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
@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!
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...
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 :>
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.
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????
@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.
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.
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.
@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.
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
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.
@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.
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 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 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
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...
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.
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 !!!
