Fast, what’s essentially the most controversial American automobile ever constructed? Was it the Edsel? The Pontiac Fiero? The Chrysler Airflow? That wasn’t a severe query, as a result of all of us know the reply already: the Chevrolet Corvair. As we speak’s Junkyard Gem was constructed over the past gasps of Corvair manufacturing and now resides in a self-service automobile graveyard in Denver, Colorado.
Decide Your Half simply shut down its funky, muddy outdated Denver operation on Federal Boulevard and moved it to a brand new location nearer to the I-70/I-25 interchange. The automobiles sit on pavement as a substitute of filth, there is a good view of downtown Denver, a taco truck sells lunches within the car parking zone, and all of the stock was recent for the April 1 grand opening.
I used to be one of many first prospects to indicate up that morning, and so the Corvair nonetheless had all its badges when I discovered it.
Greater than 2 million Corvairs had been constructed for the 1960 by 1969 mannequin years, and loads of them nonetheless sit in driveways, garages and yards awaiting repairs that by no means come. Meaning it is not too tough to seek out examples of GM’s radical rear-engined compact in junkyards to this present day.
Since I began writing about discarded gems and treasures of automotive historical past in 2007, I’ve documented greater than a dozen Corvairs in locations like this, together with a 1960 700 sedan, a 1962 700 wagon, one other 1962 700 wagon, a 1962 Monza Membership Coupe, a 1962 Rampside pickup, a 1963 Monza Membership Coupe, one other 1963 coupe, one more 1963 coupe, nonetheless another 1963 coupe, a 1964 convertible, a 1964 Monza sedan, a 1965 Monza coupe, a 1968 Monza coupe and some dozen Corvairs sitting in a subject close to Pikes Peak.
The historical past of the Corvair is just too complicated for me to cowl adequately right here, so I recommend that you just go learn each phrase of automotive historian Aaron Severson’s obsessively researched article on the topic earlier than we go on.
The brief model goes like this: Rising numbers of American automobile buyers had been selecting small imported automobiles in the course of the second half of the Fifties, with Volkswagen Beetles and Renault Dauphines shifting out of showrooms in enough portions to make Detroit at the very least barely nervous. The American Motors Company cashed in on the development by constructing compact Ramblers, which bought very nicely. Chrysler, Ford and GM every started creating compact automobiles that might debut as 1960 fashions.
Chrysler and Ford launched some engineering and styling improvements with the Valiant and Falcon, however these automobiles had been nonetheless fairly conventional machines with water-cooled engines mounted up entrance and driving the rear wheels. Normal Motors, then again, selected to go radical with its new Chevrolet compact.
To avoid wasting weight and permit using a flat ground within the passenger compartment, the Corvair acquired an air-cooled boxer-six engine within the rear of the automobile. Combining the transmission and differential assemblies right into a single transaxle unit and eliminating the liquid cooling system resulted in a nimble and environment friendly automobile, with the primary Corvairs scaling in at round 2,300 kilos.
With bench seats and a flat ground, six occupants would match inside (People had been each smaller and extra tolerant of compressing collectively in automobiles again then). There are some apparent drawbacks to the air-cooled/rear-engine design, in fact; it is tough to warmth an air-cooled automobile in chilly climate, for one factor. What proved to be extra vital for Corvair gross sales was the totally different dealing with you get with a rear-heavy automobile geared up with a swingaxle suspension versus the “conventional” front-engined automobiles most People had been driving because the days of the Ford Mannequin T.
Comic Ernie Kovacs died in a extensively publicized Corvair crash in 1962, and tales of Corvairs wiping out in oversteering, axle-jacking crashes grew to become commonplace (many Corvair homeowners disregarded Chevrolet’s advice of protecting entrance Corvair tire strain at 15 psi, which did not assist issues). Corvair gross sales had been strongest in 1961 and 1962, declined steadily from 1963 by 1965, then nosedived in 1966. Ralph Nader and his “Unsafe at Any Velocity” e-book get a lot of the blame for the Corvair’s demise from fanatics at present, however that e-book wasn’t revealed till late 1965 and did not get a lot consideration till pretty deep into the next 12 months.
Chevrolet gave the Corvair a real unbiased rear suspension for 1965, however few paid a lot consideration by that time. Sober hindsight exhibits that the Corvair wasn’t considerably extra harmful than different compact automobiles of its period (in actual fact, nearly all of them had been deathtraps by trendy requirements), however automobile buyers stayed away. Simply 15,399 Corvairs had been constructed as 1968 fashions, versus 377,371 for the 1961 mannequin 12 months.
The harshest competitors for the Corvair got here from inside the Chevrolet Division itself, within the type of the Chevy II/Nova. Launched as a 1962 mannequin, that automobile regarded and drove like a smaller model of the huge-selling large Chevys, whereas being simply barely greater (and cheaper) than its air-cooled showroom neighbor. Beginning with the 1963 mannequin 12 months, Chevy II gross sales beat Corvair gross sales and by no means regarded again. As if the Corvair wanted extra bother, for 1964 Ford launched a sporty Falcon-based automobile that competed instantly towards the Corvair Monza coupe.
This automobile’s inside could be very tough from many years of out of doors storage. I discovered 1995 registration paperwork inside and there is a 1997 Colorado emissions-testing sticker on the windshield, so it is a secure guess that it hadn’t pushed underneath its personal energy for at the very least a quarter-century.
Passengers had been inspired to mild up inside.
This automobile is a base 500 Sport Coupe (by 1968, solely Corvair hardtop coupes and convertibles had been obtainable, in 500 and Monza trim ranges), and it has the 95-horsepower engine.
1968 was the primary 12 months for the Corvair with the “Air Injector Reactor” system, in any other case often known as the “smog pump.” Most homeowners eliminated and discarded their AIR {hardware}, however this automobile nonetheless has all its unique engine elements.
Unusually, it was bought with the non-compulsory two-speed Powerglide automated transmission as a substitute of the bottom three-on-the-floor or non-compulsory four-on-the-floor handbook. This automobile would have been fairly sluggish, even by 1968 requirements, with the bottom engine and two-speed slushbox. The MSRP for this automobile was $2,243 ($20,412 in 2024 {dollars}) with three-speed handbook, with the Powerglide including $153 ($1,392 after inflation).
The physique is not rusty, and it is a uncommon late-production Powerglide automobile, however venture Corvairs simply aren’t value sufficient to spare all of them from a junkyardy destiny. The excellent news is that Corvair components, each used and copy, are nonetheless comparatively simple to acquire. Should you’re in search of a Nineteen Sixties Detroit venture automobile that appears cool and is enjoyable to drive, the Corvair is a clever selection.
Clings to the highway prefer it had claws!