(first posted 7/15/2017) It may be a Corvair summer over there in CC’s home states, but here in Melbourne it is freezing right now. However climate alone is not enough to inhibit the CC effect and case in point is the first Corvair I’ve ever seen on the road. Caught last week.
This shape is much fabled, due in no small part to one of the seminal articles that convinced me of the true eminence of Curbside Classic. I’ve seen an F-85 vert the from the same era on the roads here, and personally I prefer its approach to the basic shell – particularly at the front. But to repeat what has been expressed in many a CC piece, this is a superb example of styling brevity.
This one sits in the upper echelon of the Corvair hierarchy – that 900 tower and Monza triangle denote the top trim level. Though I am loath to shoot the interior of someone else’s car uninvited, the Standard Catalogue of American Cars lists bucket seats, cigarette lighter, back-up lights, deluxe steering wheel, glovebox light, full wheel covers, distinct badging and chromed rocker trim as standard. The lack of Spyder callouts means no turbocharging. 36,693 of these made their way out onto the roads back in model year 1963.
It proudly flaunts a Georgia plate, and whenever I see mention of that fair state my mind turns to the superb song by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell. I’ve got much cherished versions by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, and I’m hoping some of y’all can point me to a version sung by a gal with a whole mess of ole timey flavor to it.
This is no trailer queen, and it’s probably not apt to describe it as a winter beater either. Its air-cooled engine will no doubt help starting during these colder days, but I figure that top will stay up for a few more months yet.
One thing’s for certain, driving this with the heater and radio on dreaming of sunny days ahead is a surefire way of beating the winter blues.
This remains a very good looking car decades later .
-Nate
Love it, Don! And what a great example. Given both the scarcity of Corvairs and current temps in your region, I will take neither for granted today here in Chicago.
Cheers Joseph
It’s a really nice day here. Joseph, I actually caught the first Corvair I saw in a decade earlier this year up at Addison and Elston. A definite CC candidate with turquoise paint and a lot of patina.
Georgia On My Mind by somebody who never sang a bad song…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6wc41N-GYY
Great winter find, also!
The Quebe Sisters do one of my favorite renditions: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PC6GpzAcIDE
Jason, you have just pointed out a great hole in my collection.
Ed, simply exquisite. Let me return the favour
Kids these days…
Gentlemen, thankyou
Don, since you mention songs about Georgia, here’s one that popped in my head. You’ve likely heard it, but it has a good story.
Yep, that’s a great song. While we’re on a Georgia jag…
I could derail this topic right now by asking “What IS it about Georgia and popular music?”, but I won’t. 😉
D’oh, how could I forget
Pete; it sits in an area of the US that is the veritable crucible of the best popular music ever created.
Not that everything was always sweetness and light there back then.
One of Georgia’s finest young men…
Wonderful song! I was lucky enough to see Charlie Daniels in concert once and it was great.
There are also two versions – one where he calls the devil a “son of a gun” and the other where it’s “son of a bitch”.
You’re forgetting the Hound Dog…
Don, “Hickory Wind” has been a particular favorite of mine since I bought “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” in 1968. That album has a very special place in my heart, and was such an influential one, as it played such a key role in the pivot from psychedelic rock to “country rock”. It’s one of my five all-time top favorite “rock” albums, although that word hardly applies.
Thank you for this excellent rendition. Nice to hear someone do it justice.
There’s also that version on Grievous Angel featuring Gram’s really sweet harmony with Emmylou Harris. For some reason they added a live bar-room audience sound into it. Still very, very nice and I’m hoping a clean mix will emerge someday.
I like Sweetheart of the Rodeo, but an even better Byrds-related gem from that same year IMO was The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark, featuring ex-Byrds singer/songwriter Gene Clark, with some contributions from his old bandmate Chris Hillman and future Eagle Bernie Leadon. Recent reissues include some excellent additional songs.
While on the topic of Georgia songs, we must’nt ignore Sweet Georgia Brown. The most famous version may be the one from 1949 which was adopted by the Harlem Globetrotters.
https://youtu.be/opmwfRqdGsg
? Did you say ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ ? :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ThSi1wbqU
-Nate
Wonderful capture Don! I love the jaunty parking placement. The first picture really drives home how cars have grown in size, I don’t know what sort of Toyota sedan that is but it looks enormous next to the Corvair. Have people grown in size by a third? Cough.. Music? I’ll throw in ‘Midnight train to Georgia’, Gladys Knight and the Pips, even if that wasn’t the exact question..
Camry. Yes, at least.
That song manages to transcend the many, many repeat plays its still gets on classic radio. Love it to bits.
I am presuming that is a Toyota Camry or something similarly sized. Nevermind next to the vair look at the size of it compared to the ninties Pathfinder !
Lets not forget LaVern Baker….
-Nate
Much obliged Nate, I’ll keep a look out for her version.
I don’t think she ever made a cover of it, I just like her voice .
So much good music out there and all I ever hear is trash blaring distorted out of cheap speakers .
-Nate
There are a few good singers out there. Just harder to find is all.
Meanwhile, time to get some religion.
If I take my dog for a walk tonight I will walk right past a tin roof version of this car and that will make a CC effect “threepeat”. How often does that happen? Just noticed in three consecutive posts and viewed by me in the same order.
Nice catch. Yes the Corvair is a genuine compact, and in height particularly so. One of Ed Cole’s main arguments for its rear engine was so that it could seat six without a floor tunnel. Of course, nobody bought a Corvair to seat six, and within a year the bucket seat Monza coupe was the best selling version by far.
In that first picture of the Corvair between a late model Toyota and the SUV, it is striking how diminutive the Corvair appears. Quite a contrast!
What’s even more surprising is the Corvair was designed to seat (perhaps optimistically?) six people whereas today’s cars can barely fit four comfortably. I guess the average 1960s people were a lot trimmer than today’s average people.
To the other Canadian contributors and readers of CC. Don claims that the Melbourne is freezing with daytime highs of 15°C (59°F)!
Yes, it still boggles my mind how cold the climes are in your parts. Here its only freezing in a figuratively speaking kind of way, although I noticed our nation’s capital of Canberra (about 1000ks north of here) recorded an overnight low of -8 degrees C a little while back. Pah! That’s a Canuck summer.
It was legitimately freezing last Tuesday night, lots of ice on the car Wednesday morning. Yes I am aware we barely now we are alive… years ago we had a Finnish exchange student stay with us, telling how they used to ride bicycles to school in -20°C.
At first glance I was thinking “here is another car that I have seen too”, but the otherwise-identical one I saw was RHD! Here it is with a white LHD convertible.
One thing though, did they have Right-Hand Drive Corvairs down under? And if they were did Holden sell them?
No, we never had them as GM/H imports. Very rare here. Holden designer Phil Zmood, who gave us most of the HQ Monaro and GTR-X Torana, had one when he was posted in the US in the mid 60s. A post-65 coupe now resides in his garage back here.
NZ has RHD Corvairs but how they got that way I’m not sure, my dad mentioned them occasionally but I dont think the Chevrolet dealership he worked at ever had any they are quite rare here too.
Interesting. Maybe they were privately imported and swapped over back in the days before you could register LHD cars. Odd car to do it with though, back then you bought US metal because you wanted BIG.
During the development of the Corvair, GM referred to it as a Holden project in order to maintain secrecy as long as possible. The earliest running prototypes had Holden badging, and the development team even used Holden stationery.
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/a-rear-engined-holden-27194
I’m sure there were a handful of Corvairs imported when they were new or near so, imported by specialist companies who did the conversions probably on behalf of individuals. As Don says I don’t think there would have been very much demand since they provided approximately the same package (ignoring the rear engine, air cooled part) as a contemporary Holden, which also competed against the Falcon & Valiant.
Very nice find, Dottore Andreina.
That Corvair looks almost spindly compared to its immediate neighbours.
As for Jawjah On Mah Mind, how’s this version?
Thank you Professeur T87. Peggy Lee has a real ‘knowing’ inflection to her voice, like she smiling to herself when she’s singing.
Like Don, I’d never seen a Corvair in the metal. At first I thought someone had made a 7/8 scale fibreglass replica – somehow I always imagined Corvairs as being bigger then that.
Nope, that’s actual size. I have a ’64 coupe. In particular, they are quite low. On the road, you become very aware of being knee high to modern pickups and SUV’s.
Our own Renee Geyer sang a version of Midnight Train to Georgia.
As to the weather here in Melbourne, I don’t handle cold temps well, and I simply cannot imagine the winters in Canada and North America, the good thing is we are half way through it and can only get better, eventually.
Now there’s a feisty woman.
Thank you Gentlemen for sharing a little bit of America’s rich musical history .
Some years ago I was able to lay hands on several CD’s of vintage Folkways music ~ The Smithsonian owns their catalog and sells them .
I need to find some Helen Reddy CD’s ~ my old albums are too noisy from age .
-Nate
Oooohhh, another gorgeous Australian lass. Recently diagnosed with dementia, sadly.
Did a Corvair look that small next to a 1963 Impala? I think that Camry would tower over a big Chevy of the time. Length and wheelbase is another story.
I’ve been looking at that picture at the head of this article for a while now and I just can’t help but think that Corvair is a 7/8s sized replica. Maybe it’s the camera angle or the lens. Something’s off.
I feel like I should know the answer to this, but… do Corvairs have heaters? Maybe a gas-fired one like some VW’s?
Yes. There was an excellent article on here last month about that very topic:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-corvair-cold-comfort-heating-optional-1960-1961-your-choice-of-gasoline-or-engine-heat/
I saw this very car advertised on Carsales about 2-3 years ago, out Ringwood way. Looked up “Corvair” on that site after reading on CC the great Corvair styling article Don referred to. Rare indeed, it was the only one in Aus for sale, and cheap for a US convertible here (about the $12k mark I think). Looks good with top up, ever so slightly bath-like with it down. Sedan for me then, but what a find.
*meant to say “I’m fairly sure I saw this very car..”
I saw an online ad for one. $45,000 AUD and it had been converted to a full Commodore drive train.
It is good to be reminded of how small “compact cars” really were. More than any others, the Corvair pulled the proportions of a big American car down to a compact size.
I’ve got a piece coming up that suggests the Falcon did a better job of shrinking US proportions to a smaller scale. Stay tuned.
Georgia is still a music powerhouse. In fact GA Tech is teaching classes now involving ATL music from the late 90s til now. http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.42105/title.trapademics-georgia-tech-now-has-course-dedicated-to-trap-music
A very tidy Rampside pickup for sale on trademe here 39k if anyones keen
Asking price: $39,000 Or Near OfferListed within the last 7 daysWatchlist Listing #: 1370425416
Hi Bryce, you should check out the Studebaker four door six on TM.
It´s funny to see how old cars look tiny when close to a modern cars. I do not the modern cars design. All of them just like as fat pigs.
Ha! I rode in my friend John’s Corvair Greenbrier to a car show last weekend – so smooth riding, solid and refined, with a lovely flat 6 note.
That’s a 1963 Corvair in the photo. Chevrolet manufactured 284,680 Corvairs in the United States for model year 1963, of which 44,165 were convertibles like that one.
In addition, Chevrolet manufactured 6,880 Corvairs in Canada for 1963, most of which were knock-down kits for assembly in countries other than the United States.
These were popular cars back then!
I can’t believe how small and particularly low that Corvair is compared to the Toyota next to it. I can’t believe that when I was young I had an Austin Healy Sprite and didn’t notice that it was small…..
But then again we didn’t have pickup trucks the size of small buildings either.
I love series one Corvair convertibles, but at this time I don’t think I am ever going to get one. When I first got my licence my mother had a series 2 Monza 2 door with dual carbs and a 4 speed but my older cousin had a 64 convertible. It was also a 4 speed but with a wooden steering wheel. Even nicer.
I’d like a first series “4 door”, or a second series (of either two or four doors).
Corvair’s are really interesting, neat and -different- cars, one has to drive them to fully grasp.
They handle more like Sports Cars than like regular American Sedans and this caught many owners out .
-Nate