The Chevy Corvair entered its second and final generation in 1965. The design was superior to the first generation that caught the safety eye of crusader Ralph Nader, as sales of the ‘65s and later versions would fall off from year to year. The seller (a dealer) offers a restored and super nice ’65 Monza Sport Coupe that doesn’t quite hide its color change. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this sharp Chevy is available here on eBay for an affordable $12,900. Our appreciation once again goes to “Curvette” for the tip!
Demand for the 1965-69 Corvair may have been more affected by competition than Nader’s book, Unsafe at Any Speed. The hot new Ford Mustang competed to an extent with the Monza coupes and convertibles, and Chevy’s mid-size Chevelle also stole some thunder, as the sticker price wasn’t that much more. The ’65 Monza used the 164 cubic inch air-cooled flat-6 that came out the year before. Several iterations of it were offered in the Corvair, with the 110 hp set-up applicable to the seller’s car.
The seller’s Monza Sport Coupe was one of 89,000 produced in 1965 (but when was the last time you saw one?). It has 82,000 miles, but we don’t know how many have been added since the vehicle was restored. The glamour shots present a great-looking vehicle, though we’re surprised that the underside of the hood wasn’t repainted when the car’s color went from burgundy to yellow. We assume the Chevy is mechanically true, including the 4-speed manual transmission.
During the resto work, the Monza picked up a set of wire knock-off wheel covers, which really add to the appeal of the car. The black interior hardly looks used, and the only things that are known to be in-op are the radio and heater (wiring?). If you’re looking to get into the classic car scene, this car is priced to get you there without breaking the bank. And the seller included a walkaround video for your perusal.
This is a really nice looking Corvair, but I think I would have preferred the original burgundy color. GLWTA!! :-)
No matter what color, this is a very handsome design. The 4 door hardtops from ’65 onward also are really nice looking cars. The 4 speed is a huge plus here too.
I love Corvairs and this one looks great! Let me talk about swing axle rear suspension for a minute. It can be modified to be safer-Mercedes did just that with the 300SL (original coupe is twitchier than the later roadster) by adding a horizontal transverse compression spring which makes the weight transfer and camber shift less abrupt in hard cornering. GM went all out for the new Corvair and just changed the whole design to what I imagine was a much more expensive system. Once again for the Nader-haters I must reiterate that he was using GM and specifically the Corsair to make a larger point about the tradeoffs corporations make between risk to the consumer and cost control. It is a hard fact of life and a permanent feature of capitalism (for better or worse). I think the fact that the great Ernie Kovacs lost his life in a Corsair had as much to do with the subsequent post Nader brouhaha as anything!