Cohort RalfK (Don Kincl) has posted some finds from a recent walk in his neighborhood in Puyallup, WA. One that caught my eye was this ’67 Chevy II 100 two door sedan. Why? Well, having had Corvairs on the brain recently, it truly is the anti-Corvair, with its tall stance and boxy body. And of course, original cars like this are getting quite uncommon, especially these, as so many Chevy IIs gave up their bodies to a hotter calling.
I always love the brochure shots for the cheapest stripper cars; they’re inevitably in settings totally unfaithful to their actual owners and use. Here’s a fine gentleman in his suit picking up two stylish women with their shopping at an upscale mall in his four-cylinder 100. Right. Should be a cheap old codger picking up his dowdy wife at the Salvation Army thrift store.
Yes, the Chevy II 100 four cylinder was “Chevrolet’s easiest to own”, exactly $38 cheaper than the Corvair 500 coupe.
But then the Corvair 500 had a bigger, more powerful and much smoother 6 cylinder engine, and of course a very handsome hardtop coupe body. Never mind four wheel independent suspension and the best handling of any American car. What a steal for an additional 38 bucks.
Can’t recall the last time I saw a stock 2-door Chevy II
One of my co-workers had a 2-door post years ago, he made the typical mistake of making the car unpleasant to drive while making it fast. It got tubbed out and had a supercharged 350, and he sold it after a year because it was miserable on the street.
For $38 more I would take the Corvair, since after our recent trip I have a newfound appreciation for them.
Another ‘stock’ old car gone to pot. Sad. In the early 2000s I used to buy OLD CAR TRADER magazine every month and marvel at how many pages were full of ‘Rods And Customs’ for sale. Once-original old cars now turned into someone’s ‘vision’ . . . and now the ‘visionary’ wants to sell his customized auto for a lot of $dough$.
_THIS_ .
And I still get hassled whenever I mention that stockers always out last Hot Rods .
? Why change it if you’re making it miserable to drive ? .
-Nate
Funny you should mention those old brochures which put the cheapest models in more regal settings. Even funnier that you mention the gentleman in the suit driving. Why, you might ask? Well, my Dad always had company cars when I was a kid. He was in Fleet Management for Paragon Oil Company, which was a subsidiary of Texaco. The cars they gave him were always stripper 4 door sedans, and typically, compacts. During those years Dad always wore suits to work, and if there were work functions that Mom would go to, with him, she’d get gussied up as well. I can picture Mom and Dad all decked out and going to those functions in the Dark Blue 67 Chevy II 100 4 door sedan that was his company car until a promotion in 69. With his promotion came a bigger car..A 69 Biscayne 4 door sedan. Thanks for starting out my day with great memories!
I have a sales brochure for the Ford line of cars available in 1964 and the ’64 Ford model I own isn’t shown anywhere in the brochure except in 1 shot on a country road. The booklet didn’t even try to pass off the cheeeep Standard Series Falcon as anything to be found in an upscale setting. You see the better-equipped Falcons with nicer trim in groovy settings. There’s a pic of a convertible with fancy trim options on a beach meant to entice prospective buyers. Dig it. 😀
I was getting a chuckle out of the fancy “Ermine White” and then I saw your caption.
I’ll have you know that my grandfather used to pick up my grandmother at an upscale mall in a ’67 Chevy.
Ok, ok, my grandmother was a petite, stylish and impeccable dresser and worked at an upscale department store (Younker-Kilpatricks). And, the Chevy was a well equipped Caprice two door hardtop, black vinyl over Marina blue.
It wasn’t until just now that I realized how faithfully the 1967 Plymouth Valiant two door sedan mimicked this car.
One of my grandmother’s friends had an early Nova. I remember it as a Nova. Black with red interior. Sharp car – I can’t remember if it was 2 or 4 door. Probably a 6 though. Sweet little lady in her shiny little Chevy. I loved riding in that car when I was little.
Grandma didn’t try to learn to drive til she was 60 or so (in the early ’80s) and grandpa was gone. Then she scared herself so may times, she just had us drive her around in her 71 Cutlass (Supreme?). Brown on brown. But a pretty cool car other than that. Wish I had it now for sure. It was V8 I do know that.
I guess I can count on 1 hand how many times I’ve seen one of these “base trim” Chevy IIs, but especially as a 2 door. I often wondered if the ones I did see had the 4 cylinder engine. ALL were either white or that light metallic blue and with whitewalls like the blue car pictured.
When these were new, it seems to me that buyers of cars in this price range were more likely to buy Valiant and Falcon…..in that order.
It’s just downright depressing to me that this dowdy thing went on to spawn numerous offspring right up until the end of the 70’s while the Corvair was neutered and put out to pasture. Such a travesty.
Am I the only one who thinks “Chevy II 100” is a really dumb name? Although it is a digit short, it reminds me of those old telephone numbers with the named exchanges (like PEnnsylvania 6-5000). There are too many numbers for it to make sense. Shouldn’t it be Chevy 2,100? Or maybe Chevy 11,100. That’s a difference of 9,000 by my calculations.
You have probably noticed that I have always thought “Chevy II” was a stupid name for that model. It also amazes me how the GM division that prided itself on low priced style and luxury (and the “Jet Smooth” ride) was still out for the skinflint dollar.
Agreed. Considering the Nova trim name was available from the get go, why they didn’t just name it Nova from the start is beyond me.
But, then, Chevy futzed around with Chevelle and Malibu in those years as well. I guess it gave the marketers something to do.
For that matter, it took Chevy until 1986 to get all the B-body trim levels unified under one nameplate, something Plymouth had done with the Fury I-II-III-VIP (that last still badged and advertised as “Fury VIP”) by 1965 and Ford had mostly done with the LTD by 1972 or so, occasional reappearance of Custom 300 availability to retail buyers notwithstanding.
The big Chevys made a bit more sense with their name ladder in the 1960s, in no small part just due to their incredible sales volume. The Impala sold in numbers sufficient to be a standalone car company.
However, the distinction between the Biscayne and Bel-Air was mostly academic, especially in an era when you could option up almost anything.
Fury did have a rather tidy name arrangement, but also seemed to have a few too many names. VIP always struggled, and Sport Fury eventually ran out of gas. The almost perfect arrangement would have been Fury I (fleet), Fury II (family), and Fury III (luxury). Or, roughly Bel-Air, Impala and Caprice in Chevrolet parlance.
Agree, the Corvair is really the “Chevy II”, since it was their first non full size family car.
It sounds more like a sports score to me.
Living in Uruguay, my perspective is different. My Dad got his ’68 4 door Nova in ’71. It had a 230 engine, three speed manual, tinted glass, AM radio, and power brakes. And that was it. No chrome whatsoever. No clock. No….nothing. And, even though you could get (only from leaving diplomats) much nicer cars (mostly Impalas and Caprices, which were highly optioned in comparison to what was usual in the US), an almost new American Nova was indeed a flashy car. No wonder our American family would scratch their heads. Did I mention that the first owner of our Nova was the Soviet Embassy? That was weird…
I can count easily the CKD cars that were assembled here, mostly Argentinian, Brazilian and German. For a couple of years we also could buy a basic Dodge Dart sedan with a Slant Six. That was also a car for people with money.
I saw the same thing in Angola. The Russian mission there liked Volvos – even though there was a local factory outside Luanda that assembled KD Ladas!
Was going to say that was weird, but I guess they went for the superior product.
While Chevy II seems like a dumb name, you have to remember it preceded the Chevelle/Malibu, and with the somewhat un-Chevy like Corvair as the only other Chevy sedan it was essentially the Chevy Jr.
If anything is confusing it’s the 100 and 200 names. Is a 200 TWO times better than a 100?
Perhaps the Chevy II driver is the butler, picking up two chic maids who are collecting their mistress’s shopping. And doesn’t the driver of the Corvair look a little like Ralph Nader?
I would have bought one solely because it came with the exclusive “battery-saving Delcotron generator”! ?
I’m more intrigued by the flush and dry rocker panels…
I want the 25 plus cubic foot trunk. That and the self adjusting safety-master brakes
Love it. A friend of mine had a 66 Chevy II Nova hardtop and not the two door sedan pictured. Pretty nice.
But back home in Rosemead she caught some thugs stealing front end parts from it.
Styling is better than the half hearted 65.
It makes me wonder what the point of the Nova hardtop was. Especially since (imo and flame suit on) the ’66 redesign really played up how disproportionately small its’ greenhouse is to the rest of the car.
I hate to say this Paul, especially as a Corvair owner. Yes the Chevy II was the anti Corvair. But among so many Chevrolet fans, the Corvair was the anti Chevrolet.
Bob
In the 70’s, a friend of mine bought a ’67 Nova SS from one of the Carolinas for about $300. It needed some work. As far as I know, he owns it still. It’s now worth MANY times what he paid for it.
Did Chevy sell ANY Chevy IIs or Novas with the 4 cylinder engine? My father tried to order one that way in 1969 or ’70 (whatever the last year was for them) and claimed the dealership wouldn’t order one for him.
Come to think of it, my friend with the SS acquired a Chevy II 4-cylinder engine. But I’ve never actually seen one IN a car.
“Did Chevy sell ANY Chevy IIs or Novas with the 4 cylinder engine?”
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/the-little-engines-that-could-part-4-six-minus-two-equals-roughly-unpopular/
With the possible exception of the first year (1962), when some sources suggest about 24K were built, they didn’t sell many. Chevrolet production totals from this era are notorious for discrepancies between sources, but there were at least a couple of years where the consensus is that production was below 1,000.
IIRC, the four wasn’t available in Novas until the Chevy II line was collapsed into a single Nova trim level in 1968. Before that, it was only available in the lower-line Chevy II 100 and 300 series. The last year the four was offered was 1970.
Nice mainstreamer survivor! I like the Lincoln Mark V lurking in background, in light of the Mk VI post yesterday.
Is it just my imagination, but why do so many low line Chevys seem to be in this particular blue color?
Corvair? Best handling of any American car?
Wow, 1967, must’ve been an AWFUL year for the US auto industry, if the problematic Corvair was the best “driver’s” car.
No wonder the Europeans were catching the eyes of many enthusiasts in the 60’s.
If the Corvair were such a marvel, why would Ralph Nader bring up it’s bad ergonomics and deathtrap attributes…even go so far as to write a whole book about it?
You can still get good running, drivable Corvairs for around $800-1500.
Although, the Corvair was attractive by 1965-69…Uh, no thanks, rather have a Dart GTS or AMX.
The second-generation Corvair was a whole different kettle of fish than the early cars, something even Nader admitted. (For that matter, so were the ’64s, last of the first generation.) Second-generation cars have their flaws, as did most American cars of the period, but they have basically a Corvette Sting Ray suspension with coils instead of the transverse leaf springs.
I doubt you can find a decent Corvair for $800-$1500 today. Maybe in 1970. Or 1990.
Here’s the thing: There are many decent Corvairs out there, many in great shape.
Obviously, they engendered enough loyalty and affection that they’ve been kept on the road for a long time. So some one liked the car.
Compare this to the number of Ford Falcons, or Dodge Darts on the road and available for sale.
In 1968, the Corvair was a great handling car, with manual steering and IRS.
I am no Corvair lover, but in fairness we have to recognize that the first series Corvair that Nader was firing at had been modified substantially with the second series (and even some suspension mods in 1964). I do not dispute that by 1967 it was a good handling car (for people who could deal with the rear weight bias). That said, I would prefer a Dart GTS too.
My Uncle bought a Chevy Doosh (as my cousins named it) for my hesitant-to-drive Aunt around this time period.
He called his buddy-the-car-salesman at the local small town Chevrolet-Buick dealership, they chatted about options (few), color (Unk didn’t care) and price (the longest part of the telephone call.)
The salesman dropped off a gold metallic (Sierra Fawn in Chevy speak) with beige vinyl interior, 4 cyl, PG, heater, no other options at my Aunt/Uncle’s house “for approval”. (My cousin later installed a Western Auto AM-FM radio in it.) Unk passed by the Chevy dealer a few days later and filled out the paperwork.
14 years later they still had the faded gold turd; had less than 30K on it. They offered it to every one of their 4 kids….nobody wanted it.
Unk later said that it was the only car he had ever purchased over the phone, sight unseen, like it was a washer or dryer or other dull-but-reliable appliance.
This 1963 brochure page for the bottom of the line Chevy II was much more compelling. Shown in a more attractive color and aimed at the first new car young family demographic the car was intended for.
What new car today, at almost any price, is available in 15 exterior and three interior color combinations?
Thank you ~ .
My very first Chevy II was a beige four door 100, wretched 194 C.I. i6 engine but I loved it anyways .
My Ex Wife trashed it learning how to drive and in time I gave up and sold it for pennies
These were amazingly cheap cars but still very good dollar value and did yeoman duty sans complaint for decades .
-Nate
Beige is a color that just screams “cheap” on most cars of that era, even more than white. In America, the straight six was always a “poverty spec” engine, but I disagree that the 194 was wretched compared to the competition. The competing Falcon and Valiant sixes were smaller (170ci) and only had four main bearings vs. the seven bearing Chevy six.
Actually Nikita ;
Most Americans bought 6 cylinder vehicles back then, big or small .
I owned and worked on many of Ford’s i6’s as I’m a mechanic but the low power of the 194 i6 was horrible ~ I lived on a steep street at that time (Anan Way in No. W. L.A.) and the car often couldn’t ascend the hill unless I shifted into low and pinned the throttle as the bottom of the street where it was flat .
I really liked this car a lot but, it was also incredibly cheaply made, no getting around that .
Remember : I’m an un apologetic Chevrolet Fanboi but I’m also honest and willing to call a spade a spade .
I wish I still had my 1963 Chevy II Nova Super Sport ROP 471 with three speed manual….
It was thrashed nearly to death but i loved it just the same and rebuilt and re painted the whole damn worthless thing just the same then put lots of heavy miles on it .
My pristine, one owner low mileage 1961 Mercury Comet Coupe, not so much even if it did have white paint and red upholstery, my all time favorite color combination .
-Nate