The Chevrolet Corvair | Vintage
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มี.ค. 2013
- In 1959 the Corvair became the first rear-engine production car made in America - and Chevrolet's answer to the VW Bug. By American standards, the Corvair was very small (4.50 meters long) and unusually light (weighing around 11 hundred kilos). Drive it! discovered a number of specimens of what is a very rare American in Europe.
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Long Live the Corvair!
This video really brought back some great driving memories. Anyone who thinks these remarkable cars were "horrible monstrous death traps" has obviously never driven one. Whether commuting, joyriding, autocrossing or chugging out through freshly fallen snow to buy groceries, these cars were an absolute blast to drive.
Best cars GM ever made. I've owned every make and model they made except for the motor home and the station wagon. Got a 66 Monza 140 coupe now .Built it from the ground up. Love it.
The ending says it all...."the man that owns a Corvair will not part with it willingly". I own a '63 Monza Convertible. Purchased two years ago for a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway only but now I won't get rid of it.
You would think that a man hates corvairs that badge wouldn't want nothing to do with it or never mind seeing one in his garage that's a odd thing to do if you hate them why are you wanting one ralph nader was and still is a nut.a saftey looney tune .i had a 2.7 liter turbo 4 speed it was no slouch if a person tries hard enough he can flip anything
Mr nadder didn't know much about what he was talking about.people who still have corvairs love them and like to keep them now there a huge club for them he tried to kill the little car but it didnt work there rare and cool.ralph nadder can go and suck.
A egg I drove mine hard never flip it ever
If you hate something that bad why would you want one.when Hadid that all.his credibility was gone hes ben dismissed years ago as egsadurater no one cares what hes says any more hes a problem person
I have the 1960 Consumer Reports auto issue, they said the Corvair over-steered less than the VW or the Renault Dauphine, another popular rear-engined, swing-axle car of the time.
There's a corvair near my half brothers house just rusting away, I'm totally thinking of buying it and fixing it up when I'm older. It'll be so awesome!
Love this review. It gets almost everything right. Very unusual for a Corvair review..
+1!
Great video and is accurate in explaining the swing axle issue as being more of a driver issue and not a design flaw.
Thanks for posting.
Proud owner of a 1965 Corvair Corsa Convertible
The Corvair is a beautiful car!
I had a coupe. I loved that car. 150 hp in that light of a car made it very fast.
I have a '69 that was built within the last 3000 units ever built, which means that it was built in an unused cafeteria at Willow run. Sales had petered down to just 6000 in '69 and it had to be taken off of the line because it was disrupting the Nova II production.
Definitely a fun car to drive, and it handles beautifully.
Very well put together. Well produced. Someone did their homework. I recognize the voice from Chicago.
Great post...enjoyed immensely as I have a 64 European Styled convertible..Corsa historian does not know of any others in the States. Shipped to GM's plant in Antwerp, Belgium in Jan 64 and then to Germany. Shipped back to Florida and after a long journey north is now in WV. Thanks for shedding some light on our journey....
My mother bought a new '63 Monza sedan, maroon with black interior, 102 hp automatic (mom's car), I hit a rock wall and flipped it into a telephone pole at around 100 mph. Totaled. Roof was crushed and pushed through driver's seat. I got out without a scratch but my buddy cut his arm crawling out through the glass of the upside down ride. Needed 7 stitches. My dad couldn't come to terms with insurance company so he made them buy a relplacement car. 1964 coupe 110 hp 4 speed. It was white with blue interior. These little cars were tough with fiberglass on sheet metal. I hit a Chevel in the rear (trunk to trunk). About $600 damage to the Corvair, $1200 to the Chevel. That was graduation night, 1967. Dad sold the car when I went to college that fall. He finally did something smart. Oh yeah, with studded snow tires they couln't be stopped in the snow unless the snow was so deep it lifted the uni-body off the ground. Great fun.
I owned a drive 66’ Corvair Monza in high school. I loved that car, probably more so than any other car until recently. It could carve a turn better than any Mustang or Camaro. Wasn’t super fast, but could exceed 110 mph. With the Thrush exhaust I installed I sounded sweet. I also had American Racing 14” magnesium 5 spoke wheels with Michelin radial tires. Huge performance booster. Looking back I wish I had never sold it.
That sounds like one heck of a car, and we'd regret selling it too!
I have owned 3 early Corvairs and on all 3 the first thing i would do was drive down the road and go around a curve and i could tell right off that the front tires had around 32 LBS of air by the feel going around the curve and i would let the air down to around 18 LBS and then it took the curves great.
Should have read the "Owners Manual', that would have save your bacon in the first place.
Always liked the design. Looks like a shark. Smooth mover. Thanks for putting this up. Really a well done production.
My first two cars in the mid 70’s were late models. 67 Monza and 66 Corsa. Now all these years later I’m buying a 66 Monza with 140. I’d love to own his beautiful Corsa convertible turbo!
Right on! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully you will have this in your garage one day too.
Top speed of around 190. For those who need a translation into the English units of measurement, that's around 118 mph.
Ralph Nader has been a consumer advocate. At issue in Unsafe at Any Speed was mainly that automobiles should be safer for their occupants in the event of an accident. I've had 34 Corvairs and may one day have another one.
I don't know why Ralph Nader went after the Corvair with his anti-Corvair campaign and book "unsafe at any speed. " I owned a
Corvair when I was stationed overseas, and have driven several, and in my opinion, they're a great driving, fine handling vehicle.
They were also much more stable than a Volkwagen "Beetle" in any kind of cross wind(s). It was faster, more powerful and
very reliable. Like the "Beetle", it was relative;y easy to work on. I'd love to have one today, but they're now considered
"collectibles", and although relatively plentiful, they're prohibitively expensive.
+William Krutt Take a look at Ernie Kovac's death car and read an account of the wreck, then tell us how stable they are.
Cars stability are always effected by drunk driving and wet roads. Kovacs had left a party, had been drinking and was driving at a high rate of speed. I guess Porsches, Mercedes and other makes are highly unstable too. Just look at all the other makes of cars that many celebrities have died in,
The stability depended a lot on the tyre pressure, though. Not something ordinary people look after every week.
You're right. I forgot about that. If I remember correctly, the front and rear tire pressures had different recommendations. Plus, it was also presupposed that the driver wasn't going to drive it like a Formula Racer, and use common sense. I owned the Corvair "Monza" and I wish I had it back. It was a quick little beast on the straightaway.
A lot of it had to do with the fact that American drivers had never experienced a rear-engined car and didn't respect the car's completely different handling characteristics. But it's true that the first four years of production had a very primitive suspension that could sort of catapult the car if conditions set up the wrong way. The camber could change drastically if the car bounded into a dip or something, and if combined with throwing the car into a turn without being aware of the inherent oversteer, it could be disastrous.
I read that the early Corvairs handled badly for the most part because the engine came out quite a bit heavier than Chevy had planned for, so all the potential for these problems really appeared when they released the car with the primitive suspension.
The late model was completely different. I had a '66. It handled almost neutrally, and it was very predictable, and a sweet thing to drive. The fully independent rear suspension brought the car closer to something like a Porsche, although I've always thought the comparisons with Porsche were kind of ridiculous.
I had a 62 Corvair Monza and I must say I really enjoyed driving it, Air pressure was extremely important. It was killed by some woman in a huge station wagon skidding on a icy road and coming back at me There was no injuries except to my Monza. Radial tires would have been a big plus, had they been available then. I was in France while I was in the army (62-63) and the Corvairs I saw there looked right in place with all the small European autos. There was a twisty road near where I lived in New Jersey and I loved taking that road using down shifts in the transmission to take me through, rather then spinning the steering wheel. I don't know what Nader had against this auto, but I look back after some 50 years and recall how much fun it was to drive, I drove rear wheel autos both in France and here in the US.
Dad had one; a Monza. It was an amazing car. Think it was a 62 model. It was a quick little bugger ! Mom didn't like it. She wanted automatic transmission. She was only 5 foot tall and clutching aggravated her hip. But when she got mad, she was a NASCAR driver !
2nd generation's were beautiful. 1st generation with that curvy glass were cute.
My second car was a 1963 Corvair Monza Convertible. Red with white interior. My most unforgettable chariot. Back then, drivers did not know what they had.
Holy cow that appears to be a 1961 Monza sedan with the very rare Monza cloth interior!! Looks like someone added the 700 trim to the side. Also his 66 Corsa Turbo convertible has a non-wooden telescopic column! Also rare! I love my Corvairs! I proudly own several including sedans!
You forgot about the Tucker !
It was the first US production model w/rear engine configuration !
Thanks for letting us now!
3:23 The "dove-tailing effect" was mostly due to owners refusing to adhere to the tire pressure differential that the rear-engine configuration required for optimal(best) handling. Hence, the propensity for the front end to feel light. Follow factory recommendations and problem solved. I also find it a bit telling that Nader was so adamant about the swing-axle on the Corvair, when both Porsche and VW used the same set-up. I think Nader was looking at the deepest pockets he could dig into, however, his actions were the impetus for many safety improvements in US cars, like mandatory seat belts, etc. Viva le Corvair!
I have a 64 Monza Spyder Turbo Convertible. It's a fun, and really well handling car!
We had three of them when I was younger. They were fun to drive, but the speed limit back then was 70 mph and a two-lane road meeting a semi was not fun because the car was so light.add a 20mph Headwind and it would literally blow you off the road. That with the oversteer is what killed the corvair in the US,
I think countries are missing out in not producing a version of the Corvair. I'd buy the second generation today.
Great car. Only down fall were the 0 rings. And fuel pump failure. But loved the car
Great car. Never sold in Oz, but lots of character and way different to the usual yank tanks. My idea of a classic. Rob
A "Yank tank"......priceless! Is that Australian slang?
By TOYOTA automobile museum i saw …from Japan thank you.
He is correct, there is a Corvair in the Toyota museum. I own a '65 Monza convertible.
The Corvair was innovative but was not the first rear engine production car - I think that can go to the Tucker though only 50 were produced.
The Tucker was hardly the first rear-engined production car, that arrangement goes back to the dawn of the automobile. "Modern" RR cars were developed in Europe beginning in the 1920s and both the Tatra 77 and Mercedes-Benz 130H predate the Tucker by 15 years.
southshore516
You are correct - I should have been more specific that the Tucker was probably the first post war American rear engine car that was more than a one off experimental. There was even a car w/ a rear air cooled radial engine made in the late teens or early 20s (one at the old Harrah's collection) but there was only that one or maybe two made - there are always exceptions. Glad you mentioned Tatra. At the time, Tatra was probably the most advanced rear engine car (or front engine for that matter!) ever made. Shame they were never exported to the US in any kind of number, if at all, officially. There is a car museum in/near Nashville Tennessee that has 23 of them - most in the world except in the Czech Republic.
southshore516
Going back even earlier to the horseless carriage days, the rear engine placement was probably more popular than front engine. The Curved Dash Olds introduced in 1901 was one such car. However, with the engine under the seat it technically could be called a mid-engine car.
Lest we forget the Volkswagen. I remember my aunt driving one when I was a boy. Was it perfect? No, it was as basic as one could get. All it had were seat belts for the driver and front seat passenger, a heater, and a radio. But it drove in just about every weather and temperature imaginable. :)
Jason Carpp
Of course. But the Bug wasn't built in the US and we're specifically talking about cars built in the US.
The Corvair was Chevy's answer to the Bug. That's why it was rear engined and air cooled and compact and cheap by American standards. But it wasn't as compact and cheap as the Bug, which is why the Bug didn't ever get shut out of the American market.
I had a 67 Corvair...very embarrassing]...till I owned and drove it. I thought when young it felt like a Corvette. I didn't know though... Now that I have owned 3 Corvettes, including my Z06, I know I was right. I wished we still had that ( a Corvair )in a '2014' version to compete with the Porches 911's....and yes even Ferrari...Everything motorama is good, right ?
I have a '64 Aqua Blue Monza Convertible, it's my baby!
i think i prefer first generation chevy corvair then in 1965 to 1969
I learned to drive in a '65 Corvair, 2 door, blue. Loved the car but the oil seals in the rear blew out more than once.
The Corvair was a complete model line in the US. As you mentioned, 4-door sedan, coupe, convertible, station wagon and van. The van was part of the Corvair 95 platform (95 inch wheelbase). There was the van with multiple door options and 2 versions of a pickup, one called the "rampside" that had a fold down ramp on the side of the bed that folded all the way to the ground to form a loading ramp.
th-cam.com/video/uBnyRNifSts/w-d-xo.html
Where is the vin number on a 1965 chevy corvair someone stoled the placard out of the window of mine and i do not see it on the door please help
Does anyone know please help
At 3:08 they said "80 to 150 horsepower". At first I thought they said "850 horsepower". Wow! I had to rewind and listen to it again. Go, little Corvair!
He was wrong in that. It was 80 to 180 horsepower. The late-model Corsa with the turbocharger produced 180 horsepower.
Pre-'65 the HP rate was 150 @@bretfisher7286
mrcsdavj: I understand that. That's not what he said. I'm correcting him.
Still is & will all ways be the most exotic car ever built in the USA late 1959 1st air cooled flat 6 ,Porsche did not have 1 till 1965 ? 1962 turbocharged ! Porsche did not have 1 till 1976 as a option ,1966 Don Yenko introduced the stinger! which out handle Chevorlet Corvettes in the mid sixties. Say it aint so, just the facts!!!
13 inch wheels was a problem. Along with push rod tube o rings.
My father owned a '59, '64 and a '66. Everyone of them were destroyed by a drunk driver within a 4 year period. Paul Anderson, the world's strongest man (he lifted 3 tons) from Vidalia, GA, use to own either a '66 or 67 that was black with red interior. He sold years ago before he past away. I have no idea who owns it today.
One of the most fascinating cars ever. But I would not call it "solid engineering". They brake down a lot. On the other hand, it is an old car, so no harm done.
I wouldn't want to be in a Corvair at 190!
Ok let me share some of the corvairs known facts. It was originally supposed to challenge the mustang in the affordable sports car market. In that task it failed miserably. There were never any real problems with the car... most problems came the owners. Ralph Nader wrote a book named (Unsafe at any speed) in which he called out many of corvairs faults. Years later research showed that most problems came from the owners not following safety guidelines. Things as simple as keeping proper tire presure. My father had the satationwagon version and I was always intrigued how we never got stuck in the pennsylvania snow storms.
Corvair 1960: Mustang 1964
+Vyk Vyper
Wrong, the Corvair came out in 1960, four years earlier than the Mustang. The Corvair was built to compete with overseas cars especially the VW Bug.
Interesting to hear the German take on the Corvair, a country with an excellent automotive engineering reputation. As an American I heard all the news stories that it was an unreliable and unsafe car, the icon of poor American engineering. Yet as a kid my uncle only owned Corvairs and loved them. I thought it was a really great looking car. Now I have another reason to dislike Ralph Nader other than getting Bush elected President.
How can you say that a car that "sold 1.4 million...never took off commercially"?
It's difficult nowadays to understand just how enormous GM and it's market share were in the 60's. The fact they considered 1.8M a failure really puts it in perspective.
"They never really took of" only 1,800,000 sold so GM dropped it.
Howdie does any body Know How to open the hood in the back can,t find out How thks for the help Please Farmer
I googled it for you. Maybe this will help you:
corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,405446,405507
/mw
thank you again let ya know how it goes
I want one, I want one, I want one. hehehe
"In 1959 the Corvair became the first rear-engine production car made in America - and Chevrolet's answer to the VW Bug." Actually the Tucker was a rear-engined production car out of the US offered long before Corvair. But even before that some early automobiles had the engine in the rear. However, Corvairs have now a technology in front of current automobiles with all their features combined. Many cars today combine independent suspension all around with unibody construction, transaxle, screw jack and aluminum V-6 (Corvairs had a 180 degree V-6). But the Chevrolet also had no water pump, radiator or hydraulic pump for steering boost- probably a little bit superior to current automobiles. Of course current cars are front engined and safer.
Daniel O Carey but the Tucker never went to production, it was killed off before it was started only built 50 cars so Tucker could qualified for it's plant in Chicago by the U.S. Government, it never officially open for business. also Corvair had a Boxer style engine (a flat engine) opposed cylinders it was a good car but Americans did not know how to handle them compared to the huge U.S. cars at that time.
Billy Pate The Tucker had a boxter engine too, although liguid cooled. It was an airplane engine.
But I like Corvairs. I've had one Monza coupe, one Monza Spyder coupe and a Corsa turbo convertible. And the engineering is advanced even for today's cars in some areas of engineering.
The '59 you are making reference to was sold as a 1960 model. That is when Chevrolet 'introduced' the Corvair, not 1959.
"Corvairs had a 180 degree V-6" ........there was NO 'V' to them. I'll give you the 180 degree, but NO "V". Horizontal opposed (180), air-cooled, six. Or a boxer, but again NO "V" six. That's like saying the Chrysler "Slant Six" was an in-line or better yet a half twelve V-6.
Such a shame that such a good classic car is so underratwd..but great for collectors and old car fans looking to get into the hobby for the first time...
how could anyone ever truly compare a Corvair to the little ugly VW appliance called bug!?? other than the location of the engine and the general layout of the drivetrain, they have nothing in common, the Corvair is a sleek stylish beauty, and reasonably sporty, while the bug was, well a bug :D
+CHUUMPASS True. the Beetle was in fact a very bad car. My father owned several, and it was not that realiable even. The handling was even worse, but that did not matter in ordinary driving, though.. Worst was, it had a bad heater and NO equipment, the fuel economy was bad, and still it was not cheap. The only good things about it were, it was easy to work on because of simplicity and they did not rust as fast as the competition did.
1:32 lol
10 years and 1.9m units. Maybe extinct in Europe but not in America. I love Corvairs and haave owned 3 of them. Would love to get a couple more. Some of the crap you come up with. The Corvair always had 4 wheel independent suspension. Get your facts straight.
First production turbocharged engine? WRONG! Olds Jetfire with the turbocharged V8 beat the Turbo-Corvair to market by several months.
Olds beat it by 2 weeks and did not last as a successful turbocharged car. The olds suffered much mechanical gremlins and the turbo was dropped. The Corvair turbo while primitive did succeed and was kept in production for 4 years starting at 150 and later 180hp. So, it was he first SUCCESSFUL production turbo charged car.
Both the F-85 and Corvair first appeared in 1962, however with so many problems, the Oldsmobile Division of GM dropped it.
many laugh at this car. just like. they laugh at me. because both of us. are never taken seriously. one because of car part and me with autism. we are the ones overlooked. and we try to shake it off but sometimes it just hurts. when we are left out.
i love over steer i know how to drive that helps
All you can do with understeer is slow down. If you control the oversteer with throttle, you drift.
GM = General Mess
A poor man's Porsche.as any one would know.
When you drive feel nine? I think this automobile is not so bad.but price is look like hop price.
nine? I mistake correct is nice.
mine are not for sale
son malos carros turker esos eran carros
Are you sleeping? so sorry sorry.may be see you any where.well good bye good bye .
“coo-PAY” ?! Please!
- Pronounce the word coupe like this, “COOP”. Thank you (signed - everyone in the North America).
Whoever made this video should really read it Ralph Nader's book unsafe at any speed. These cars were horrible monstrous death traps. And the engineers at GM knew it.
However one thing did come out of the Corvair, we now have the National highway transportation safety administration. If we didn't have them, American cars would be just as bad now as they are then
Since you mention the NHTSA and Ralph Nader, you must know that Ralph Naders claims on the Corvair were debunked by the NHTSA in 1972. They found no propensity for roll over or loss of control on the corvair. They did find the Renault and VW bug did. These tests were done at Texas A&M by the NHTSA at Naders urging and they were proved false. The Corvair is the only car of date to be declared "Safe" by the NHTSA. Thought you should know these facts.
+Flat6 All true. But still a 30/70 weight distribution is not good for Joe Average. And Joe Average drives it, so any mass produced car shoud fit Joe Average. This one did not, and was thus not well engineered. However, just because of that, the car fascinates me. Pity it was never sold in Europe (except in Switzerland).
Excellent response to the above poster. In 1969 I turned 16 and begged my older brother to send me the money to buy a car. That was in March and he was in Vietnam at the time by "request" of Uncle Sam. He sent me a money order for $1,000 and I went shopping. I ended up buying a 1965 Corvair. Red, two door, three speed on the floor, four cylinder. Pretty much stock as I remember, its been 47 years. I paid $600 for it ("saving my brother 400 bucks!). I never had a accident with it, never slid off the road, never rolled it over. None of the things Nader said they did so often. If a sixteen year old kid, as green as grass, could buy one and drive it for I don't remember how long without incident they couldn't have been that unsafe!!!
They never made a Corvair with a four cylinder as you say yours was.
Wrong on all counts.
Easy to look back and say it was great,it was not! You'd see them on the side of the road broken down about every day.That "ugly" bug was a helluva lot better car.
You really don't know what you're saying. The Corvair was indeed one of the most reliable cars on the road in it's day. And it remains one of the most structurally sound cars ever built. Here in the USA some Corvairs are used as daily transportation. In fact in Erie, Pa there is a man that has owned nothing but Corvairs since 1961. He drives them 15-20,000 miles a year. And it really is prettier than the VW bug.
Bull crap. You might like the Beetle, but the Corvair was safer. larger, and reliable.
Bull crap indeed. As an owner of multiple corvairs who even drove them cross country multiple times, they were darn reliable. Start up and go in northern weather. Handle well if you know how to drive. My recollection of bug engines is they needed to be rebuilt regularly. There is an abundance of BC in some of these comments.