Buy a convertible cheaply in the fall or winter, and enjoy it in the spring and summer. This formula for open-air classic motoring for less has been around for a long time, and worthwhile opportunities to achieve it actually emerge on occasion. When they do, though, you have to be ready, as I learned the hard way when a prime opportunity to acquire a car that I had wanted for over 30 years emerged. The car was a first generation Chevrolet Corvair Monza convertible, the time was September of last year, and the opportunity slipped through my fingers.
The Corvair has received its share of praise here over the years, and although I have never owned, driven, or even been a passenger in one, I can understand the love for this contrarian domestic car. When I first became interested in cars before the age of 10 during the 1970s, Corvairs in rough condition still occasionally appeared in the streets, looking different from anything else. The first books that I read about cars in the local public library, which further spurred my interest in cars, were 1970s books that made many references to the Corvair’s uniqueness, its reputation for oversteer, and Ralph Nader’s campaign against it. As a result, interest in having a Corvair convertible definitely existed in my head almost 40 years ago, and it never really went away.
Call me odd, but several years of owning a Porsche 911 Targa during the previous decade actually revived my interest in the Corvair. I enjoyed the sound of the air-cooled flat six and running through the gears with the wind in my hair, but not the speed camera tickets that came with increasingly frequency as those revenue collection devices proliferated where I live. It occurred to me that a similar experience at lower speeds in a Corvair convertible would be a good idea.
So when I spotted a Corvair on a lift while jogging past a service station in Washington, DC in September, I had to stop for a look, and what I saw looked too good to be true. It was a 1964 Corvair Monza convertible with no visible rust, even under the car. It was clearly a well preserved example of a first generation Corvair convertible. A chat with the garage’s mechanics revealed that the car was indeed for sale by its long-term owner.
This Corvair was not a Monza Spyder with the 150 horsepower turbocharged engine, but rather a regular Monza with the Turbo-Air 110 horsepower naturally aspirated flat six. It was capable of 0-60 mph in 13.8 seconds with a 3 speed manual or in 13.3 seconds with a 4 speed manual, with a top speed of 96 mph — hardly tire-smoking performance, but more than adequate for summer cruising. It was one of 31,045 Monza convertibles and 4,761 Monza Spyder convertibles made in 1964.
Making this Corvair even more compelling was the 4-speed manual and new-looking interior, which included an original optional pushbutton radio complete with Chevy bowtie. The only significant option that it appeared to lack was an air conditioner, whose vents would have been mounted under the radio, but in a car intended only for top-down driving on sunny days, an air conditioner would receive hardly any use anyway.
All of this Corvair convertible goodness was available for a surprisingly low asking price that I could have easily paid, with the long-time owner wanting to sell it before the winter, in part to avoid the effort and cost of storing it for the winter. Alas, I had to pass on it, because I had no place to store it. Having just sold a 1976 Toyota Land Cruiser that had been occupying my garage, I had already resolved to park my daily driver in the garage instead of outside in the summer heat and winter snow, and a family member with an extra garage space had just downsized into a new house with no garage.
There is no way that I would park a 1960s convertible without modern rustproofing outside in my area’s rain and snow, so I had to pass on this fine and affordable example of a car that I had wanted for many years. The moral of the story is that summer classic convertible cruising for less is sometimes possible, and if you are prepared when the opportunity emerges, you can make it a reality. If you are interested in preparing for next year, good hunting this fall!
Related Reading: Curbside Classic: 1964 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder – Activate The Turbocharged Scat
Curbside Classic: 1963 Corvair Monza Coupe – A Coup For Chevrolet; A Sedan For Me
Curbside Classic: 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder Convertible – The Turbo Revolution Started Here
Automotive History: 1960-1963 Chevrolet Corvair – GM’s Deadliest Sin?
I had two back in the day (around 1968-69). A maroon 1963 Spider sedan, and later a white 1963 Monza sedan. I traded the maroon spider for a 1959 Skyliner, and then sold the Skyliner and bought the Monza, which my Dad traded in on a one yr old 1967 2 dr white Thunderbird. I had a wreak in it and it was about totaled (not my fault). I now have a Thunderbird like that one!
3D photo of the 1963 Monza. Yep, I have liked 3D since in High School – I figured out how it worked on my own, and took photos with my Instamatic 154 camera.
I really like these cars. At high speed around a corner, I did once have the back end swing around on me – but I was young and dumb! I had the Spider to almost 120 one time. The instrument panel started to vibrate when going over 100 mph. Unsafe at any speed? – Well maybe at over 100 mph!
They are really cheap cars today. My uncle had a very nice black 1964 convertible a couple of years ago, that I could have bought for not more than $5K. Get a quality fan belt and change it often!
You really should treat your self to a test drive .
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I too prefer the first generation Corvair’s looks .
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Are you sure that’s a ’64 ? I thought al GM’s were alternated in 1963….
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I had a base mdel ’61 Coupe , it was a very good car indeed , light , crisp handling in any situation .
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-Nate
Yep, definitely a 1964. The give-away is the “grill” trim style. This design was unique to 1964, though 1961 was similar. As for the generator, Corvairs didn’t get an alternator until the 1965 model year.
I’ve had both a 1964 and a 1965 Corvair. They both would leak oil, and leak water into the interior in the rain (the door seals, near the vent windows). Despite all their problems, I love these cars. Would love to have another someday…
Thanx Jeff ;
My Buddy Jim was a Chevrolet Dealer Mechanic from before WWII to 1970 and he always loved Corvairs , told me if I fixed one right it wouldn’t leak , it might drip a couple oil spots .
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When I bought my ’61 for .10 cents the pound from the original owner , it pissed so much oil he gave me the galvanized oil drip pan with oil soaked kitty litter saying ‘ you’re going to need this ‘ ~ I scraped the oily kitty litter off , tossed it in the back and headed home .
It took me FOUR QUARTS of 40W oil to get it from Lancaster , Ca. to Pasadena taking the shortest route and I had to stop at the intersection of AFH and ACH to gasp for breath , it was night time in January and I had the windows open but the oil fumes nearly made me pass out .
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I replaced all the push rod tube O-Rings with Viton ones and hand cleaned every thing , smeared lots of Permatex on the O-Rings and it never leaked after that .
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The piston rings were shot so it still smoked a fair bit and it spit oil out the dip stick tube until I put a rubber cap on the tube and kept the dip stick in the passenger cabin when not checking the oil .
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Corvairs , when properly tuned , were peppy little things as they weighed nothing .
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If hard to start and slow off the line , something was badly out of tune .
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-Nate
Drove a 65 Monza coupe for a few miles back in the late 60s. My sister’s best friend had recently bought a lightly used example and miracle of miracles allowed me to drive it. That car had Powerglide, though, and I don’t remember much about my (short) drive other than it felt like we were riding on flat tires. My sister had a 67 Mustang with a V8, so you can imagine which car I preferred to drive.
When I was a kid, my next door neighbors had 2 Corvair convertibles. The 1st was a 63 Monza Spider, the 2nd a 66 Corsa. BOTH were equipped the same: burgundy with white top and interior, and a 4 speed transmission. The neighbor looked like David Niven: thin, black wavy hair, and pencil thin mustache.
A 2nd generation Corvair….one of the few cars where I wouldn’t mind owning the 4 door instead of the hardtop coupe or convertible.
I had a ’64 Monza convertible for many years and loved. Hot in summer, no A/C and I’m still alive.
Wow, almost identical to the ’63 I sold eight years ago – same color combination, although mine was originally silver blue and had been repainted white at some point.
While I doubled my money on that car (which, given Corvair values, isn’t saying much) I also learned a valuable lesson about owning a classic vehicle: The fantasy of cruising in a chariot of yesteryear is accompanied by fussy carburation, 50-year-old braking technology and quality control, rust, muddled repairs of former owners, and something that ALWAYS needs to be adjusted.
But sometimes as you’re driving around, you can’t help but grin.
A sad story. My best cars have always found me instead of the other way around. Will I be the first here to chastise you for your unwillingness to scrape a little ice from your windshield on workdays? 🙂
The automotive purchases I regret the most are the ones that didn’t happen. I have some shots of a nice original 64 convertible that I used to see occasionally, but I have notsseen it in quite awhile.
+1 Put the new car outside. Go back in time. Buy this.
Moments when I want to cry . . . . . . . . .
Very nice; I’d have been seriously tempted given the same encounter. If I ever run into a ’64 four-speed coupe in decent shape, I probably won’t be able to resist.
Second that, Syke.
This plus the Oldsmobile wagon would, indeed, represent an interesting contrast in GM’s output.
Both generations of Corvair look unusually good in white.
DC area Corvair owner here. Let me know if you’d like me to put you in touch with the Northern Virginia Corvair Club.
I’d have found a way…
Sorry, plant me solidly in the ’65-’69 camp.
My Corvair memories are sullied by the used ’62 Corvair 500 Coupe (the cheapo) with a PG that my dad bought from the local Ford store for my mom in about October ’64. I was only 4, but I remember it smelled funny (exhaust fumes), the engine was in the wrong place , it was slow (gee my brother has the gas pedal to the floor but we’re not going very fast) . I distinctly remember that I much preferred to ride in our new ’65 Galaxie.
I remember it being hard to start in winter, and my parent’s friend Mr. Mikasew, who owned the Royalite station in the neighborhood, frequently coming to jump it. Years later I found out my dad had been frightened by Nader’s book and felt my mother faced certain death if we kept it. It was replaced in December ’65 by a ’66 Mustang coupe, which was what my mom wanted all along anyway.
Wouldnt it be better with the spare tire & the battery in the front? Maybe even one of those toy spares would weigh less.
Yes, that’s what most ‘vair owners who like to drive them [vs. ride around in one] usually do. Improves the handling nicely, as long as you don’t need the trunk space! 😉