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Vintage Starter Car
#6
When Detroit's Big
Three decided to go compact in 1960 the contrast between each of their
offerings was remarkable. Ford's Falcon was absolutely conventional,
Chrysler's Valiant had European overtones, and Chevrolet's Corvair took
a completely fresh and radical approach. Sales figures for the three
cars finished in the same order, which tells you something about the
average North American consumer's taste.
The Corvair began
with a completely blank sheet of paper, unusual in itself. It would even
include an all-new engine and indeed, the car was created around the
air-cooled, rear-mounted, flat-six, a complete reversal from the norm
where engines must adapt to the chassis and outer skin. However this was
a blessing, for it also dictated a fully-independent coil spring
suspension system plus a flat floor in the passenger compartment.
Legroom would be increased and height decreased, making the Corvair a
sporty yet practical package.
It was produced as a
4-door sedan, coupe, convertible, station wagon (briefly), plus a
forward-cab 6-door Greenbrier wagon, delivery van, and pickup. Although
initial sales were good, the Falcon (and the company's own,
conventional, Chevy II) soon pushed the Corvair down the charts. There
was, however, one bright exception: the Monza coupe, which came onto the
market in 1960. Though the average driver shied away from Corvair's
uniqueness, enthusiasts had taken to it and when the sporty-looking
Monza appeared, people who enjoyed the art of driving were delighted.
Monza brought with
it the option of a 4-speed transmission; until then all Corvairs came
with 3-speed manuals and 2-speed Powerglide transmissions. I remember
testing one of the latter for my radio show, expecting it to be a dog
but in fact that wasn't the case. The 140 c.i. engine seemed to have
enough low-down torque to cope with the 2-speeder and it made for a
smooth package. Still, it was the addition of performance and sports
car-type features that made the Monza coupe, and follow-up convertible,
such a delight. The Monza Spyder convertible came with a turbocharged
engine, the first use of a turbo in a production car. This raised power
from 90 hp to a whopping 150 hp, and included a package with heavy-duty
clutch, 4-speed transmission, and modified suspension.
One serious drawback
was the engine's turbo-lag, resulting in a 2-second gap between flooring
the accelerator and getting any action. For the unskilled, handling was
also a problem, due to the excess weight in the rear. It might have been
less so if the spare tire had been mounted under the hood as originally
intended, instead of moving to the engine compartment to increase
luggage space. To compensate, tire inflation was to be 15psi at the
front and 26psi at the rear, but too few owners bothered to properly
maintain tire pressure. Knowledgeable enthusiasts would alter the
rear wheel camber from positive to negative, making the car more stable
in corners and all but eliminating wheel tuck-under caused by the swing
axles. This, of course, affected tire wear, so tires needed to be
rotated more frequently, again something the average owner wasn't
prepared to do. Ralph Nader (who didn't have a driver's license) may
have had a point when he charged the Corvair with being Unsafe at Any
Speed but many of us believed the true fault lay with the incompetence
of North American drivers. Nevertheless there were those who believed in
the sporty Monza, especially after the second edition Corvair appeared
in 1965.
The best known of
various modification packages came from Don Yenko, who produced a small
run of 240 hp, race-winning Yenko Stingers. I'll deal with the new
generation Corvair in another article, for it is one of my favorites. I
first owned a coupe, then a convertible, and coming from a Porsche
background with a growing family, I found them to be a perfect
compromise.
Meanwhile, the
earlier generation Monza is the one I'm recommending here as a starter
car, for it's a relatively uncomplicated automobile and, lacking the V-8
performance credentials of other cars in that era, is not in high
demand. On the other hand the Corvair Monza is more nimble and
offers better driver control than its conventional competitors, which
means that unless you're infatuated with tire-burning acceleration, you
can even purchase one of the humbler versions with stock engine and
3-speed manual or 2-speed Powerglide and still have a lot of fun.
With the
convertibles, prices rise accordingly, even more when a turbocharger is
fitted. And so does the cost of maintenance. Find a Yenko Stinger and
you will, of course, be out of the starter price range entirely.
As a bottom line I
would suggest that if you come upon a humble 4-door Corvair sedan in
good shape, and coupe status is not important, go ahead and buy it.
Even today any Corvair stands apart as an honest attempt by Chevrolet to
build a car that drives to a different drummer. |
