The Chevy Corvair of the 1960s was one of the most unique cars built by a U.S. automaker, at least up to that time. With its air-cooled, rear-mounted engine, it was like no other domestically produced automobile. And it was popular, with Chevrolet selling more than 1.8 million of the little cars across 10 model years. This 1964 example is especially neat because not only is it a convertible, but it’s also the turbocharged Spyder which was only built for three years. This forlorn Monza looks to have been sitting outdoors for ages and will need a lot of work (and budget) to come back to life. Located in Norwood, Massachusetts, this Chevy is available here on craigslist for $3,999 OBO. Thanks for the cool tip, T.J.
While Ford and Plymouth went the more conventional route with their first compact cars (Falcon, Valiant), Chevy decided to emulate the mechanical direction of the VW Beetle in a larger package. The Corvair was born in 1960 and lasted through 1969, though sales were at a trickle by then. Only two generations were built, 1960-64 and 1965-69. Ralph Nader lambasted the car for its safety (handling) at the mid-way point and that hurt sales as did the new Ford Mustang when it arrived in 1964. The earlier Corvairs were rather mundane in the performance department, so that changed with the Spyder addition in 1962.
The Spyder took the 140 cubic-inch (later 164) air-cooled flat-six and added a turbocharger, which nearly doubled horsepower to 150. It was only offered as a coupe and convertible and could only come with a 4-speed manual transmission. The Spyder was not a cheap upgrade at $317, that was in 1962. It would equal more than $2,700 today. Chevy built 9,468 Spyders in 1962, 18,739 in 1963, and 11,241 in 1964, of which 4,761 were convertibles like the seller’s car.
This sad-looking Spyder was last inspected in 1972, so we assume it’s been off the road for 50 years. And by the condition shown in the photos, that’s quite likely. Rust is prevalent in places we can see and more can probably be found where we can’t. Given that the convertible top is tattered and has holes in it, we’re not optimistic about the condition of the interior of which no photos are provided. Nor do we have any visuals from under the bonnet, so we don’t know if the all-important turbocharger is even there or complete.
No title exists for the vehicle, which appears to have been rescued and trailered to somewhere else. The seller has extra engines for sale, with and without turbos, but there is no discussion of price for those. While the seller would like to get close to $4,000 out of this vehicle, interesting trades will be considered for what may end up being a parts car for another project.
No car salesman here. Nothing to give buyers any clue what’s for sale here except an emblem collection.
Fresh off the trailer from the 90 year old widow’s leaky barn, for $500. Now yours, for $4 grand.
Let’s see. No title, no floors, top or interior. Might have an engine with turbo. Might turn freely, might not.
Best Idea? Find car, sit in it and fall asleep. Dream of what might have been forty years ago with this car. Open door and leave.
I can only imagine what the interior and underside look like.
Shame to see in this condition. 4k is ridiculous. I’m sure every bit of it is toast,
Cheers
GPC
Don’t dare close the deal without making sure that ‘strap-on trailer hitch’ is included in the deal!
Anyone else notice the screw on trailer hitch attached to the rear bumper? I’m not an expert, but I am guessing that this didn’t have enough torque to haul an overweight wife….. GLWTS.
New England ragtop that’s been left out in the elements for years ; for anyone living out in drier states, trust me, its a death sentence .
This flipper was so excited to get a quick profit he took pictures while driving behind his prize . .. that ,to me anyway, is a turnoff
Rust bucket without title at scrapyards here wont take a car without a title you have to cut it up in pieces and mix it with other junk parts it would be a lot of work with little pay Or maybe Ralph Nader could use it for display
Most junkyards would take a car this old with no issues
The bonnet?
Pip pip Cheerio & all that rot.
A bit of a stickie wicket.
No one in the USA calls it a bonnet.
Maybe a jag or mg.
Not a corvair!
Lmao
Not enough visual info, but not worth it. What I did notice is again confirmation about preference of car types. I have met so many Corvair guys who are also Pontiac guys (I have a ’65 Corsa and a ’67 GTO). In the first pic I see this Corvair, and in the background a ’66 Pontiac. Another data point….
Another reader of junk yard auto dealers price handbook. I guess they feel if a new car is $39K theirs should be worth 1/10 of the new cars price. Sorry no sale, I’ve owned two Corvairs. Didn’t like either one of them. The 64 needed constant attention and repair.
Personally I love them. However they do require a lot of hands on, and they’ve never appreciated like many classics.
To those who complain about the markup, I say “early bird gets the worm’. You can get a truck and trailer and drive around the country looking for abandoned cars or trucks too you know, then you can become the flipper markup man. When these cars were new a girl in my high school had a black one, and she drove it hard. I kind of envied her having that car, but at the same time my eye was on a red 64 Falcon Sprint Convertible sitting so pretty in the local Ford dealership show room floor. It had the 260 V8 and 4 speed manual trans, White bucket seats and white top. My dads union hall was just across the street so every time he went I rode along so I could go and drool all over my dream car. He wasn’t the kind of dad that bought his kids cars so all i could do was be envious of those who had new cars.
God Bless America
Not one of chevy best ideas.
I don’t think this was even in the barn, see where it was dragged from. It’s in really sad shape. Cool hitch!
My friend’s oldest brother had one of these back in the’70’s. Back then people called them Porsche killers.
Very sad to see this in the kind of shape it is. Ralph Nader should rot in car hell!
Corsair- only 12 years after the Tucker . . .
i would take the transaxle if available
Another masterpiece from the long collection was garbage motors built.
Alfa Romeo to compare had in 1962 the Giulia sprint speciale, 860 KG
weight with 1.6L DOHC 116hp, 5-speed and 4-disc brakes. The body
has a drag coefficient of only 0.28 what is much lower then what Audi
claimed in 1984 with their new series 100 (C3) with a cw of 0.34
So which model was Ford and Chrysler building in 1964 that had an OHC engine, 5 speed, and 4 wheel discs for $2500? Europe was way ahead of all the big 3 back then, not just GM.