Really enjoyed my 63 corvair. Paid $125 for it, repaired rust hole in body, hole in floor passenger side, repainted and replaced O rings in oil drain tubes. Fun to drive. Wish I had a 69 convertible.
it was so far ahead for its time..unfortunately by the time GM got it right, Nader had come along....corvairs would be so in tune with today if they still made them
@auaiao9 - When GM decided in late 1965 that Corvair production would eventually end, they only were willing to invest in efforts to keep the car legal. By 1969, the effort it would've taken to redo the steering column to accommodate the new ignition switch wasn't worth it, particularly considering the number of Corvairs being produced at the time (only 15,399 for model year 1968). There was virtually no effort to promote the Corvair by then as well. I believe no 1969 brochures were published.
i understand that now but we were 16 then lol, we loved that corvair..but the pittsburgh weather was not so kind to it..i have alot good memories of that car...also the heater didnt work so well
richie young ohio is bad too we have salt everywhere my vairs no longer have to go in the snow but they did saved my wife an kids lots ...best car made
Funny Story Of #6000 But it makes sence not to sell the Car to a certian person because the right too refuse service to sell but to destroy it I can't wrap my Mind around on that one Why not sell it to another person they are in the Car Market to make money not burn it.
Mark Trains Nader certainly WAS A HACK !!!! HE TOTALLY KILLED OFF A BEAUTIFUL CAR LIKE THIS!!! HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY PUTTING A 'KNIFE THRU THE HEART OF VOLKSWAGEN ' AS WELL !!!! All cars are or can be dangerous......are you reading this, Nader????
The whole "senior compact" project could have led to very interesting things from GM, but the public just had no interest in small cars back then. I'd like to have seen the "rope drive" Pontiac Tempest (front engine, rear transaxle), a potential perfect car, go further. The front-drive F85 would have been amazing too; by the time the senior compact dream was dead, they at least made use of the that technology to produce the Toronado/Eldorado. The Corvair fit a nitch for those who wanted a cut-rate Porche, but it wasn't versatile enough to be a substitute for the traditional American car, too many "can't haves". You couldn't have AC on a wagon, or a turbo, or a car with (even primitive 1960s) pollution controls. Didn't they, at one point, also give up on freeing up trunk space by putting the spare in the engine compartment? Anything that added weight to the back was a potential deal breaker. I'm guessing that the mid-1960s suspension redesign let them relax that a bit.
I have 2... Both restored.. 65 convertible.. 66 coupe with ac.. GREAT CARS !!!! GM screwed up bigtime discontinuing them and bringing in the Vega.... GM had already developed a new engine for it that would have put it head to head with a Porsche..... But scrapped it all for the crappy boring Camaro... I had both a '68 SS and a '69 RS Camaro back in high school 1978-80...... HORRIBLE driving cars... They may be really pretty to LOOK AT.. , But are the EPITOME' of Crappy engineeering... I hated them.. couldnt stand driving them for even a year... I sold my '69 Senior Year for a GREAT handling 1972 VEGA a new steel sleeve engine!! LOVED THAT CAR TOO... and LOVE MY CORVAIRS !!!
Interesting thought. We had a meeting last nite, and a foreman from the end of Corvair production spoke for a while about the last days he ran the hand assembly area...
@1:23, 9:22 If I'm correct, that remote control mirror is quite rare. From 1:36 to 2:11, that's a 500 model unless someone changed the seat to a bench. It also looks like that car had a full-vinyl floor mat. Also, as I understand, that medium green interior color was a '69 only option. Interesting story on that convertible 6:10 - 8:11. Glad to see it was resurrected! Thanks for this!
Actually, the last day of Corvair production was May 14th, 1969. If you google 1969 corvair, look for the link to Jay Leno's Garage and there is a picture of #5997, a Corvair convertible, which is noted to most likely be the last convertable built. #6000 was a gold coupe, and on his site, it mentions the belief that #6000 was destroyed by GM, because the buyer lined up was Bill Harrah. For publicity sake, GM did not want to sell it to a gambler.
@auaiao9 - Sad to say, that was the case. On the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) website, there is a link to a 1969 Corvair group, which lists details of the final-year models. I will say JFTR that one detail they left out regarding changes to the '69s was the addition of headrests as standard equipment. Also, #6000 was damaged as it was completed; and #5999 was owned by a GM VP at one time; has only about 15,000 miles on it and has been displayed at the Corvair museum.
I just got today a 1964 Chevy Corvair Monza Spyder Turbo convertible..Runs great needs paint and little love but everything is there even the Lighter ..$500 bucks love it
I had the chance to get a 1969 Monza convertible but it turned out to be one of the rustiest Corvairs that I've ever seen. It was so rusty the driver's door fell off and the A pillar was just hanging! The VIN was rusty and partly rusted gone, but it had the end numbers readable still and had the VIN #matching engine still (110/PG). It was car number #1926. I was able to save it's remaining hubcap and the driver's door lock knob (which resides on my '65 500 factory air conditioning sedan). Car was located on a mountainside with a very sharp switchback road that our Suburban barely could maneuver. So unfortunately couldn't salvage the hulks completely. Car was sitting next to a 64 Spyder convertible and a 65 Corsa convertible! All terrible RUSTY.
One day I want to buy a rusted Corvair and then use it as a mold to make an entire fiberglass Corvair body, with the A and B pillars reinforced with metal of course. It’s a unibody car though.. so i am not sure if the fiberglass would hold up. If it was possible, the fuel economy of the car would highly benefit since fiberglass is lighter than sheet metal. I’d probably also get a ton of backlash from the Corvair community so ehh.. Maybe one day I can make it work :>
@CORVAIRWILD - I believe GM was willing to kill the Corvair after 1966 or '67, but was forced to continue production because of the controversy from Nader's book. To discontinue production at that point would've been an admission of guilt.
Oilsmoke Jones 140 4 carb was standard in the CORSA, readily available in any Monza or 500, even in the very last 69's with auto or (rarely) 3 or 4 speed
@thespeez I knew '69 was the last year for the Corvair but I didn't realize the clock was ticking so fast at GM to end production. No wonder they didn't change much if anything from the year before since so few '69's were built.
one of my elderly neighbors drove their 65 or 66 into the 1990's, I still think they are neat cars but the Air Cooled engine has smog problems which is was finally killed the old VW bugs in in this country
The Gas pump was located just behind the rear bumper; my Sister got hit in the rear and the Hot engine was Showered in gas and Exploded into a Fireball...
A junkyard owner in Milton Vt. was building a Corvair with a 455 back in the 90's I never heard about it ever getting done but it was quite interesting seeing that V8 setting in the back of the car.
Thomas Stanley I have several Corvairs, 62 63 64 65 66 and a Rampside, and I prefer the '73 Eldorado, reminds me of my fathered '73 Calais coupe he bot new, it was a LEMON! he traded it for a '75 which he liked much better. he traded that for a '80 Coupe de Ville, then a 85 Eldo...
I think the 65-69 is a beautiful body style
Really digging that fitch sprint.. do you see alot of those? out where you go to the shows at?..
I own a 1966 Fitch Sprint, it needs a full restoration, but it runs and drives, I have all the paperwork going back to even before it was ordered
Wine me, dine me, '69 me.
@simplestupid1 I suppose, headrests also, and the VIN, but who'd notice that?
You'd also need wider bucket seats, wider rearview mirror, improved ball joint on the clutch cable for stickshift cars...
that gold one with the stripes looks like the one in one of your other videos called striped corvair
Really enjoyed my 63 corvair. Paid $125 for it, repaired rust hole in body, hole in floor passenger side, repainted and replaced O rings in oil drain tubes. Fun to drive. Wish I had a 69 convertible.
This was my very first car when I was 16 years old I had a 65 Monza and I bought two 1964 Mazdas four parts.
Thomas Collier auto correct thinks a Monza is a Mazda... Sign of the times
it was so far ahead for its time..unfortunately by the time GM got it right, Nader had come along....corvairs would be so in tune with today if they still made them
The last production date for the Covair was not May 21, 1969, it was May 14, 1969. Last production number was 6,000.
I stand corrected!
I think the last station wagon built was the date he said (but 1962) and It was at the Oshawa, Ontario plant.
@auaiao9 - When GM decided in late 1965 that Corvair production would eventually end, they only were willing to invest in efforts to keep the car legal. By 1969, the effort it would've taken to redo the steering column to accommodate the new ignition switch wasn't worth it, particularly considering the number of Corvairs being produced at the time (only 15,399 for model year 1968). There was virtually no effort to promote the Corvair by then as well. I believe no 1969 brochures were published.
says 1rst year looked mostly last year sweet cars
im surprised that there are this many left! my cousin had one and the drivers seat actually fell through the floor pan while driving
it was not new an was not taken care of
did not say it was
richie young well i have 6 had 8 there are a lot still going all old cars can have rusted floors check before you take a car on the road brakes too
i understand that now but we were 16 then lol, we loved that corvair..but the pittsburgh weather was not so kind to it..i have alot good memories of that car...also the heater didnt work so well
richie young ohio is bad too we have salt everywhere my vairs no longer have to go in the snow but they did saved my wife an kids lots ...best car made
Love these cars!!!
So, the 69’s were a crap year based on what this guy is saying?
that hat does the trick eh?
Funny Story Of #6000 But it makes sence not to sell the Car to a certian person because the right too refuse service to sell but to destroy it I can't wrap my Mind around on that one Why not sell it to another person they are in the Car Market to make money not burn it.
What a Shame to discontinue the car once it was refined; I had one, it was a Great car!
Chevy was too far advanced, and Ralph Nader was too sharp, and GM had too much to hide
i have 6 none for sale great cars
Mark Trains Nader certainly WAS A HACK !!!! HE TOTALLY KILLED OFF A BEAUTIFUL CAR LIKE THIS!!! HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY PUTTING A 'KNIFE THRU THE HEART OF VOLKSWAGEN ' AS WELL !!!! All cars are or can be dangerous......are you reading this, Nader????
Got little respect in it's day..only lately. If you don't believe it check recent prices on good examples..
@@shwt121 Nader a COMMUNIST TRAITOR...I LOVED MY CORVAIR!!!!!
The whole "senior compact" project could have led to very interesting things from GM, but the public just had no interest in small cars back then. I'd like to have seen the "rope drive" Pontiac Tempest (front engine, rear transaxle), a potential perfect car, go further. The front-drive F85 would have been amazing too; by the time the senior compact dream was dead, they at least made use of the that technology to produce the Toronado/Eldorado. The Corvair fit a nitch for those who wanted a cut-rate Porche, but it wasn't versatile enough to be a substitute for the traditional American car, too many "can't haves". You couldn't have AC on a wagon, or a turbo, or a car with (even primitive 1960s) pollution controls. Didn't they, at one point, also give up on freeing up trunk space by putting the spare in the engine compartment? Anything that added weight to the back was a potential deal breaker. I'm guessing that the mid-1960s suspension redesign let them relax that a bit.
No Name the spare was out back except 1960 and AC cars. Cadillac had a OHC V12 for the '67 Eldorado, I vidded it at the GM Heritage Museum
Now you have to make a video of 69 corvair diecast model you cars.
6000 isn't a lot for a production car...
I do not think they went faster than my 1969 396 SS Nova !
Nice showing, nice walk around, thnx
Mine was built in a lunchroom. :)
I still miss out by not owning a corvair.mine was a 66 corvair blue & blue in side.also it was automatic on the dash.
I have 2... Both restored.. 65 convertible.. 66 coupe with ac.. GREAT CARS !!!! GM screwed up bigtime discontinuing them and bringing in the Vega.... GM had already developed a new engine for it that would have put it head to head with a Porsche..... But scrapped it all for the crappy boring Camaro... I had both a '68 SS and a '69 RS Camaro back in high school 1978-80...... HORRIBLE driving cars... They may be really pretty to LOOK AT.. , But are the EPITOME' of Crappy engineeering... I hated them.. couldnt stand driving them for even a year... I sold my '69 Senior Year for a GREAT handling 1972 VEGA a new steel sleeve engine!! LOVED THAT CAR TOO... and LOVE MY CORVAIRS !!!
a/c cannot be added to corvairs?
That bright green engine is just an abomination & gross to do on a '69, Corvair people are a weird bunch
Interesting thought. We had a meeting last nite, and a foreman from the end of Corvair production spoke for a while about the last days he ran the hand assembly area...
Beautiful car! They could bring that car back. And really make it work. Today!
@auaiao9 I guess GM was trying to be ahead of the law, but just made the Corvair to prove Nader wrong???
@1:23, 9:22 If I'm correct, that remote control mirror is quite rare.
From 1:36 to 2:11, that's a 500 model unless someone changed the seat to a bench. It also looks like that car had a full-vinyl floor mat. Also, as I understand, that medium green interior color was a '69 only option.
Interesting story on that convertible 6:10 - 8:11. Glad to see it was resurrected!
Thanks for this!
Willow run was cool. my 92 Olds Custom Cruiser was built there.
Ever heard of a turbo Corvair? 1964 we had a factory turbo Corsair. Hard to keep a trani in it.
I have a '64 Spyder convert, I waited 35 years to buy it, + I have a '62 Spyder convert, both white w Red
@@CORVAIRWILD so cool, happy for you.
Except the Corvair... that's rite!
@blizzfool I suppose, but the Corvair was all new, just a little under-engineered
The red one is missing wipers...in florida, that cannot be good.
Yup, Eddie won highest vin... 5969 (?)
Actually, the last day of Corvair production was May 14th, 1969. If you google 1969 corvair, look for the link to Jay Leno's Garage and there is a picture of #5997, a Corvair convertible, which is noted to most likely be the last convertable built. #6000 was a gold coupe, and on his site, it mentions the belief that #6000 was destroyed by GM, because the buyer lined up was Bill Harrah. For publicity sake, GM did not want to sell it to a gambler.
@monzavideo Tri Pod? fer what?
I really miss my Little 67,Corvair Manza Marina Blue, especially in the summer.
Fun years for me.
@gojoe283 I'm gonna put A/C in my '66 Fitch Sprint, using Sanden compressor. 1/2 stock, 1/2 updated
B-H
Dark Green = "Fathom Green"
Light Green = "Frost Green"
Light Blue = "Glacier Blue"
Turqoise = "Azure Turquoise"
Yup, who knows!!!
@auaiao9 - Sad to say, that was the case. On the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) website, there is a link to a 1969 Corvair group, which lists details of the final-year models. I will say JFTR that one detail they left out regarding changes to the '69s was the addition of headrests as standard equipment. Also, #6000 was damaged as it was completed; and #5999 was owned by a GM VP at one time; has only about 15,000 miles on it and has been displayed at the Corvair museum.
Andrew: The black coupe is a 500, not a Monza. I have one of the few 69s with A/C. No, it's not factory :)
@thespeez Sounds about rite!
I just got today a 1964 Chevy Corvair Monza Spyder Turbo convertible..Runs
great needs paint and little love but everything is there even the
Lighter ..$500 bucks love it
Congratulations! Make a video!!!
You Rok, Edgar!!! Yeah, make a video and post it- Id love to see it....luv'd those verts.....
I had the chance to get a 1969 Monza convertible but it turned out to be one of the rustiest Corvairs that I've ever seen. It was so rusty the driver's door fell off and the A pillar was just hanging! The VIN was rusty and partly rusted gone, but it had the end numbers readable still and had the VIN #matching engine still (110/PG). It was car number #1926. I was able to save it's remaining hubcap and the driver's door lock knob (which resides on my '65 500 factory air conditioning sedan). Car was located on a mountainside with a very sharp switchback road that our Suburban barely could maneuver. So unfortunately couldn't salvage the hulks completely. Car was sitting next to a 64 Spyder convertible and a 65 Corsa convertible! All terrible RUSTY.
One day I want to buy a rusted Corvair and then use it as a mold to make an entire fiberglass Corvair body, with the A and B pillars reinforced with metal of course.
It’s a unibody car though.. so i am not sure if the fiberglass would hold up.
If it was possible, the fuel economy of the car would highly benefit since fiberglass is lighter than sheet metal.
I’d probably also get a ton of backlash from the Corvair community so ehh..
Maybe one day I can make it work :>
@@C-64 that would be great!
Owned two 1962 corvair spider Manuel trans cars. Loved them great
Gas milelage. Fun to drive. Screw
Nader.
all made from left over 68 parts
@CORVAIRWILD - I believe GM was willing to kill the Corvair after 1966 or '67, but was forced to continue production because of the controversy from Nader's book. To discontinue production at that point would've been an admission of guilt.
I always liked the aesthetics of that 4 carb set up...but was it available in Monza or just Corsa?..many transplants have been done.
Oilsmoke Jones 140 4 carb was standard in the CORSA, readily available in any Monza or 500, even in the very last 69's with auto or (rarely) 3 or 4 speed
You do a real ggod job on the walking tour. Ask CORSA for a STEADYCAM Jr and a WIDE ANGLE. They then could sell yor DVDs as a fundraiser.
That's odd...every other '69 Chevy had the ignition switch on the steering column...but not the Corvair. ??
an we are glad they dont
@thespeez I knew '69 was the last year for the Corvair but I didn't realize the clock was ticking so fast at GM to end production. No wonder they didn't change much if anything from the year before since so few '69's were built.
2:54 better then anything else in that era? you're kidding right.
Where is #5999??? It was at Richmond years ago.
one of my elderly neighbors drove their 65 or 66 into the 1990's, I still think they are neat cars but the Air Cooled engine has smog problems which is was finally killed the old VW bugs in in this country
The Gas pump was located just behind the rear bumper; my Sister got hit in the rear and the Hot engine was Showered in gas and Exploded into a Fireball...
Sheesh... was she injured?
was not a corvair
What yr was her corvair?
@@animalcorvair PINTO :)
Geautiful Vairs! Lets buy a TRI POD!
my dad used to be into corvairs, i've got a turbocharger from one of them lying around
My sister had her spare in the Front, and it saved her life during an accident.
Wish I could afford a set of those nice mag wheel covers :-)
My mom had a four door same color as that blue one
Pontiac called that dark green in 69 Nightshade Green.
J gossy Thanks bro...
The most dangerous vehicle ever made!
No not the most dangerous vehicle that would probably the pinto. By 1964 corvairs were probably the most safe car
so basically, chevy was like, lets put the engine in the back!
First car i drove. I was 7 , 1968 It was my brothers friends first car. Good memories, at the Jersey Shore.
LOL..junk
F'ing troll
A junkyard owner in Milton Vt. was building a Corvair with a 455 back in the 90's I never heard about it ever getting done but it was quite interesting seeing that V8 setting in the back of the car.
Three cars I would love to own: 69 Corvair, 60 Edsel, 76 Eldorado convertible.
Thomas Stanley I have several Corvairs, 62 63 64 65 66 and a Rampside, and I prefer the '73 Eldorado, reminds me of my fathered '73 Calais coupe he bot new, it was a LEMON! he traded it for a '75 which he liked much better. he traded that for a '80 Coupe de Ville, then a 85 Eldo...
cool