If I told you that back in the sixties, Chevrolet built and sold a rear-engine, air-cooled technological curiosity that was a direct competitor to none other than the Volkswagen Beetle, would you think I was lying to you? Would you believe that nearly 2 million of them were sold, and at least 40,000 of them are still on the road today? Voted Motor Trends Car of the Year in 1960, the first year of its production, the Chevrolet Corvair was and is still known as the most unique American vehicle ever built in the 1960s.
Feeling the need to directly compete with economy import vehicles from Europe, the engineers at Chevrolet designed the "Poor Man's Porsche" as a compact, fuel efficient alternate to the European imports that began to appear on the American market in the late 1950s. Despite a run of bad publicity, beginning in 1965, the Corvair still proved to be a strong seller and popular choice for budget-conscious drivers willing to take a chance on the vehicles unique styling and unusual features. Manufactured from 1959 to 1969, Chevrolet rolled out 1,786,243 cars before it halted production. In its last year, there were only 6000 Corvairs produced, making that year in particular a prize for collectors today. Not limited to just sedans, the Corvair line included a station wagon, a van known as the Corvair Greenbriar, and a ramp-side truck.
Today, although the Corvair in all its varieties is not the most valuable of the 1960s Chevrolet offerings, it is seen as a fun challenge for collectors and auto restoration enthusiasts, and not a bad investment considering that most examples can be purchased quite inexpensively on the secondary market, and parts are readily available. Eyecatching and certainly stylish and one of a kind, the Corvair may be the coolest car, Chevrolet or otherwise, that you've never heard of.
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