellow up near Traverse City a few years ago. I put a PA plate on the back of the car and flat towed it up to the new owner. The engine was stuck but I heard that he was able to free it up and had it advertised for $1000 or so. Might not be the same car as mine did not have a “perfect interior”. In fact the car was a one-owner with 99k miles on it and it was overall tired.

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  8. Avatar Bob S

    Can’t go wrong if there is no rust issues. Aluminum Block and heads, air cooled flat six Turbo car with independent suspension. Aren’t those usually expensive?

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  9. Avatar Scot C

    The “Michigan” car has a Pennsylvania plate??? I know that there are a couple of places here in PA that have huge Corvair collections, maybe a borrowed photo?

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  10. Avatar DavidC

    I had a 65 Monza 4 carb 140 HP. In 65 the turbo Corsa was 180hp! Mine with the 140 was pretty quick.

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  11. Avatar Steve in Charlotte

    The silver one is a ’64. We have a ’64 Monza which was my wife’s parents first new car. The little fake vents on the decklid is the giveaway.

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  12. Avatar mike lemley

    Hi All,
    On my way to pickup TWO Corvairs-’61 & ’64 from an auction. New to these cars but couldn’t resist.
    Will keep you posted if it is a “find” or a rathole.
    Mike

    Like 0

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