Other than the many Corvairs in the Brain Melting Colorado Junkyard, we haven’t seen any examples of GM’s rear-engined compact so far in this series. As recently as ten years ago, Corvairs were not uncommon sights in self-serve wrecking yards, and trashed ones are worth little more than scrap value today, but it took until a couple of weeks ago and a trip to California for me to find one.
This ’62 was parked in the import section of a huge Los Angeles yard, and my first glance at the engine-cooling vents gave me the impression that I was looking at a Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback. Nope!
This one has been picked over pretty well, so we can assume that some Corvairs that remain among the living have benefited from its organ donation.
It doesn’t have rust in the usual places that Maine or Michigan residents might expect— the rear quarters are solid, for example— but the floors have suffered from decades of leaky weatherstripping. You’ll get weeks of constant rain during Southern California winters, the carpets stay wet, and this happens.
Nice minimalist instrument cluster, which reminds me a lot of the ones in French cars of the same era.
This car still has a few bits to offer up, including the wagon-only glass. Let’s hope that stuff gets rescued before The Crusher goes squish.
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Something tells me that a Corvair wagon would make a mighty fine swap for an LS4. I have no earthly idea what that would take but I can imagine a RR wagon having some sort of V8 power still in the cargo area.
A V-8 powered Corvair? How do you feel about fatal snap oversteer?
For a while there in the 1970’s it was often done to install a Toronado drive train with the engine sticking into the back seat area to help balance the car .
Flip the ring gear or install a reverse cam and you’re off to the races , or more likely , the junkyard after you lost control & wrecked it .
Truly torque monsters , I prolly shoulda bought that ’64 base model Rag Top so modified for $500 in 1979 .
-Nate
I noticed it had no motor. Did it fall out? (the clueless can look up my biting satire).
The rear suspension of this is what killed Ernie Kovacs…along with about seven highballs.
Wow ~
Corvair Lakewoods are really rare , IIRC they were one year old cars .
This one looks too good to scrap but it’s too late now .
I really enjoyed my 1961 Corvair 700 Coupe .
-Nate
I once wrote about doing a swap/install of a Subie WRX motor in a Corvair for one of the content providers. This would not be a good donor car, though.
Someting about a rear engined station wagon makes me smile.
Always liked them. On the downside, Ernie Kovacs died in one, as noted above.
I’m looking for a good deal on a Corvair. Preferably a 1st gen convertible, but a coupe would do it too. I let a nice clean 1st gen coupe go about a year ago when I couldn’t make my mind up fast enough to buy it; if I come across a deal like that again, I’m jumping on it.
Mainly would be a car for her. A old Mustang would be cool too, but the the Corvairs are priced a lot better, and are a little neater.
See if you can find a Corsa. It had 4 carburetors and was rated at 140 hp. Suspension and steering were better, too.
64 is the last, and best year for the first gen models. Still swing axle (in 65 they went to full IRS) but much less tail-happy.
+1 on this. I LOVE the styling on the late-’60s coupes. Very pretty little cars.
A neighbor had a ’65 Corvair Turbocharged Corsa Coupe (180 hp, advertised, I believe).
Gads, that was a great car, and one what I would have surely purchased a few years later when I graduated from college. However, thanks to Ralph (as in upchuck) no-science Nader, GM folded and quit making what was quite possibly the most advanced car they had.
I made do with my ’67 427 ‘Vette coupe, but I still miss that Corsa.
Cool car, but why is it positioned in the opposite direction of the car next to it? Usually all cars in a row are parked pointed the same way, and the next row is parked the opposite way.
I’m guessing they are all parked with the engine outward. There is a Beetle 2 cars over that is also parked back end out.
Makes sense. Thanks.
I just don’t get how a relatively rust-free Lakewood ended up here. These are some of the rarest Corvairs, and wagons themselves are pretty hot nowadays. There isn’t anything that couldn’t have been fixed on this car with a Clark’s catalog. Shame.
With those floor pans it’s not really rust free. The problem is that the selling prices on Corvairs that are not Spyders, Corsas or at least convertibles are really low. Well, that’s not a problem if you want to buy one in decent shape; Corvairs are one of the best entry level hobby car bargains around. The downside is that it doesn’t take much before you are in the car way more than it will ever be worth.
For those who don’t know ;
Everything you’re ever heard about Corvairs is 100 % true .
They’re wonderful , they’re wretched and deadly too .
If you like to tinker and understand why / how an early 911 looses it’s rear traction and can drive to compensate , a Corvair is terrific , just not any sort of ‘ Economy Car ‘ .
They leak oil , until you , personally fix them , it’s labor intensive but dead simple to make it oil tight .
Even the lowly 140 C.I. automatics are fun and quick daily drivers .
As noted , the early models will be best for Enthusiast drivers .
-Nate
I’ve always preferred the ’65-69 styling, but it seems like both versions of the Corvair are quite collectible. Every time I see someone at a car show with a Corvair and talk to them, they always seem to have another Corvair back home or have owned other Corvairs in the past.
I also prefer the 65-69 styling. That’s a truly beautiful car.
It’s a shame that Nader killed it right after GM fixed it. The new ’65 suspension completely eliminated the problem the early models had, but of course Nader’s damnable book also dropped in ’65…
Nader’s book might have had some impact but Corvair sales were falling due to Chevrolet introducing the restyled compact 66-7 Chevy II, Nova the all new 68 Nova and the Ponycar Camaro which cut into sales of the sportier Monza and Corsa models. By 69 the last model year Corvair was phased out. A shame GM never continued to make a modern rear engine car, a modern 911.
Nader didn’t kill it. The Mustang did.
That instrument panel made me think of MawMa’s 1962 Falcon.
I owned 3 Corvairs back in the early 70’s, 2 Monza’s …a coupe and a convertible…..also a 1965 Corsa Convertible Turbo…..loved them all …..Would have liked a Wagon…w/ a turbo stuck in back :-)
I have happy memories of track time at lime rock in one of John Fitch’s modified corvairs . They were super fun modifications of the convertible or the one I drove was anyway.
…eats Honda Accord seats for lunch– NOM NOM NOM!
Looks like a 3/5 scale Ford Flex,to me.
I love the original Corvair. One of my favorite cars of all times. This wagon is excellent and it would definitely not end up at the junkyard in the Northeast. Not in this condition anyway.
If I could find the ever elusive sedan with a 4-speed in good shape I would be really tempted. Really really!
IIRC , Ernie Kovacs was killed after he lost control of his ’62 Corvair wagon while trying to light a cigar .
What kind of advanced alien technology was used to allow that hatch to stay up on its own…and without struts no less!!
We don’t have that ability even fifty years later.