Chevrolet Corvair
(1960 - 1969)
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United States
Chevrolet Corvair: All 7 models
Car articles about Chevrolet Corvair by year
In 1960, Pininfarina presented the Chevrolet Corvair Coupé Speciale in Paris. The car has survived to this day, albeit not in its original form, as Tom Tjaarda redesigned the car twice until 1963 to adapt it to the times. Now the car is looking for a new owner. This report tells the story of the Coupé Speciale and shows it in current and historical pictures.
When the need for more compact vehicles grew in the USA a good 60 years ago, the big three set about developing more "European" vehicles. General Motors was more innovative than Ford and Chrysler and launched the Corvair, a mid-size car which, with its air-cooled rear engine and generous amount of space, would also sell in the old world. This article reproduces an original test report from August 1961 and shows the Chevrolet Corvair in extensive historical images and sales material.
On October 2, 1959, Chevrolet, which belonged to General Motors, presented a new model called the Corvair. Chevrolet was proud of this car, because even by European standards the design was remarkable - even sensational by American standards. Its departure was also sensational. When production had to be discontinued ten years later, the car had become the epitome of an accident-prone faulty design for the American public. This report looks back and shows the interesting car in over 40 pictures and on contemporary sales material.
With the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside pickup, General Motors introduced an extremely innovative load carrier at the beginning of the 1960s, which allowed the load to be driven directly onto the loading floor via a side ramp. With a payload of over 860 kg and innovative design features, including an air-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine, the Rampside clearly set itself apart from the competition. This vehicle report tells the story of this unusual commercial vehicle, shows it in many pictures and tries to explain why it was not successful.
From 1959 to 1969, General Motors produced around 1.7 million Chevrolet Corvairs, a compact car that was supposed to give the European competition a run for its money. Despite modern technology and pioneering design approaches, however, the rear-engined car failed due to bad publicity caused by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. With its air-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine in the rear, the Corvair looks a little like a Porsche Panamera predecessor, but has its own special charms, especially as a convertible, which this driving report aims to convey in text and pictures.
In the early 1960s, Ford and General Motors also competed with each other in the field of concept cars. Ford had presented a mid-engined vehicle with the Mustang, among other things, and General Motors consequently also presented a car with the engine in front of the rear axle. The basis (engine and transmission unit) came from the Chevrolet Corvair, but the drive unit with six air-cooled cylinders was rotated 180 degrees, turning the rear-engine concept into a mid-engine concept. This report presents the vehicle and its sister variant, the SS, and includes rare images of both vehicles, as well as the press release from 1963.
At the 1963 Geneva Motor Show, the Chevrolet Corvair Testudo Bertone was presented as a concept car that would influence cars and designers for decades to come. The fact that designer Giorgetto Giugiaro was just 20 years old when he designed it is just as astonishing as the fact that the car was fully drivable and was driven by Nuccio Bertone on the road from Turin to Geneva. This report looks back at the history of the Chevrolet Corvair Testudo's creation and life and shows the car in many historical and current pictures.
The Chevrolet Corvair had more than just the air-cooled boxer engine with half a dozen combustion chambers in the rear in common with the Porsche 911. After scathing criticism of its predecessor's chassis, the Detroit team had made so many improvements that the roadholding now also matched the Stuttgart ideal. This meant that the sales designation "Sport Sedan" was no longer an empty promise, as this historical test report explains.
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All 7 Chevrolet Corvair models
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