I've passed this little Vair for two weeks now taking my kids to school in the morning. Decided to stop and nab some pics. It's very solid, and the flatroof sedan design is kinda funky. The body is in good shape, has factory Corvair hubcaps, no reverse lights, only metal trim covers where the lights would be. The inside is green and offwhite stripes, and it 's not torn up, but is missing one door panel card. It's a floor-shift stick car. Kinda neat! Don't care what Nader says!
Thats a 1960 base model, (the first year) in very good shape for its age. Not as exciting as the later Monzas, but cool because its so unique in the USA. GM made the classic mistake with the Corvair much like they repeated later with the Fiero; They designed a sports car, then whittled away the fun parts to make the car into a boring grocery getter and sold it on gas mileage. The Corvair could have been, and by the end of its run almost was, an American Porshe. It would be cool to own one because even the plain Jane cars like this one with a (probably) three speed gearbox are fun to drive. How much $$?
Don't know the asking price. Just nabbed pics this morning. I have a good friend with a blue '63 Monza, and I told him about this car, and he asked for pics. He loves Corvairs. Neat that it's a '60, first-year car!
Great pic's, Looks like a nice and clean survivor and should sell.:2_thumbs_up_-_anima I really was never a big fan of the Corvair, mostly because I felt the lack of the cars overall handling was a large deterrent for me, I remember seeing the original GM proving ground pictures of the complete GM line of new cars when the Corvair was new, driving off the one sided ramps in a row with the larger cars like the impalas and such models leading with the Corvair being last. All respects to the corvair fans, but if I was G.M and was trying to sell a product I would not have let the public see how this car handled coming off the ramps. It was all over the place, while the full frame cars were still going straight. I realize they even had the 4 (balance canisters) (not sure what they were called) on each inside corner of the body to help with stability but I don't believe they were of much help to the design. I even like the fact that the for sale sign was even made in the U.S.A.
He may have bought the car in calendar year 1959, but it would have been a 1960 model. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvair http://www.corvair.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=6&Itemid=213 By the way, the station wagon, introduced for the 1961 model year, was discontinued for the 1963 model year. I'm pretty sure the cars didn't have the traditional station wagon third row seat. [1961 ^^]
They were perfect for smashing into garbage cans and road signs with no radiator to mess up. I never did anything like that in a blue four door '61 with "Hootenanny!" spray painted on the sides and only had the emergency brake to stop...wasn't me. They make those signs right down the road from my place. Cleveland is the home of Day-Glo paint and ink.
Cute little bugger..... I think the '60 would probably be the only Corvair I might stay away from. Had a few improvements for '61 IIRC..... We should ask Hullinger to post up some pics on his '64 Greenbriar van/wagon.
I had a 69 coupe for a couple of years. Fun little car, but pretty slow with the base engine and the 2-speed automatic. Always liked Corvairs....that's a cutie!
Cool little car that's for sure, but a VERY basic little car, too. Looks like the only optio is the A.M. radio. There are 2 very important things about the handling on these. Notice the rear tires look low on air. They are correct at that pressure. The specs call for something silly like 18 pounds in the back vs. 25 in the front. The rears have to be a LOT lower than the fronts on these cars. The other thing is to add the front anti-sway bar the engineers put there and the bean counters removed. It cleans the handling up very nicely indeed. Performance from the flat 6 is not the best, but certainly no worse than the 6 cylinder Falcon and Valiant.
I will add that it is designed like a 911 and should be driven as such. On the 911 later cars used wider rears to help tame the trailing throttle oversteer. I don't know if it would help the Corvair too or not. I would love to have one (simple doesn't bother me one bit). If Nader was against it that is reason enough to like it. mike
Oh Man! Youze guys are beginning to sound like girlz! It's a small car. It has everything a REAL MAN needs to get him to work and play! I've never owned a Corvair but my first son had a rough coupe he drove for a few years. Admittedly it left it's black oily marks everywhere it was parked. It was not allowed to park on my cement driveway. They were decent little cars and did what they were supposed to do. Geez, I'm not about to post any pictures of a Model A or Model T. They don't even have AM radio or AC! Oh, while we are at it, no one mentioned the dents in the right rear door.
My neighbor bought one as his first new car the year after he graduated from high school. It turned in the 16's at the drag strip. We used all the high tech tricks of the day like putting 50 lbs of air in the front tires and putting 2x4 blocks in the front suspension to lock it solid. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima It also took Dead Man's Curve at 95 mph which was a record for we suicidal kids back then. A friend in college had one too. It had a trick dual exhaust made by P.A Sturdevant of early torque wrench fame. We used to hang out at his house once in a while as it was only a couple of blocks from school. Some of you may remember his Dodge Power Wagon with the blown hemi in it. He used to do exhbition 4 wheel burnouts with it on the drag circuit. Anyway, the handmade headers exited straight back into a pair of 90 degree bends to which the mufflers were attached. They crossed under the rear bumper and were suspended by a bracket from the bumper. They pivoted with the engine torque. He raced this car in ice races in Wisconsin. I can remember drilling holes in a brand new set of Michelins and screwing bolts into them.
Hope you're not includin' me in that. I would love one of those to play around in. Nothin' like a good dose of TTO to keep your blood flowin'. The trick is to keep adding juice through the curve and be ever ready to catch the tail if you mis-judge it. mike
