We recently took a look a late-production Chevy Corvair coupe in a Denver junkyard, and some readers couldn’t believe that anyone would throw away such a rare classic. Hold on to your hats, Corvair fans, because eight Seat Just appeared in my inventory a yard in Colorado Springs. Since we just saw a coupe produced during the last few years of the Corvair, I went for it an early four-door sedan from eight people to watch it in This series.
U-Pull-&-Pay confused the model years of most of these cars in their system, possibly due to decoding serial numbers and build tags from an era before 17-digit VINs required Ask the manufacturer for specific knowledge. All eight of these Corvairs are coupes and sedans; Not available hardtop sedan, wagon, pickup truck, roadster or truck.
Corvair production reached around 2 million from the 1960 to 1969 model years, and there are still plenty of project Corvairs sitting in garages and driveways, so they’re not particularly hard to find in wrecking yards these days. of America. Sick runthrough two or three per year in time My scrapyard explorationbut finding this many at once at the U-Pull facility was a new experience for me.
The U-Pull-&-Pay employees I asked about these cars told me that one man brought them all in at once and told them he had quite a few Corvairs left. I’m guessing this is the result of a Corvair enthusiast whose archive is purging unnecessary car parts.
The Corvair, with its rear-mounted air-cooled engine, was a radical design by Detroit standards of the time and remains the most controversial American car ever produced. Sales peaked in the 1961 and 1962 model years, began to decline after that, then collapsed in 1966. Production continued until 1969, but by then almost no one had left. will come. Maybe you blame it Ralph Naderor GM’s clumsy attempts to crush Ralph Naderor government regulations inspired by Ralph Naderor Traditional Chevy II/Nova comfortor even the Renault Caravelle.
I recommend you read it Aaron Severson’s thoroughly researched and annotated history of the Corvair – begins with the development of GM’s small car concept during World War II – to get the full story.
This car was built in time Oakland assembly plant in California, where it is produced Chevrolet Four-Ninety debuted in 1916. Oakland Council closed in 1963, replaced by Fremont Society (became NUMMI in 1984 and now Tesla factory) about 25 miles southeast. The location of the Oakland Council is Eastmont Town Center Today.
The engine was a 145-inch (2.4-liter) air-cooled boxer six with dual carburetors and a special “surround” fan belt system that looked funny but worked well. Horsepower is 80 if you have a three- or four-speed manual transmission and 84 on cars equipped with a manual transmission. Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission.
This car do there’s Powerglide, shifted via a small lever under the dashboard, to the left of the radio.
The optional AM-only radio is a $57 option, or about $596 in 2024 (and worth a listen top hits of 1962 on a dazzling mono dash speaker). Note the menacing triangle-in-circle Civil Defense symbols at frequencies 640 and 1240 kHz; indications CONELRAD station that will give guidance in case Tupolev Tu-95 are on the way carrying thermonuclear bombs.
Below the AM radio is one Pace CB-143 23-channel CB radio vintage mid 1970s. This device was sold around that time CW McCall’s CB-centric song “Convoy”. ranked number 1 on the music charts. By the way, you can download free MP3s of CW’s advice for truckers crossing the Rockies on Interstate 70 – referred to by mile markers – via his website.
It seems like about three decades have passed since this car was last used regularly, based on this 1992 car. West Coast Gas magnetic dash calendar. Coincidentally, the 1992 and 2024 calendars are identical, including a leap day in February, so scrapyard shoppers who purchase this calendar will find its remaining months suitable for current use. in.
700 is midsize Corvair in 1962sandwiched between base 500 And Monza 900 sports. MSRP for today Junkyard gem with the automatic transmission it would be $2,268, or about $23,704 after inflation. ONE 1963 Ford Falcon Futura The sedan with the two-speed Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission started at $2,377 ($24,843 in today’s money), but it was a larger car with a real heating and cooling system.
At one time, the owner of this car was proud to belong to both Corvair Pikes Peak Club And Corvair Association of America.
This “VAIRFIGNEWTEN” sticker must have been some kind of joke by the Corvair Association decades ago.
Worth restoring? There’s very little rust plus you’ll find plenty of parts suppliers nearby, but I think it would take at least $20,000 to turn it into a car worth $15,000.
Caress the trails through the glue-like mud of Withlacoochie Marsh! Do you think Falcon (or Valiant) can handle that?
