Text by Patrick Bell.
The Corvair suffered a complicated life during its decade as part of the Chevrolet family. It was introduced in the ’60 model year as an import fighter and compact. It missed the mark as Americans showed they wanted a miniature version of Detroit’s standard size cars, not an Americanized foreign style. But it did find some favor as a sporty compact and it helped develop the market that led to the ponycar.
My parents bought a well used ’63 Monza Club Coupe in the summer of ’68 as a temporary replacement for a ’62 Studebaker Lark that threw a rod bearing, as my dad did not want to take on a car payment. They kept it about a year, and spent about what they paid for it keeping it on the road. During the spring of the next year, it became the first car I drove, so my memories of it are fond for that reason. It was a four speed, and I still recall the trouble I had getting used to the clutch.
Our first image today is a ’61 700 that could have been either a coupe or sedan, it is hard to tell from this angle. It looked close to new, had a ’61 issue Texas license plate, and that looks like the location as well. It had a white top, which was unusual as I don’t recall any two tone Corvairs. It must have been photo day as the lady also had her camera ready.
This one is a ’63 Monza, but again it is difficult to determine the body style (of the car). It had an early issue black California license plate and was likely the location also. There was some minor damage to the right corner of the front lower panel, probably from a close encounter with a curb.
Here is a ’62 700 Club Coupe from California with a Hatch Chevrolet license frame and perhaps a military base decal on the bumper. Hatch Chevrolet was located in El Cajon, which is a suburb of San Diego. In the background was a ’58 Pontiac Chieftain or Super Chief from Arizona. Since the Corvair had clothes hanging in the back seat, my guess it was the visitor. 1962 was the best year ever, sales wise for the Corvair with over 292,500 units out the door.
In that best seller year of ’62 just under half (49.5%) of them were Monza Club Coupes such as this sharp looking one in black with a red interior, making it by far the most popular model. The gentleman in the image seems to be happy with the one he is posing with. In the background appears to be a ’60 Rambler Custom Cross Country wagon.
The best I can do on this one is a ’64 Monza Club Coupe. I believe it was modified slightly. The wheel opening trim (missing on the rear), rocker molding, wheel covers and backup lamps are all ’64. The tail lamps appear to be ’64 but they are missing the chrome trim. The nameplate on the engine cover and the chrome trim around the upper style line are all older model. At any rate, it was from New York. I wonder how well that phone handset cord worked as a tow rope. They do look like they were having fun.
From ’62-’64 there were two convertibles offered, the Monza and the Monza Spyder, a turbocharged version. The non Spyder version was always the most popular, and this ’64 model with Baby Moon hub caps was one of 31,045 while the Spyder added another 4,761 to the total. Combined they were less than 19% of total sales. The ’65 Ford Falcon in the background is wearing an Ohio license plate.
Two well dressed ladies heading to or from an event of some sort. The one on the right was holding on to her “flying saucer” hat. Their ride was a ’61 Monza Club Coupe, and it looked close to new in this image. In fact, there was a sticker on the far side quarter glass. In the background, a ’57 Buick Century 4 door Riviera.
Station wagons were offered in the ’61 model year, with a short run in ’62 as it was cancelled when the Chevy II was introduced. For ’61 there were the 500 and 700 models with both also having the “Lakewood” name. Total sales were just over 26,000. In ’62 the Lakewood name was dropped and the models were the 700 and Monza, which was available with the bucket seats. Sales for both were down to just over 6,000. Mom was checking on her twins next to a ’62 700 from California that was still in its first year but looking like it had a serious oil leak. To the left was a ’56 Buick Special or Century, and to the right a line up of sports cars with the closest a Triumph TR2 or 3.
Definitely a GM neighborhood featuring a white ’64 Monza Club Coupe with a creased quarter panel, red ’64 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe across the street, beige ’69 Impala Sport Coupe in the driveway, and a ’67 Pontiac 4 door hardtop in front. It looks like a warm summer day.
A prim and proper looking lady with a ’60 700 that was five years old per the photo date. The 700 4 door sedan was the most popular model in that introductory year, making up over 55% of production.
The search result reports this was the Tri-Taylor Neighborhood in Chicago in 1971. This ’63 Monza Club Coupe does not look too bad for an eight year old car, other than needing a good detail. It was equipped with the optional and seldom seen bumper guards, and did have some minor damage on this side, but I don’t see any rust holes.
To close out today’s gallery, we have one image from the second generation, a ’67 Monza Sport Coupe from New York, on the top floor of a parking garage. The second gen brought a fresh style with two and four door hardtops, as well as a convertible offered. Sales revived somewhat in ’65 when they were introduced, but never achieved the ’62 record. The revival was short lived, as ’66 sales were about 44% of ’65, and ’67 about 26% of ’66. The new Camaro came into the family in ’67, and took over the sporty compact position. In the background was a ’65 Mercury Monterey Breezeway Sedan. At first I wondered what all the old tires were for, but I think they served as protection when you parked too close to the wall.
Thanks for viewing and have a great day!
These Corvair photos bring back a memory: A guy I went to High School with got a ’63 coup Corvair. Back in those days in Southern California hanging out on Sunset blvd in Hollywood was a cool thing to do. So he drove us out there. But when he turned left onto Sunset Blvd, the right rear axle tried to tuck under the car and jacked-up the rear end and swerved sideways. Now any rear engined car with swing axles and flat rear tires will do the same thing but can you imagine the headlines? “Kids roll Corvair on Sunset blvd…..Hippies run for their lives”
Just a couple years ago I learned Corvairs and my ’62 Jetfire daily driver back in the day were the same body. It never occurred to me back then. They seemed so different. The Corvairs seemed much smaller and lower.
Back in high school a friend was stopped in front of my school bus with 4 kids total in his Corvair, He popped the clutch when he took off and left two strips of rubber about 6 – 8 feet long. I remember it because I always considered Corvairs to be too spindly built to be abusing them like that. Especially fully loaded plus engine/transmission weight in the rear. I don’t know how much longer the car lasted, I didn’t know him that well.
Lots of great shots here! That ’67 is a sharp ride for sure. It also makes me feel a bit better about the hood (frunk?) alignment on my ’65 Corsa which has so far defied my best efforts to get it to line up….
It’s a fine sunny morning here on Vancouver Island, think I’ll fire it up and take a drive after I finish my coffee and morning Curbside!
I like these photos, my old 1961 Corvair base coupe was fun and easy to drive .
One has to have driven one to understand the appeal of these cars .
FWIW, back in the day painting the roof white was very common on vehicles in Desert climes .
-Nate
The NY-plated ’64 with the kids playing in front of it has probably had some reconditioning with trim parts on hand and little regard to originality being just a used car around a decade old – the license plate, the kids’ clothes and the not-being-played-with plastic trike all point to the ’70s.
It also has an aftermarket dual exhaust system, something never offered from the factory.
I’ll add one more here that I came across recently – a picture of a Corvair getting fueled up at a full-service Esso station in the early 1970s. Looks like one attendant is fueling up the car, another is cleaning the rear window, and a third attendant is checking the oil.
I have always had a thing for Corvairs. My experience of them was a 1965 four door hardtop, the new body style. It was in really good shape and had the four one barrel carb setup, advertised at (I believe) 140 hp. It was backed up by Powerglide.
The Powerglide seemed to suck the life out of that engine as the car was not as quick as I thought it would be. The car itself was in beautiful condition. I wanted to buy it but dad would not let me have it. He saw the Corvair as too complicated for a 17 year old newly minted driver. Instead, I kept driving my 1974 Corolla, which never needed any fixing.
I always wondered if the station wagon engines had less air cooling capacity due to the rear end configuration. It just looks too boxed in to be effective.
They probably worked fine, The critical factor is air flow into the vents and through the tins. VW Type 3s used a similar laid down engine and had no particular problem as long as all the tinware was intact.