(first posted 7/10/2017) The Corvair may have been outsold by the dishwater-dull Falcon, but good luck finding so many vintage snapshots of Falcons with their doting owners. Americans loved the Corvair, and with good reason: It was the first American car that was compact, stylish and fun to drive. There was nothing quite like it on the market, and folks snapped them up, especially the bucket-seat Monza.
I picked this for the lede because this could be me and my beloved first car, a ’63 Monza sedan with the 110 hp engine 4-speed stick. Just two minor details are different: Mine was white and I had long dirty-blond hair. But we’re both Corvair lovers.
The Corvair played a very special role in America during its heyday (1960-1964), as it was the first genuinely sporty compact car, never mind that it was rear engine and air cooled. As such, it developed a unique following and image. The Corvair was actually by far the most successful of the Big Three compacts in conquest sales of import owners; import sales did take a big dive in 1960. And contrary to what some claim, the Corvair actually sold very well, right through 1965.
The Corvair’s image was unique, because it appealed to a wide range of buyers, and not just the tweedy, professory import set. It was all-American, and as such, it crossed all kinds of lines. The range of buyers that were attracted was very wide, and it was by far the only thing remotely of its kind at the time. Americans were really ready for something different, and the Corvair gave it to them, without it having to be exotic or foreign.
The Corvair also developed a following in Europe, although not as wide-spread as one might perhaps imagine, as American cars were expensive, and the Corvair, with its relatively large six cylinder engine, was anything but an economy car there.
A racing stripe gave even the stripper 500 coupe a sporty flair.
A twin Corvair household.
The one Corvair household.
There were plenty of women Corvair buyers, given that they constituted a vocal backlash against the ever larger American cars of the time. The voice of reason found its car. And big cars continued their terminal decline, in no small part because of the Corvair and its kind.
A plain 1960 500 coupe gets a bit of pizazz on the hood.
The Monza was a brilliant concept, in that it allowed even frugal buyers to enjoy a nicely-trimmed, sporty personal car. The Monza was of course what inspired the Mustang, which took that formula to new heights.
Corvairs were cool from the get-go, and only got more so with time.
This base sedan represents the Corvair in its original intended role: as an economy car, but a different one.
Needless to say, the Corvair was the ultimate snow mobile. Nothing like having 62% of your weight right over the drive wheels.
Yes, the Corvair appealed to folks who appreciated engineering and sporty handling.
First wheels, undoubtedly.
A Monza coupe was something to be proud of.
Now here’s something different: A Corvair flat towing a ’64 Le Mans or GTO.
No owner in this shot, but a quite rare Baldwin shark-nose locomotive makes for a good substitute.
She deserves a Monza coupe; this lady is not stripper material.
Air cooled engine; air-dried laundry.
Smile!
The Cowsills and their Corvair touring van.
Quite likely a German immigrant with his kids and his “Poor Man’s Porsche”.
We can’t be sure it’s their Corvair, but it’s possible. The 1961 Plymouth, with its Corvair-inspired rear end, might be a better guess.
The well dressed Corvair owner. A Corvair was always considered to reflect well on the taste of its owner, especially so a convertible.
I’m not going to speculate how this happened.
How many kids can fit in a Corvair?
Peace, baby!
The two most stylish things on wheels in 1963.
How did this gen2 Corvair slip in here?
Corvair aficionado. How many Corvairs ended up.
A high school graduation gift from Elvis to Priscilla. Elvis loved a wide range of cars, and he had good taste.
I’m guessing grandpa drives the big Mercury.
Rear weight bias taken to an extreme.
Prom night and the Corvair.
Don’t try that in a VW.
It’ll fit, one way or another.
Did these folks just win a new Corvair? Of course it’s a stripper coupe.
This is the proud owner of a Fitch Sprint. John Fitch was the primary tuner of Corvairs, and sold performance parts as well as complete cars.
Love those cool vintage shots of everyday life in suburban America. That blonde lady in the bikini on top of the red 1960 coupe- hubba hubba!
+1
Now, THAT’S my kind of hood ornament! 😉
A great set of photos! I remember two Corvairs from my childhood. My father’s cousin drove a first-generation coupe. I was fascinated by the engine sounds coming from behind us. That was quite a change from our 1959 Rambler station wagon.
My grandmother’s neighbor owned a 1965 or 1966 coupe in a very dark maroon color. He owned that car well into the 1970s. It was quite a contrast to my grandmother’s navy blue 1966 Dodge Dart 270 sedan.
I do believe that the person in the last photo is John Fitch. I remember seeing this photo in another publication.
Yes that is John Fitch.
Bob
The Corvair in the fender-bender looks to be a Lakewood station wagon. Reminds me of the photo of the Corvair in which the ground-breaking television comedian, Ernie Kovacs, was killed.
Nevertheless, these photos remind me of a time when legions of Corvairs roamed the countryside. Despite their detriments, GM ‘did’ sell a lot of them and they weren’t the novelty that seeing one in the wild feels like today. The photos of the sporty two-doors, even the strippos, also lend credence to the notion that the Corvair was the inspiration for the Mustang.
Great article and set of pics giving context to where the Corvair fitted in in the early ’60’s. Looks like the affordable trendy space the Mini Cooper fills today, do you think?
The Corvair is indeed a fascinating vehicle and these are great pictures of Corvairs out in the world with their owners.
I like that 500 with the racing stripe. Pretty zippy!
My engineering manager at my first job had owned a Monza during the 70’s, he always told us what a great car it was and what a terrible car his Triumph Spitfire was.
Having been inspired by Paul’s Corvair education program I think I need to ride in a Corvair, or better yet drive one.
The owner who did up the racing stripe, offset to the driver’s side, was apparently among the few who actually understood its real purpose.
And thanks, Paul, for slipping in that double-entendre on “stripper!”
Those are some great pictures of life back in ’60’s. Corvair heaven for sure.
Did find this filmstrip of Chevy instructing salesmen how to market the Corvair to import buyers.
That white 700 sedan in the snow looks like our ’61 Corvair, the car I learned to drive in, except that ours had red upholstery. Sweet car and fondly remembered, although it had an appetite for pushrod tube seals.
The pushrod tube seals, after the suspension, was probably the biggest place where GM’s ‘penny-wise, pound-foolish’ cheapness came around to bite them in the ass on the Corvair. The problem was someone at GM decided to save, literally, a few pennies by using a material for the seals that would quickly deteriorate under the extreme heat of the engine oil, leading to the big oil leaks. The problem is now well-known enough that the fix is easily remedied by simply using a higher quality seal that would last exponentially longer.
It’s really a shame, too, since it would have been so easy for GM to have fixed the problem right from the beginning. But once a reputation for a mechanical malady like that (“the Corvair’s engine leaks oil”) is established, it’s very hard to reverse the impression in the public’s mind.
VW had the same basic issue with oil leaks and it was pretty much accepted at the time. Easy to criticize now, but I dont know if Viton rubber was commonly available in huge quantities back then.
Don’t forget the Yenko Stinger, which led to the famous Yenko COPO cars.
These are fun. It would be interesting to see other studies of photos with people in the same era with their Cadillac, Rambler, LeSabre, Beetle, etc. Would the people play to stereotypes? This Corvair crowd seems pretty stylish on the whole.
The air dry photo cold be my parents in about 1963 if that was a Falcon Futura. They had squat at the time, normal for couples starting out. There was no dryer in the basement and the space behind their duplex was very simple, like the photo.
Mom and Dad’s Corvair… ’65 or ’66?
Jim – That car is a generation 1 Corvair so it must be a 1964 or older car; generation 2 cars started with 1965 model year.
Yeah. I wasn’t very clear. The picture was taken in ’65 or ’66 because I was born in ’67 and I know that barn is at a farmhouse they rented when they were teaching up by Champaign IL. Dad had an MGA coupe that they both were in that was pushed under a dump truck from behind and they walked away unscratched.
The Corvair was the next car he got and I’m sure it was used when he bought it.
He had another one later in the early 70’s as a daily commuter and I remember that one. He sold it for about $150 when I was 10 and I was pissed that he didn’t just park it out back for me to wait six years and I could have bought it. LOL. Worked out better for me… I ended up buying a TR3 when I was 16.
I love these vintage photos! The one of The Cowsills is especially interesting, as they are probably on their way to Indian Lake.
Great – I haven’t been able to get that song out of my head since.
Social question: How would Native Americans feel about a song like that nowadays? No problem, or bad taste?
NO PROBLEM ~ I was in the Navajo Nation last Summer and they all use the moniker ‘Indian’ freely, every where .
The Navajo Nation is incredibly proactive in housing, schooling, Family programs and so on .
Life on the Res. is very different these days .
-Nate
A man I met at a car show about 8 or 9 years ago, he owned 3 or 4 Corvairs. I rem. one being a Ramp-side pickup. I expressed my interest in buying a Corvair 2dr. He said lets take my 66 turbo for a ride and you drive, natch I said yes to his offer. It was either a 3 or 4 spd. don’t recall. I preferred the 65 to 68 body style then and now, after driving it I was not real impressed with the fairly rare turbo. A couple of years later I was told that he had passed away and his out of state son had no interest in the cars so he sold them all fairly cheap.
If that ’66 turbo was anywhere near original, it had a four-speed.
And it was a Corsa.
The generation 1 Corvair was current before I could drive; the generation 2 sold in much reduced volume (being post-Mustang and post-Nader) so by the time I could drive Corvairs were off the radar as cool or common but did provide high school and college kids in the late ’60s cheap rides. I never had one then and was not much interested in them but I did ride in them as a passenger.
My parents rented a (apx ’61) Monza coupe on a vacation once; I rode in it. White over red and we were in Florida. A neighbor’s mom drove a four door and we rode to school in it periodically. And a high school buddy had a gen one four door Monza (black over red) in about 1968 as his everyday driver (after his TR-3 failed the last time).
But Corvairs were never part of my car culture or interest (rather it was English sports cars and Volkswagens). But they are now; I’ve got a ’63 700 coupe.
Actually, after the banner 1961 sales year, the next-best year for sales was 1965 with the new design – over 235,000 Corvairs were produced and sold. That, by the way, was despite the lack of station wagons, vans and pickups. Sales didn’t really take a huge hit until 1967, when barely (maybe not even) 25,000 units left Willow Run.
My first car was a 1965 Monza coupe, with the 110HP/Powerglide combo. Loved it. Owned two more after that. Looking for a LM Monza sedan now to complete the hat trick.
Even sedans. All the 65-69 Corvairs were two or four door hardtops.
Indeed, sales dropped dramatically in the ’67 model year. Among other factors, the introduction of the Camaro that year obviously took its toll.
The girl with the super stacked hair next to the red Corvair soooo reminds me of one of my sisters. There was a competition in her high school for the girl with the highest hair at the Jr/Sr prom. The girl in the picture would win hands down???
Chuck……..Think that girl pictured with the stacked Doo
is Mrs. Pricilla Presley……….
It’s a wonder she could get that hair to fit inside! Wonder how many ‘dos were ruined by low rooflines?
It’s a little surprising Marge Simpson can fit hers in that Colonnade Chevelle wagon.
I… love… every one of these shots, and this post. Thank you!
I have to confess, I’ve never driven a Corvair of any stripe. They were part of the background noise of my growing up, my sister and her husband had one when they got married, but as I was two, I really don’t remember the car. I later found out it was a Monza, I was kind of sorry I never really got to interact with it.
My MIL had a (IIRC) a Corvair Spyder when she was in Germany with her first husband who was in the Air Force. She loved the car and even spoke about it decades later. I think it really was her favorite car.
Someone else in my wife’s clan (they’re Scotch-Irish, they have a few relatives, LOL) had a Corvair when she was a child. She remembers it fondly and even today when the idea about a classic car comes up, she will pitch for a Corvair.
I had to look closely for a few moments and zoom to be sure that the snow pic wasn’t my grandfather.
Parents had two. A 65 and a 66, one a Monza, the other a Corsa, both manual two door hardtops.
Still beautiful cars. One of GM’s best.
Our ’62 Monza on vacation circa 1964. White, with red guts and Powerglide. Sorry about the picture quality.
Nice! I really dig these old pics. And always liked Corvairs. I think its the whole balance of something different but not too far out there that does it. My gramma had one back in the day, and my dad liked driving that for 2 reasons: It was quick off the line, and it would dominate NJ snow. The second generation coupe/convertible is my favorite for its more rakish looks, being me I really like the van and pickup variants. Actually snapped a pic of a mega clean one up in Scappoose:
whoops…forgot the pic…
While not nearly as popular as the VW Beetle, these were still a common sight in the ’60’s. A friends parents had a ’62 500, another a ’64 Monza. Recall how much nicer the Monza was. The 500 was as spartan as anything made and a real penalty box inside. There wasn’t even any chrome trim around the windshield, just an exposed rubber gasket. Later on a college friend had a 1960 beater 700, another a nice ’66 Monza. The gasoline heater in the ’60 worked great. One thing in common to every one of these was the distinctive whine of the the air-cooled pancake six. Like the Beetle, you could tell exactly what it was without even looking at it.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-gen2-corvair-convertible-hope-in-the-high-school-parking-lot/
Thanks for this, it was great! I’m really starting to gain an appreciation for Corvairs, but yet, like several others here, have never even ridden in one, let alone driven one.
Great memories,
In 1968, I had an industrial arts automotive teacher that had a 67, Corsa spyder, that put out 180 hp stock,
So we played with it, wrapped the exhaust, water injected it, and a few other improvements,
To get the tires to spinn up, he put very narrow rubber on it.
At the track, they would annouce, ” Here comes that hot little blue corvair, your not going to believe it”.
It would knock down full sized 327’s .
That corvair was indeed, very fast!
I think it was the next year, when I had a corvair junker.
my buddy and I took a saws all, to it, and removed as much sheet metal as possible, gutted the inside, got rid of all the glass, doors, hood, and engine cover, bumpers Etc, and took it off roading, up behind Farmingdale college, on Long Island.
To get up there, we had to drive up a half round water drain, half pipe, for about a 100 feet,
Once up there, it was rip up the trails time.
Another area up there was blocked with a cement dimond about 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall, so I tried to push it out of the way, but it wouldn’t move, so I moved back, and got up some speed and rammed it, and it flew,
Because the above caved in the center of the front of the car, and then only one head light worked, from then on we called it the ” Cross Eyed Cyclops “.
Since the throttle linkage was down the center, underneath, it got hammered.That was replace with a simple thin rope, around your foot, threw the back window opening, to the carb, cross bar, it worked just fine.
Many weeks later, it finaly got knocked out, when the Starter, got rocked out of the car, ripping the housing that held it in.
So it was then, that the ” Cross Eyed Cyclops, Died forever “.
What great Fun !
Great pictures showing how the Corvair fit into the lives of ordinary Americans. Until recently, I favored the Gen 2 coupes, but now, under the tutelage of so many CC contributors, I’m thinking the 1960 sedan represents GM’s best effort at a compact car.
So many wonderful photos ! .
IIRC, the Van is called Greenbrier (?) .
-Nate
A great time capsule! I used to see a red 65-67 convertible locally. RHD conversion with rack & pinion steering. Haven’t seen it in years.
Only other one I’ve seen here is a first generation convertible.
This one’s for sale in Australia. Somewhat modified.
https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Chevrolet-Corvair-1960/SSE-AD-4848468/?Cr=0
@Chris ;
That one looks very nice .
I see the entire car has been re engineered to be FWD ! . amazing .
-Nate
No, it’s been converted to RWD. And not the first time that’s been done.
Better yet then !
I wasn’t aware this was ever done .
Nice Sleeper .
-Nate
My wifes family won a 1960 Corvair just like the one with the pretty girl on the hood – red, 2 door, base model, not sure it even had whitewalls. The giveaway was part of the grand opening of a new supermarket and there was a lot of publicity. My wife says getting that car was one of the most exciting things that ever happened in her childhood. the whole family was thrilled. The car lasted for a long time, long enough for the floorboards to rust out.
I bought a ’63 maroon coupe, with black interior and four-on-the-floor, around time I graduated from high school in ’76. Drove it home and taught myself to drive a four-speed stick on the way. Bought it from a little old lady who had garaged it, probably, its whole life. Cost me $500. It had 36,000 miles on it. I loved that car.
Unfortunately, I had no idea what a classic I had in my possession, and I certainly had no clue about the safety problems. I ended up rolling it down an embankment after taking a curve a bit too sharply, only about five months of ownership.
This one looks exactly like the one I bought, although it may not be a ’63.
MeTV is currently showing the early seasons of “My Three Sons” – the ones with William Frawley as “Bud.” The show was sponsored by Chevrolet. Thus the Chevy lineup, including the Corvair, is prominently included in the closing credits.
The (color) photo titled “The one Corvair household” is from a multi-page Chevy ad/brochure of 1960, where we see the Jones family using the car in everyday activities. It’s worth a look:
http://digital.hagley.org/20120328_MeetTheJoneses?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=7e8d2dd85d4875612f36&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=6#page/1/mode/1up
I actually like the Gen 2 Corvair better then the Gen 1. Gen 2 seems to be a more attractive car(especially the coupe)
Looking at that red one on those pics, it seems that the Gen 2 Corvair might have influenced the designers of the 1st gen Camaro and Firebird because I can see a lot of “future Camaro” in the looks of that Gen 2 Corvair Coupe
Wait! Ye mocks the originality of a Virgil Exner design? And ties his design to the theft of the Corvair’s & Ed Cole’s engineering-driven vision? For shame! (maybe his underlings lost faith during his heart attack)
Not sure if anyone else commented on this, but it looks like for the first photo the slide must have been in the scanner backwards! Even if the Corvair was available in RHD, I doubt that’s the case here, as the driver would also have to be a lefty (based on which wrist his watch is on) and his shirt pocket is on the wrong side (presuming a 1-pocket shirt). The car still looks good in the mirror, I’d say!
A well-budgeted promo film (Jam Handy) for the 1960 Corvair, with some shots of a (disguised) prototype in development, and then lots of “look what it can do” sequences in and around Lime Rock, CT. There’s even a surprising amount of “off-roading”: https://archive.org/details/Corvairi1960
We did get Corvairs in Israel but they sold in very small numbers – they were seen as too exotic in comparison with the entry-level Americans like the (locally-assembled) Studebaker Lark, Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant or the Nova. They were no cheaper than the others either so most people avoided them. My uncle was one of the few who did not and I have a vague recollection of his early 60s car (it was way, way back, most likely in 66 or whereabouts) as well as the fact my mother refused to travel in it with him behind the wheel: he was known to be a bit of a devil and apparently there was a spin or two when he got over the limit. No one was hurt but that was that for my mother… He sold it not long thereafter.
The guys loading a dirt bike into the backseat cracks me up. I would have been the one with the Dodge A series van in the background.
At least KMPC got a Corvair to give away in a contest. KCOP TV gave away Subaru 360’s later in the decade.
A couple of years ago I saw a Yenko Stinger at the vintage races. Apparently Don Yenko had to become a “manufacturer” to race a Corvair in the SCCA.
If anyone wants a snapshot of themselves in front of their own Corvair, but doesn’t own one, this 2nd gen sedan with Powergilde is still for sale a block from my house. I’ll be happy to check it out if you’re serious.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/cto/d/santa-cruz-classic-1965-corvair-with/7758914995.html
I saw that one…:)
Lots of nice pictures, made me recall my aunt’s first-gen Corvair coupe. She traded it in on a ’69 Malibu.
Let me be the first to comment on the Pennsy Baldwin ‘Sharknose’. Quite a stylish diesel locomotive in its day.
Sort of CC effect – I drove past Clark’s Corvair Parts a few days ago.
Many years ago a neighbor bought a used 2nd generation 500 coupe. He owned a body shop so he bought all the exterior trim pieces for a Monza and installed them. It really made it look much nicer outside, but kept the plain interior.
The one with the “accident, aftermath” is surprising. If it hit that ‘huge object”, one would think “a lot more damage”.
When I was a little boy, my mom told me about a terrible Corvair accident, that happened on the Trans-Canada Highway just west of Ottawa. In June 1967. And only a couple weeks before Canada’s 100th anniversary, and birthday party.
My mom said this tragic event, saddened the city, like few events of the recent past. And lent a sombre tone to that year’s Canada Day. Broke many hearts. The hypothesis, was that the babysitter driving the family of children home, didn’t see the truck. With the Corvair filled with kids. As she attempted to cross the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17), after dark. They had went for ice cream.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal-the-ottawa-journal/304028/
My parents were amongst the squares who bought a Falcon in 1960, a baby-blue four door sedan that was usually my mom’s runabout. I always wondered what they crossed-shopped it with, and had they not been impressed with the Falcon the car that accompanied my early childhood could have been a Corvair or Rambler or Lark or some funky import instead of that boring (and I’m told, not very reliable) Falcon. It was the only Ford product either of my parents ever owned.
Is that one of those shrunken ’62 Mopars behind the ’61 Plymouth? That seems like the sort of car a Corvair owner would consider if they wanted something bigger.
Anyway, this is quite an amazing collection of Corvair people. I wonder what percentage of these cars had their front tires at 15psi…
I admire your perception, la673.
My parents traded in their beloved Corvair on a new ’62 Plymouth when their 3rd child arrived. I did find this picture of me and the brand new Mopar, freeeeeeezing my New Orleans tuchus off in the only Oklahoma snow event this car ever witnessed,
I missed this CC the first time around–what a great CC, nicely done!!!!
I may yet get a Corvair:)
I cannot find pictures of either since hurricane Katrina flooded my parent’s house and destroyed much of my cherished saved photographs…..
In 1962 my Grandfather traded in his Powerglide equipped 1952 Chevy fastback for a new Fordamatic equipped Ford Falcon.
After Dad and I took a long ride in Gramp’s new Falcon; Dad turned to me and said: “I didn’t think it was possible, but your Grandfather bought a new car even slower and duller than the Chevy he had before!”
At the time my Father owned his first Corvair Monza. I later owned 7 Corvairs (so far); no dishwater dull Falcon for me.