Louis Chevrolet was a Swiss racing driver who partnered with William Durant in 1911 to form the Chevrolet Motor Co., which became General Motors in 1918. During the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, Chevrolet was the best-selling automobile brand within the United States, and 10% of all cars sold within the United States in 1963 were Chevrolets.
Chevrolet gave the impression to be ready to make no mistakes. The full-size Impala line alone sold 1,074,925 units in 1965. We loved those big cars, but something else was gaining traction during that point: Volkswagens and small cars.
Volkswagen was the market leader in smaller cars, but soon Rambler and Studebaker, followed by the three major automakers, also launched compact cars. These cars were generally scaled-down models of their existing product lines, aside from Chevrolet, which launched the Corvair in 1960, a model designed to compete directly with the VW Beetle.
The Corvair is primarily the responsibility of Edward Cole, the Corvette's chief engineer. He didn't just desire a scaled-down model, but something the competition didn't offer. He wanted “maneuverability, traction in mud, snow and ice, easy steering and braking without power assistance, a cool passenger compartment, a flat floor and a lower profile for elegant styling.”
The rear-mounted air-cooled engine was unique, however the military had successfully used air-cooled engines in tanks and aircraft, and naturally VW had an air-cooled rear engine. There were two generations of the Corvair (1960 to 1964 and 1965 to 1969), offered as a four-door sedan or station wagon, a two-door coupe, a convertible, a pickup truck, and a passenger or van.
The first generation offered a six-cylinder engine with 80 hp, which increased to 150 hp in 1964 and sold for just $2,000. The second generation, which incorporates the vehicle on this issue, was sleeker and a lot better looking. Improved configurations resembling the Corvair Corsa and Corvair Monza were introduced. Performance was improved with 180 hp and an attainable speed of 185 km/h.
Sales were good, with over 200,000 units sold in each of the primary six years. However, in 1965 Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed was published and sales dropped to fifteen,399 in 1968 and 6,000 in 1969. The owner of the automobile on this edition says the book was concerning the first generation Corvair and all of Nader's major complaints were addressed within the second generation production. General Motors sued Nader and won, however the damage was done. As if Nader's book wasn't enough to kill the Corvair, 1965 also saw the discharge of the Ford Mustang.
Speaking of this yr, Chris Meyers of Danville has owned his 1965 Chevrolet Corvair convertible for about seven years after the automobile spent most of its life owned by other relations in Florida.
“I've had to replace the engine three times,” he said. “I bought a bad engine and the seller went out of business when COVID hit. Now she's on her third engine … and my mechanic is working on it.”
The current engine has an output of 110 hp and has a two-speed Powerglide transmission. The automobile has no electrical system, the convertible top is operated manually.
“It's still a work in progress, more work than progress,” said Meyers, who drives it to weekly automobile shows and has participated in local parades.
“It's basically a driven show car. It's a conversation starter. The second-generation cars seem to be remembered more fondly,” he said. “They seem to remember the good experiences and none of the bad. It's also surprising that so many don't know it's an American car.”
Meyers loves his Corvair and has no plans to sell it, but as I overheard a temporary conversation between him and his wife, I noticed that he must proceed to persuade his wife to maintain his Corvair, which remains to be under development.
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