My dad owned one in the 1970's that I drove through my senior year of high school. He bought it from a farmer in Sonoma county and got it running great. It had a 1964 Monza engine, originally 110hp but with dad's mods it was dyno'ed at 160 at the rear wheels. It had the 4-speed manual, much better than Powerglide. It had the original radio with vacuum tubes, it had to warm up when you turned it on. Dad modified the suspension, too, so it handled much better than it did at first. I loved driving it around, loads of fun, and wish I still had it.
Nice car. I've always liked Corvairs, they have a nice style. These actually did fairly well against Volkswagens and weren't as dangerous as they were made out to be. The second generation looked a bit sportier and had better suspension but the damage to the Corvair's reputation had been done.
Hi, I'm 64 years old and been a automobile mechanic most of my life. I have drove and worked on very many Corviars. My mother had a 1963 Corviar 700 four door, and my grandmother (on my mothers side) had a 1964 Corvair 500 two door. The the 2 speed automatic transmission that was in all the Corviar(s) is a "Corviar Powerglide" transaxle, not the same as a rear wheel drive 2 speed Chevrolet Powerglide. The Corvair Powerglide shift lever, located on the instrument panel, from neutral is; up one for revers. From neutral is; down one for drive and then down once more for low (first gear only) locking out second gear. There is NO park setting. The item that you call a vent, on the top center of the instrument panel or "dashboard" you might say, is the speaker grill for the factory AM radio. The Corvair Lakewood station was not a big hit. The roof and all the glass on the Lakewood was actually taller for more head room inside the car. The Lakewood actually had more cargo space and more comfort space than the VW Type 3 Squareback. But in the mean time, Chevrolet Motor Division stopped production on the Lakewood to make room at the factory to produce the convertible on the Monza trim level that did sell better. As far as I can tell, the Monza was the best seller. The Corviar Spyder (1964 and below) and the Corviar Corsa (1965 and up), came with the Monza trim package as standard. The Corviar convertible was only offered on the Monza trim level. I love Corvairs! Please reply. Dave...
This is one of the few cars that would have benefited from more front overhang. It would have improved the front-rear weigh balance, crash protection and trunk space. It's striking how much more of the trunk the front wheel housings eat up compared to the rear ones in most cars. Imagine if someone could come up with a front suspension that made the wheels stick out, but not in, while making a turn.
When I was very young , I went to a Daycare place called Jack and Jill’s. They were literally named Jack and Jill❗️. Jack drove a red 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxy. Jill drove an Olive green Corvair wagon. Every day, usually Jill came to pick me up in that Corvair. [ Mom would pick me up after work, Or my grandmother. She drove a metallic blue ,1961 Rambler American. [Some memories are just really impressed in my mind.] 🚗🙂
I've got a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Coupe. Love these cars. I love both the first and second generations. I think they are both great looking generations.
I liked the Corvair. My dad had a '62 Monza coupe, white with a red bucket seat interior and a 4 speed. Those were good times. Thanks for the Lakewood review. Maybe the day will come when you can review a Corvan, Greenbrier or a Rampside pickup.
I think the reason that the Corvair existed at all was a General Motors head honcho named Ed Cole. He loved off the wall-radical engineering and was responsible for a lot of it including the Corvair and the Vega... He also played a big part in the small block Chevy so he had some big wins,,, and some notable failures..
By the late fifties the US car companies could no longer deny that they were missing an important market niche which was being exploited by the VW. Ford did its homework and studied VW buyers. Ford went on to produce the Falcon which embodied the qualities of the VW with conventional Detroit tech. GM decided to put a VW on steroids. The result was the Corvair. Ford hit it out of the park with the Falcon, GM fouled out with the Corvair. The Corvair was such a disappointment that GM rushed the Chevy II into production.
@@MrSloika Well said! Ford said "let's do something we're good at, that we can pull off with good quality (RWD, etc.) and GM said let's experiment and see if we can out-VW the Beetle, we'll learn as we go. Lots of people had to carry spare fan belts for the Corvair, they chewed through them quickly. Also, it was a monumental and near impossible task to ask drivers to keep 28 lbs. of pressure in the rear tires, and 24 lbs. in the front (or whatever it exactly was). So many economy car buyers, even today, and thrifty grandmothers, only put gas in. No oil checking, no tire pressure checking. Corvair and Beetle buyers were so often people who did not like cars very much, and didn't buy into the American love affair with the car. Garages checked your tires back then, but the 16 year old kids wouldn't usually keep the pressures different front/rear on the Corvair. There's so much more than I'm able to cover on this, but one thing is if people were diligent on their tire pressures, they could have written a book called "Somewhat safe handling at any speed" or "No worse than a Beetle handling at any speed," instead of Nader's "Unsafe at any Speed."
The grillwork in the center of the dash is not a vent. That's where the radio speaker was. Also that's not the original instrument cluster. That one is from a van. The original one went to 100MPH. My first car was a Corvair wagon.
cool had the 1962 corvair greenbrier sports wagon was a blast to drive liked it over the vw vans lot more power to move it down the hi way and up mtn passes
Well, you can also blame Ralph Nader, who, when he wrote his book ,” Unsafe At Any Speed”, was still living at home with his mom, and didn’t even have a Drivers license‼️. A world racing champion actually tested the car, and couldn’t get is to roll over until he let most of the air out of the tires. True, it could roll over, but no more than any other car. The Volkswagen rolled easier than the Corvair. And Ralph Nader LOST in the subsequent Law Suit. Nader , it was discovered later, wasn’t exactly truthful in his book. There was a weakness in the design of the original swing-axel, which was corrected on the 2nd Generation . 🚗🙂
A Corvair standing empty had a 65/35 rear/front weight distribution. Loading up the back end of the wagon with luggage would exacerbate that, and overload the tires that originally came with the vehicle. The front trunk for all its spaciousness could only accommodate so much, with the spare tire up there. The Greenbriar vans probably had the best design for weight balance, putting the driver and any passenger up above/ahead of the front wheels to help offset the engine and portion of transaxle hanging behind the rear wheels. It's a shame that in Nader's book, which was intended to be an overall indictment of the auto industry, he happened to choose the Corvair as his primary case in point. He did so mainly because it showcased GM's grudging instransigence in admitting the vehicle had flaws, dragging their heels despite widespread evidence of the car's potential instability, and reluctantly making improvements. Yes, they should have gone with four-link rear axles in 1959 for the first model year of 1960, but they didn't, because of costs. Their goal was to get the average cost per vehicle below a certain amount to guarantee profit, and they scrimped on every possible item they could, never mind that it could compromise safety. That's what they had lawyers for. GM had at one time planned to pull the plug on the Corvair soon after pony cars came out, cars the Corvair couldn't compete with, but to do so would have proven Nader right in the public eye, so they kept the Corvair in production on purpose a couple more years, albeit with a very limited model lineup. I love the design of the 65-69 Corvairs, they and GM products in general in the latter half of the 60s had beautiful styling. A true pity a wagon couldn't have been introduced. Well, it probably could have, but the costs involved in tooling up dies, etc., would have never been recouped by any sales. FYI - Nader was on a speaking tour throughout the US in the late 60's. My mother picked him up from the Madras, OR, airport, in her 65 Corvair convertible, and drove him to Bend for his next speaking engagement. Ha!
Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's we had three Corvairs a 1961 two door white a 1962 convertible green with a white top and the last a gold two door 1963 You could buy them dirt cheap at the time.
My parents had one when I was little. My dad traded his '57 Chevy in for this, because he bought that as a single man and by 1961 he and my mom had two kids. He only kept it for two years because he said it always smelled like gas and exhaust in the cabin while you were driving it.
The Corvair Wagons are very different, I do like them, this one would be much improved with a 4-speed manual transmission, Corvair turbo-charging on it, refreshed paint and new wheels. The interior looks in good shape. To me this is a cool, and very interesting car.
The Corvair was introduced as a compact economy car, competing with the Falcon, Rambler, and Valiant, which all had a conventional configuration snd drive train. It didn’t sell very well so GM quickly offered a conventional compact the Chevy II in 1962. The Corvair did better as a sporty car with the Monza, but when the Mustang hit the market, it really hurt Corvair sales.
There was a downturn in the economy and USA automakers noticed that smaller, less expensive, and more economical cars were selling well, like the Rambler American and the VW Beetle. The Corvair was Chevrolet's "Lead-Off Batter", followed by the more conventional Chevy II. GM later came out with their "Senior Compact" cars" and later yet their Midsize cars, all before the middle of the 1960's. The vehicle downsizing that eventually ran across all model lines was largely due to OPEC's oil embargo in retaliation for the USA's support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli war.
I think an only criticism I have of your channel (which is like the comfort food of car reviews btw you do amazing work) is that you don’t seem to review the performance of any of these cars. I like to compare your reviews to things like a less performance oriented MotorWeek, but with potentially 50-60 year old cars and if a review has to be done, you should step on it to give a good sense to the viewer that the car has a pulse. I don’t know how motortrend does there it engine sounds or even Cammisa’s show on Hagerty but maybe a lapel mic on the back of the car where there’s no wind to blow out the sound? Idk just a suggestion. Your videos are very agricultural until you get into modern performance cars and fully give them the beans and I think these old American cars need their due too. Maybe a microphone up to the exhaust and a bit of a romp from 1-2 on these cars would be good. Keeps the reviews exciting enough since your reviews are very cozy but I think it has the potential to be just a little more. Thanks for all the content you do. I’m 20 and have a 1969 chevelle that’s going in for paint this winter hopefully when you’re around the Midwest and it’s done and sorted out you can do a review. Mechanically it’s absolutely solid just needs paint and interior done. Mild 355 and 700r4 Just remember to give it the beans when you review it :p I’ll fill in your site when I know I’m ready and you’re coming around to Minnesota sometime next summer. Cheers man love your content
I get this question a lot, and it seems like you put a lot of thought into it rather than "U need go fast", so I appreciate it. 1. I am located in Northern Illinois, so I'm sure we can work something out! 2. The reason a lot of my reviews do not feature engine noises or performance tests boils down to liability. When I review a car, I am liable for it during that time. Now of course I have insurance, but the last thing I want to do is hurt a car. With these older cars, specifically this one sat parked for a while and only started for my review, a lot of things can go wrong. A dry rotted hose, a rusted bracket, a stuck brake, etc. So unless the owner tells me SPECIFICALLY to drive it hard or romp on it, I do not out of respect for the car and owner. There is also location liability. This was filmed in a small town in New Jersey. The surrounding area was all neighborhoods. Not the best place to test 0-60 times where children are just getting off school. I don't have access to private facilities like Motorweek or other publications, so I have to operate within the local laws. When the road is 25mph, I do 25mph (much to the annoyance of cars behind me, but if you were filming yourself driving, you'd drive the speed limit too.) Apologies for the long-winded answer, but in short, I would much rather leave performance out of the video, than hurt a car or lose my ability to review at all. Thank you for the kind words!
@@ShootingCars that’s not a problem also thanks for the punctual response! I always wondered if it was either you or the owners that kept the performance back in a few videos. Good to know it’s more of a gray area. I’m also not used to my classic cars being museum pieces with old dry rotted seals and hoses I build my stuff to drive. I also have a 1966 electra 225 and I know you’re always up for some good land yacht content :) both cars are mechanically sound, both cars have the capability to get romped on because in my mind if you can’t take a car to its limits it should be off the road. I live in my own little world where these 60 year old cars are dailyable after you touch every nut and bolt and know the aftermarket parts are quality. Yeah it’s a pretty penny but it’s what I live for when the weather’s good. Cheers can’t wait to set something up with ya!
Actually it was the Chevy II wagon that killed and what really killed the Corvair was the Camero but who designed it the stylist at Corvair. Chfck thf hub caps
This, with the high floor and vents just under the rear side windows, looks a lot like the VW Type 3 Squareback, which was introduced in Europe around this time, but not sold in the USA until 1966. Both were interesting but flawed cars.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Cool. I can't say that I ever saw one, back in the day. I was very young in 1961. I was only 10, in 1963. By 1966, I was 13, and more aware of all cars.
Zack, you seem to be using the phrase "at a premium" in reverse. It tends to mean scarce, or in demand. So if you were to say that space ISN'T at a premium, you'd be implying there was plenty of it. In this case, space in the Corvair IS at a premium, and so it is limited.
I've heard and I'm pretty sure it's true that chevy actually somehow got ahold of the design sheet/specs for the porsche flat six and literally copied it, as closely as they could, to make these engines. Also the corvair was notoriously dangerous. For a couple reasons, no protection up front and also the front gets really light at speed. My stepday always said, "the corvair...unsafe at any speed." Lol. Just some neat tid bits for you.
We had a 62 Monza, with a 4 speed. I really liked it but after the birth of a 4th kid, it was too small. We then got. A 59 Pontiac Bonneville 4 dr sedan.
Its still plenty. More than normal.corvair which had nothing as storage in the rear. Custom dogguard fence behind rear seat adn you can pack it to the roof
I like the styling of this a lot more than regular Corvairs. That said, this configuration really doesn't seem to make much sense for a wagon. I'm guessing the sales figures for the entire run of this car are maybe 5 or 6 sold in total.
Especially in the winter without the optional gasoline-fired combustion-type heater in the front alongside the gas tank. Those had the unfortunate habit of cremating the passengers.
Whatever. The lower horsepower engines were 8.5:1 and the higher horsepower engines were 9:1. No different than any other engine of the time except for pavement burning high performance V-8's of the day.
GM could have sold the Corvair platform to another market for manufacturing like Latin America Asia Africa like look what the Volkswagen Bettle made in Mexico
I’m 54 and have been watching car reviews since I was a teenager and I’ve never seen one of these reviewed.- EVER. Glad you could review one.
My dad owned one in the 1970's that I drove through my senior year of high school. He bought it from a farmer in Sonoma county and got it running great. It had a 1964 Monza engine, originally 110hp but with dad's mods it was dyno'ed at 160 at the rear wheels. It had the 4-speed manual, much better than Powerglide. It had the original radio with vacuum tubes, it had to warm up when you turned it on. Dad modified the suspension, too, so it handled much better than it did at first. I loved driving it around, loads of fun, and wish I still had it.
Wow, my hat is off to your dad. Apparently he saw the beauty of the corvair. I always liked Corvairs.
Nice car. I've always liked Corvairs, they have a nice style. These actually did fairly well against Volkswagens and weren't as dangerous as they were made out to be. The second generation looked a bit sportier and had better suspension but the damage to the Corvair's reputation had been done.
Hi, I'm 64 years old and been a automobile mechanic most of my life. I have drove and worked on very many Corviars. My mother had a 1963 Corviar 700 four door, and my grandmother (on my mothers side) had a 1964 Corvair 500 two door. The the 2 speed automatic transmission that was in all the Corviar(s) is a "Corviar Powerglide" transaxle, not the same as a rear wheel drive 2 speed Chevrolet Powerglide. The Corvair Powerglide shift lever, located on the instrument panel, from neutral is; up one for revers. From neutral is; down one for drive and then down once more for low (first gear only) locking out second gear. There is NO park setting. The item that you call a vent, on the top center of the instrument panel or "dashboard" you might say, is the speaker grill for the factory AM radio. The Corvair Lakewood station was not a big hit. The roof and all the glass on the Lakewood was actually taller for more head room inside the car. The Lakewood actually had more cargo space and more comfort space than the VW Type 3 Squareback. But in the mean time, Chevrolet Motor Division stopped production on the Lakewood to make room at the factory to produce the convertible on the Monza trim level that did sell better. As far as I can tell, the Monza was the best seller. The Corviar Spyder (1964 and below) and the Corviar Corsa (1965 and up), came with the Monza trim package as standard. The Corviar convertible was only offered on the Monza trim level. I love Corvairs! Please reply. Dave...
I've always been a fan of wagons, & I like uncommon cars, so this is right up my ally.
"It's you! You're tailgating yourself. Which sounds like a sin."
I'm still laughing.
The wagon part may have been shallow because of the engine, but you also got a front trunk! I think these were pretty cool.
This is one of the few cars that would have benefited from more front overhang. It would have improved the front-rear weigh balance, crash protection and trunk space. It's striking how much more of the trunk the front wheel housings eat up compared to the rear ones in most cars. Imagine if someone could come up with a front suspension that made the wheels stick out, but not in, while making a turn.
When I was very young , I went to a Daycare place called Jack and Jill’s. They were literally named Jack and Jill❗️. Jack drove a red 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxy. Jill drove an Olive green Corvair wagon. Every day, usually Jill came to pick me up in that Corvair. [ Mom would pick me up after work, Or my grandmother. She drove a metallic blue ,1961 Rambler American.
[Some memories are just really impressed in my mind.]
🚗🙂
I've got a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Coupe. Love these cars. I love both the first and second generations. I think they are both great looking generations.
I love the Corvair wagons. In 62 they dropped the Lakewood name.
I hope to see more 1960s wagons on the channel.
3:50 I think that "air vent" is really the original speaker, though I'm sure there are defroster vent slots closer to the windshield.
"Sounds like a sin" 😂😂😂
That killed me. Thanks for another great review!
Thanks a lot Ralph Nader
Zack now you need to find a Corvair Rampside pickup or a Corvair Greenbrier van.
He just did a greenbriar van today. Now find a rampside
I liked the Corvair. My dad had a '62 Monza coupe, white with a red bucket seat interior and a 4 speed. Those were good times. Thanks for the Lakewood review. Maybe the day will come when you can review a Corvan, Greenbrier or a Rampside pickup.
I love this Car! My first car was a 66 Corvair Corsair Convertible.
Corsa
Super rare Corvair! Thank you for the POV drive!
I think the reason that the Corvair existed at all was a General Motors head honcho named Ed Cole.
He loved off the wall-radical engineering and was responsible for a lot of it including the Corvair and the Vega...
He also played a big part in the small block Chevy so he had some big wins,,, and some notable failures..
By the late fifties the US car companies could no longer deny that they were missing an important market niche which was being exploited by the VW. Ford did its homework and studied VW buyers. Ford went on to produce the Falcon which embodied the qualities of the VW with conventional Detroit tech. GM decided to put a VW on steroids. The result was the Corvair. Ford hit it out of the park with the Falcon, GM fouled out with the Corvair. The Corvair was such a disappointment that GM rushed the Chevy II into production.
That's exactly right @@MrSloika
@@MrSloika Well said! Ford said "let's do something we're good at, that we can pull off with good quality (RWD, etc.) and GM said let's experiment and see if we can out-VW the Beetle, we'll learn as we go. Lots of people had to carry spare fan belts for the Corvair, they chewed through them quickly. Also, it was a monumental and near impossible task to ask drivers to keep 28 lbs. of pressure in the rear tires, and 24 lbs. in the front (or whatever it exactly was). So many economy car buyers, even today, and thrifty grandmothers, only put gas in. No oil checking, no tire pressure checking. Corvair and Beetle buyers were so often people who did not like cars very much, and didn't buy into the American love affair with the car. Garages checked your tires back then, but the 16 year old kids wouldn't usually keep the pressures different front/rear on the Corvair. There's so much more than I'm able to cover on this, but one thing is if people were diligent on their tire pressures, they could have written a book called "Somewhat safe handling at any speed" or "No worse than a Beetle handling at any speed," instead of Nader's "Unsafe at any Speed."
The grillwork in the center of the dash is not a vent. That's where the radio speaker was. Also that's not the original instrument cluster. That one is from a van. The original one went to 100MPH. My first car was a Corvair wagon.
You are correct.
cool had the 1962 corvair greenbrier sports wagon was a blast to drive liked it over the vw vans lot more power to move it down the hi way and up mtn passes
"You're tailgating yourself which sounds like a sin"... lol
Very cool! Very unique line of cars
I like the back being shallow, it makes for easier loading. If I remember, the carpet in the wagon area lifts up to the engine bay.
Beautiful car! I love corvairs! Just imagine if they would have done the back suspension right...maybe small american cars would still be a thing...
Well, you can also blame Ralph Nader, who, when he wrote his book ,” Unsafe At Any Speed”, was still living at home with his mom, and didn’t even have a Drivers license‼️. A world racing champion actually tested the car, and couldn’t get is to roll over until he let most of the air out of the tires. True, it could roll over, but no more than any other car. The Volkswagen rolled easier than the Corvair. And Ralph Nader LOST in the subsequent Law Suit.
Nader , it was discovered later, wasn’t exactly truthful in his book.
There was a weakness in the design of the original swing-axel, which was corrected on the 2nd Generation .
🚗🙂
@@jeffking4176 Good info there! I knew about Nader but was not aware of all the facts...
My next door neighbor had one of these with 6 kids. they loved it.
I'd buy one
A Corvair standing empty had a 65/35 rear/front weight distribution. Loading up the back end of the wagon with luggage would exacerbate that, and overload the tires that originally came with the vehicle. The front trunk for all its spaciousness could only accommodate so much, with the spare tire up there. The Greenbriar vans probably had the best design for weight balance, putting the driver and any passenger up above/ahead of the front wheels to help offset the engine and portion of transaxle hanging behind the rear wheels.
It's a shame that in Nader's book, which was intended to be an overall indictment of the auto industry, he happened to choose the Corvair as his primary case in point. He did so mainly because it showcased GM's grudging instransigence in admitting the vehicle had flaws, dragging their heels despite widespread evidence of the car's potential instability, and reluctantly making improvements. Yes, they should have gone with four-link rear axles in 1959 for the first model year of 1960, but they didn't, because of costs. Their goal was to get the average cost per vehicle below a certain amount to guarantee profit, and they scrimped on every possible item they could, never mind that it could compromise safety. That's what they had lawyers for.
GM had at one time planned to pull the plug on the Corvair soon after pony cars came out, cars the Corvair couldn't compete with, but to do so would have proven Nader right in the public eye, so they kept the Corvair in production on purpose a couple more years, albeit with a very limited model lineup.
I love the design of the 65-69 Corvairs, they and GM products in general in the latter half of the 60s had beautiful styling. A true pity a wagon couldn't have been introduced. Well, it probably could have, but the costs involved in tooling up dies, etc., would have never been recouped by any sales.
FYI - Nader was on a speaking tour throughout the US in the late 60's. My mother picked him up from the Madras, OR, airport, in her 65 Corvair convertible, and drove him to Bend for his next speaking engagement. Ha!
Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's we had three Corvairs a 1961 two door white a 1962 convertible green with a white top and the last a gold two door 1963 You could buy them dirt cheap at the time.
'Nothing more rare than a running Corvair'.
Where's all the Ralph Nader jokes? Just doesn't feel like a Corvair review without absolutely pooping on how safe at any given speed it may be lol
My parents had one when I was little. My dad traded his '57 Chevy in for this, because he bought that as a single man and by 1961 he and my mom had two kids. He only kept it for two years because he said it always smelled like gas and exhaust in the cabin while you were driving it.
Cool! 😍😍I didn't even know they made Corvair wagons! I remember the cars around in the 70s,although not many!
Drove a '62 Monza, black over red, powerglide car; really fun. Thanks for the video
I own a 63 Monza coupe, the thing has plenty of space and it's built quite well for a Chevy product.
The Corvair Wagons are very different, I do like them, this one would be much improved with a 4-speed manual transmission, Corvair turbo-charging on it, refreshed paint and new wheels. The interior looks in good shape. To me this is a cool, and very interesting car.
It DID pan out!! They sold nearly 2 million of those in Sedan, Coupe and Convertible forms! What else do you want???
what a cute wagon.
Funny how the VW Type3 was introduced in 61 and went out of production till 73.
When I was a kid one of the town librarians had one in the exact same color.
I dig the color
The Corvair was introduced as a compact economy car, competing with the Falcon, Rambler, and Valiant, which all had a conventional configuration snd drive train. It didn’t sell very well so GM quickly offered a conventional compact the Chevy II in 1962. The Corvair did better as a sporty car with the Monza, but when the Mustang hit the market, it really hurt Corvair sales.
There was a downturn in the economy and USA automakers noticed that smaller, less expensive, and more economical cars were selling well, like the Rambler American and the VW Beetle. The Corvair was Chevrolet's "Lead-Off Batter", followed by the more conventional Chevy II. GM later came out with their "Senior Compact" cars" and later yet their Midsize cars, all before the middle of the 1960's. The vehicle downsizing that eventually ran across all model lines was largely due to OPEC's oil embargo in retaliation for the USA's support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli war.
Back in the 1990s I knew an old guy in Montclair NJ that had that exact car. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his.
why didn't you show the back seat folding down to make more cargo space.
I think an only criticism I have of your channel (which is like the comfort food of car reviews btw you do amazing work) is that you don’t seem to review the performance of any of these cars. I like to compare your reviews to things like a less performance oriented MotorWeek, but with potentially 50-60 year old cars and if a review has to be done, you should step on it to give a good sense to the viewer that the car has a pulse. I don’t know how motortrend does there it engine sounds or even Cammisa’s show on Hagerty but maybe a lapel mic on the back of the car where there’s no wind to blow out the sound? Idk just a suggestion. Your videos are very agricultural until you get into modern performance cars and fully give them the beans and I think these old American cars need their due too. Maybe a microphone up to the exhaust and a bit of a romp from 1-2 on these cars would be good. Keeps the reviews exciting enough since your reviews are very cozy but I think it has the potential to be just a little more. Thanks for all the content you do. I’m 20 and have a 1969 chevelle that’s going in for paint this winter hopefully when you’re around the Midwest and it’s done and sorted out you can do a review. Mechanically it’s absolutely solid just needs paint and interior done. Mild 355 and 700r4 Just remember to give it the beans when you review it :p I’ll fill in your site when I know I’m ready and you’re coming around to Minnesota sometime next summer. Cheers man love your content
I get this question a lot, and it seems like you put a lot of thought into it rather than "U need go fast", so I appreciate it.
1. I am located in Northern Illinois, so I'm sure we can work something out!
2. The reason a lot of my reviews do not feature engine noises or performance tests boils down to liability. When I review a car, I am liable for it during that time. Now of course I have insurance, but the last thing I want to do is hurt a car. With these older cars, specifically this one sat parked for a while and only started for my review, a lot of things can go wrong. A dry rotted hose, a rusted bracket, a stuck brake, etc. So unless the owner tells me SPECIFICALLY to drive it hard or romp on it, I do not out of respect for the car and owner.
There is also location liability. This was filmed in a small town in New Jersey. The surrounding area was all neighborhoods. Not the best place to test 0-60 times where children are just getting off school. I don't have access to private facilities like Motorweek or other publications, so I have to operate within the local laws. When the road is 25mph, I do 25mph (much to the annoyance of cars behind me, but if you were filming yourself driving, you'd drive the speed limit too.)
Apologies for the long-winded answer, but in short, I would much rather leave performance out of the video, than hurt a car or lose my ability to review at all.
Thank you for the kind words!
@@ShootingCars that’s not a problem also thanks for the punctual response! I always wondered if it was either you or the owners that kept the performance back in a few videos. Good to know it’s more of a gray area. I’m also not used to my classic cars being museum pieces with old dry rotted seals and hoses I build my stuff to drive. I also have a 1966 electra 225 and I know you’re always up for some good land yacht content :) both cars are mechanically sound, both cars have the capability to get romped on because in my mind if you can’t take a car to its limits it should be off the road. I live in my own little world where these 60 year old cars are dailyable after you touch every nut and bolt and know the aftermarket parts are quality. Yeah it’s a pretty penny but it’s what I live for when the weather’s good. Cheers can’t wait to set something up with ya!
Review corvair van 1961-1965. Interview Clark's Corvair Parts Inc
Good job!
I had a 62. It was like driving an ice cream truck
So, we got a call...
Note! Actor/ Comedian Ernie Kovacs died in his Corvair wagon in 1962. 🚙
Yup. But, that's because he dropped his cigar, was leaning over to pick it up and hit a pole. Not the cars fault.
But VW drivers also died while driving.
Actually it was the Chevy II wagon that killed and what really killed the Corvair was the Camero but who designed it the stylist at Corvair. Chfck thf hub caps
I own a 1962 corvair 4door
3:54 that's a speaker grill.
This, with the high floor and vents just under the rear side windows, looks a lot like the VW Type 3 Squareback, which was introduced in Europe around this time, but not sold in the USA until 1966. Both were interesting but flawed cars.
This car would have competed nicely with the VW square-back station wagon, and was probably less expensive. They look almost identical.
And the Corvair Lakewood had more room and more power, plus 4 doors!
@@jamesbosworth4191 Cool. I can't say that I ever saw one, back in the day. I was very young in 1961. I was only 10, in 1963. By 1966, I was 13, and more aware of all cars.
@@Davett53 They were never a common sight, even when new. Unique when they came out, as the VW wagon hadn't yet hit the streets.
I'm 6ft 5 I sat in one the other day I didn't feel mad safe lol
Zack, you seem to be using the phrase "at a premium" in reverse. It tends to mean scarce, or in demand. So if you were to say that space ISN'T at a premium, you'd be implying there was plenty of it. In this case, space in the Corvair IS at a premium, and so it is limited.
I've heard and I'm pretty sure it's true that chevy actually somehow got ahold of the design sheet/specs for the porsche flat six and literally copied it, as closely as they could, to make these engines. Also the corvair was notoriously dangerous. For a couple reasons, no protection up front and also the front gets really light at speed. My stepday always said, "the corvair...unsafe at any speed." Lol. Just some neat tid bits for you.
No… the Corvair engine was designed in the late 1950s. Porsche’s first 6 came out in 1963, in the ‘64 911. Who copied who?
@toddstermer definitely a good point. You are on to something there.
We had a 62 Monza, with a 4 speed. I really liked it but after the birth of a 4th kid, it was too small. We then got. A 59 Pontiac Bonneville 4 dr sedan.
Its still plenty. More than normal.corvair which had nothing as storage in the rear. Custom dogguard fence behind rear seat adn you can pack it to the roof
What is a price for a corvair wagon in good shape?
I don't know how they keep that running.
It's not hard. Old cars are mechanically simple and Corvair parts are common. This is barely more complicated than a lawnmower.
Nice 😀
5:46
Would it be safe to put an electric guitar (in its case) in the back or would it shake it to death and heat it too much?
I think it would be fine!
I like the styling of this a lot more than regular Corvairs. That said, this configuration really doesn't seem to make much sense for a wagon. I'm guessing the sales figures for the entire run of this car are maybe 5 or 6 sold in total.
What a really cool car.
Especially in the winter without the optional gasoline-fired combustion-type heater in the front alongside the gas tank.
Those had the unfortunate habit of cremating the passengers.
@@5610winston wow doesn't get any warmer than that.
Was is unsafe at any speed
This is so cool!
Did the wagon also come with 3 doors ?
It had 4 doors and a lift-up tailgate.
The compression is so low you can just turn it without a wrench
Whatever. The lower horsepower engines were 8.5:1 and the higher horsepower engines were 9:1. No different than any other engine of the time except for pavement burning high performance V-8's of the day.
GM could have sold the Corvair platform to another market for manufacturing like Latin America Asia Africa like look what the Volkswagen Bettle made in Mexico
Two words: _ERNIE KOVACS._
4 words: know the whole story. Ernie dropped his cigar while driving, leaned to pick it up and hit a pole. How is that the cars fault?
Corvairwild has like 93 of these
A childhood friend had a Corvair Monza coupe. It wasn't quite a de@th trap, but close. lol
Is that a booger in your nose?
2 speeds is so damn slow....
It was offered with a 4 speed manual, that may have helped performance a bit.
For the time, it was adequate. You don't really want to go fast in a pre-crumple zone pre-collapsing steering column car anyway.
Nope. PowerGlide was commonly used in drag cars.
i like corvair. ralph nader ruined it. people airbags are a luxury. it's a hood trunks in back everyone knows.