1960 Car of the Year

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
Time Magazine put it on the cover, and Motor Trend named it the 1960 Car of the Year. The Corvair was a success from day one. In fact, Chevy sold no less than 26,000 Corvairs in the first two days on the market, and ultimately made more than 200,000 units per year
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If it weren't for the covair, would we have ever heard of Ralph Nader?

Just my opinion, Ralph Nader was trying to make a name for himself.

I had a 1950's Karmann Ghia convertible, 40 hp, a poor man's Porsche. It had the gas tank in the front trunk and a beer can thick bumper attached to the fender. Car didn't have a frame. Ralph didn't go after the Ghia.
 
I had three of them, at different times.
A 1962 coupe.
A 1961 Lakewood station wagon.
A 1966 4 dr Monza sedan.
They had faults that could have been rectified.
 
I have had several Corvairs over the years. They are a fun car to drive. The causes of handling issues described by critics is completely unfounded. It's the tires! Install a set of radials and the Corvair drives like a sports car.
 
in high school youth group 2 brothers each had 1! One was a white convertible with red interior-man was that thing nice!
 
I think the Karmann Ghia had a bit better weight distribution than the Corvair. A google search on the two vehicles tells me the K-G is about 43/57 front to rear, while the Corvair is 38/62. Not a lot, but it would have contributed to the Corvair's poor handling.
 

Never drove are worked on one. Mechanics of the day said by the time they figured how to stop the oil leaks they disappeared. None said one bad thing about them. A guy at church had one he would bark gears when he left : ) Cool...
 
I drove both. The 40 hp Ghia got 33 mpg. Only problem, my legs would go to sleep and I had to use my arms to get out and fall on the ground.

The Corvair had a lot of rear weight. Like the VW, it was great on snow.

I wouldn't want to be in a head on collision in either car.

If I recall the Spider was a 140 hp Covair. It was a little hot rod..BIL had one.

I think Ralph was trying to make a name for himself. Put his face on the news as often as he could.

So much for being the 1960 car of the year.
 
They did have head problems and oil leaks. I though at the time the Covair was related
to a Harley and a male dog. All would marked their territory when parked, they took a
leak.
 
The first 4 years of the Corvair had a swing axle rear end and as such were prone to 'jacking' under hard cornering causing flips. This was the same as VW and Pontiac's Tempest (yet no one complained about those). In 1965 the Corvair went to the De Dion type rear axle (along with most other manufacturers) which solved that issue. Air cooled engines eventually fell from favor due to the difficulty in controlling temperatures enough to satisfy emissions IIRC. I used to own a '66 4 door Monza and liked it. Sold it to a guy who bought it for his daughter who constantly cracked them up saying he thought they were very safe (I think comfortable shoes may have been a better choice).
 
What poor handling is that?

I had many Corvairs years ago. I never found them to be poor handling at all. I think you are speaking from lack of experience. I doubt if you ever even drove one. I think you are just parroting what you have read.
 
No, George, they did not have head problems. As they were designed, the pushrods were enclosed in tubes with a seal on each end from the block to the head. In GM's usual cheapness, they used a material for those seals that simply was not up to the application.

Seals were made of neoprene. Neoprene will not stand up to 400 degree head temperatures found in air cooled engines. As such, the seals failed prematurely. Replacing the seals with aftermarket ones made of Viton generally cured the problem. The Viton seals did fail after a while, but they usually lasted several years. I installed many sets of them.
 
There, you just laid out the Corvair's issues. Even the picture Geo has isn't a 1960; maybe a '65? The Corvair was a lot more powerful than the Beetle and could go too fast into sharp turns; once the outside tire rolled under the entire rear end lifted and there was no controlling that. Volkswagen used to brag their Beetle and Karmann Ghia wouldn't boil over. They never mentioned that they WOULD overheat, lol. Disclaimer: I had a '60 Renault Dauphine that was similar in H.P. to the VW but rode better.
 
I had a high impact collision in a Corvair convertible. A woman driving a 1968 Impala turned left immediately in front of me on a 45 mph road. I hit her broadside. Totaled both cars. The end result was the Corvair ended up nearly a foot shorter. Convertible top that was new and tight was now slack. Front suspension was intact, and gas tank did not rupture. Overall, it did as well as any front engine car would have in a similar collision.

The Spyder had a 150 horsepower 145 cubic inch horizontally opposed 6 cylinder turbocharged engine. The Spyder package included a brush finish instrument panel with a tachometer, head temperature gauge, and a boost indicator. They also had bucket seats in front with a 4-speed manual transmission. They had a 3-inch chrome tipped tailpipe long before they were fashionable.

The Spyder was replaced in 1965 by the Corsa. Standard engine in the Corsa was a 140 hp 164 cubic inch 6 with 4 carburetors. Optionally available was a 180 hp turbocharged engine. Corsa was discontinued after 1966. The 140 hp engine was available up to 1967. Emission regulations eliminated it for the 1968 and 1969 model years.

Ralph was a blowhard. He did not even drive. His real target was Volkswagen. Common sense dictated that it would be more credible to attack a single model rather than an entire manufacturer. So, he wrote a book about something he really knew nothing about.
 
Friend had a 4 door and one Sunday his wife and mine accompanied us on a drive through the country....wife and I in the back seat.......I almost got sea sick.
 
Corvair engines used copper O rings between the cylinders and heads. Head gasket problems were virtually unknown.

They did leak oil from the push rod tubes after being overheated.

Many issues resulted from improper service practices, e.g., failure to use anti seize on steel bolts threaded into aluminum.

Dean
 
My older sister bought a new one in 1960. I don't know this for sure, but I seem to remember that the heater in the car actually burned gasoline to produce the heat. Is that possible or did I just have a bad dream one night?

Tom in TN
 
Bingo.

So-called rollover issues in early models under heavy cornering while the rear suspension was unloaded occurred only with badly underinflated tires, a problem exhibited by many cars to this day.

Dean
 
Indeed.

Ralph Nader new nothing about cars (or much else). He simply found an issue that he could leverage to his advantage for personal gain.

GM's decision to discontinue the Corvair had nothing to do with Ralph Nader.

Dean
 
The rear suspension of the Corvair was poorly designed. They should have copied the Mercedes Benz 45 degree trailing arm design. 90 degrees caused it to fold under the car and flip. Same thing with the Ford Military Utility Vehicle. They wanted us to call them MUTTS but we just called them Jeeps.
 
Back in about 1970, I bought a used 1968 Corvair from a GM executive that lived in the area. We had a long talk about cars including the Corvair. He told me that 1966 was supposed to be the last year for the Corvair due to high production costs. They extended out production to 1969 because of Nader. Had they stopped production after the 1966 model, it would have looked like it was because of Nader's book. GM was not about to buckle under to the likes of Nader!
 
I had two. Mine always smelled like burnt oil and hot metal, especially in the winter when you had to keep the windows closed. They used and leaked plenty of oil that even at .45 cents a quart it was a factor to consider on a long trip. That flat 6 hanging off the transaxle did give it enough traction to make it a decent winter car though. If you couldnt get over a tall snowdrift by normal driving techniques, you could back up and hit it at speed and that flat belly pan would act as a giant snow saucer and glide you over (hopefully!) back to Terra Firma. Volkswagen beetles were better at that though, and, as a bonus, if a bug got stuck attempting that trick one guy could slide it backwards enough to get out- something you couldnt do with the heavier Corvair. You could also traverse deep (but not too broad...) floodwaters the same way.

That flat belly pan was probably the best design feature for Northern climate owners- it made it so you could easily patch the road salt rotted out sections without having to bend and fit all your stolen traffic signs!

One automotive critic (Tom McCahill?) said the early Corvair looked like an oversized electric razor...
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VW bug also offered a gasoline heater, my brother had one in his 64 VW bug. Would make the car toasty and warm. One of my other brothers had a 63 VW bug without the gas heater, and it was an ice box. He had to drive with a ice scraper in one hand to keep the windows clear.
 
No, they had a gasoline heater as an option, just like the Volkswagens did. The fire extinguisher was sold separately!
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Agreed.

The Corvair was originally designed as an import fighter, e.g., VW, and needed to have a low selling price.

Later it was being accepted as a relatively low cost sporty/performance car, hence the Monza and Corsa models.

Production costs were high as compared to other such cars, e.g., the Falcon derived Mustang due to, among other things, the plethora of sheet metal components needed to shroud the air cooled engine.

Chevrolet's decision to design and build the Camaro spelled the death knell for the Corvair.

Dean
 
Had to pull the head to replace push rod seals. also have valve cover leak.
I think my brothers had valve issues too. Been too long ago and I really don't care.
 
Corvair horror story...

First real job I had just out of high school, worked at a family owned/ran hole in the wall garage/auto supply.

One of the first jobs they gave me was to drag a Corvair out of the weeds and get it running. It had been there a long time, possibly years. The engine was in boxes in the trunk and back seat!

I had scantly had the hood open on one, never done anything more than an oil change.

So I proceeded to figure it out. It eventually left running, the owner stiffed them on the bill, maybe because it blew up, who knows?

Sure was glad to see it go!
 
Ive owned three of them
A 1960 3-speed; a 1961 Powerglide (2-speed automatic); and a 1964 110 h.p. 4-speed
The 1960 leaked a qt. of oil every 200 mi. I pulled the flat oil pan. Somebody had pried it of with a screwdriver. I dressed with file and ended the leak
In the 1964, I had to replace the Neoprene O-rings on the push rod tubes after a round trip from Boston to western Ohio at 75 mph.
We owned the 61 and the64 at the same time, thats when my wife decided she like driving a stick.
I read Naders book during that time. Hes a politician, not an Engineer
All were great fun to drive.
 
I understand the gas heater was an add-on, kind of like AC was back then. I had 2 of the heaps and neither one made heat. They were strictly warm weather cars. gm
 
Yes VW defroster was an ice scratcher and better have a towel.

Ever wonder why some people think we need to make cars without chips? No chip in many old car listed as year of the year.
 
I had forgotten my favorite, the Greenbrier. Not really my favorite just the one I remember the most. Wasn't mine but belonged to a friend. I was 18, and had just gone to work for an airline. The headquarters was 25 or so miles from the town where I lived (and still live). It was common for people to car pool or haul payed riders to cover expenses. The owner of this van was one of the latter and a city council person. He was often unable to drive everyday because of city or personal business so I would fill in. That little thing with every seat full was really overloaded but still handled ok. Underpowered for the load, but stable. Except for one condition, at 65 or so and coasting downhill. Then it would wag it's tail like a poorly loaded trailer. I quickly learned to slow to 60 before entering a downhill section.

I really wanted a Turbo Spyder when they came out. But, $3400, that's crazy!
 
I bought a New 1965 Pontiac Catalina Coupe with V8 and 3 speed stick and not many other options. Price was $3026.00 out the door! It started having a miss after a short while. Took it to the dealer and they wanted me to leave it to find problem. While there they loaned me a late model Chev. Monza Corvair with the turbo and stick on the floor. That was a fun car to drive, but was real glad to get my new Pontiac back. The problem was a broken spark plug when engine was put into the car at factory. New plug and car ran just fine. Wish I still had that car! John in AZ
 
There was a man that lived about 8 miles from me that owned Motor Vehicle Research of New England. He wrote a book called, Assassination of the Corvair.He did a lot of crash testing through the 50's and 60's.He determined that they were prone to rolling when the rear tire pressure dropped under 13 pounds,and the car was driven too fast into the corners.With most cars you can feel if you are going into a corner too fast,with the Corvair for some reason you didn't get that feedback.You felt perfectly comfortable until the second before you went over.The mans name was Andy White,he passed about 35 years ago.He hated Nader and Naders Raiders.He said Nader wanted to hire him to test for the hatchet job on the Corvair,so he bought a dozen to test,his findings were not what Nader wanted so the war was on.I had a dozen copies of his book,but I lost them when my house burned last year.
 
The Corvair was more expensive to build than the competition and more fun to drive. Credit GM for trying to expand on the VW success and eventually producing a poor mans Porsche. The early swing axle models handled better than the Beetles. You needed to run only 15-20 # air pressure in front tires. While still in high school I convinced my father to buy a new VW. Driving it to school there was a 45 mph sweeping curve just before town. I could get up to 70 and just flick the steering and then back to center and around we went. Same with friends Corvair 2 years later. More immediate problem was that our insurance agent lived on corner and he canceled my insurance.
 
(quoted from post at 09:07:13 09/24/21) I have had several Corvairs over the years. They are a fun car to drive. The causes of handling issues described by critics is completely unfounded. It's the tires! Install a set of radials and the Corvair drives like a sports car.

Proper air pressure in the tires was essential.
 

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