1969 Chevrolet Corvair Convertible

An interesting end to the production run:

"The last Corvair, an Olympic Gold Monza Coupe (# 6000), was in its overhead carrier and was pushed closer to the waiting newsmen The car in front (# 5999) was lowered to the floor, on its wheels for the first time. After receiving its ration of gasoline, this Lemans Blue Monza coupe quickly became as famous as # 6000 itself. 5999 wouldnt start. A loud backfire, and then silence. Some sentimental workers and reporters felt the Corvair was stubbornly holding up the line, refusing to die.

All the evidence points to a "service" or replacement engine, one that would normally be ordered for customers cars. Due to the extreme shortage of parts at Willow Run for the last Corvairs, a service 140 was probably ordered. This was then installed in # 5999 as its original engine. Engines shipped directly to Willow Run from the Tonawanda, New York engine plant have the distributors installed; service engines are delivered without distributors. Engine line workers, unfamiliar with distributor installation and in a hurry, must have put it in 180 degrees off. BANG !

With # 5999 now pushed out of the way, at 1:30 PM #6000 was easily started and driven a few feet ahead where the Olympic Gold Monza coupe stopped for photographs by the press. At 2:00 PM, # 6000 was driven out of the building, followed by the newsmen, and down a ramp onto the loading dock area. Nearby was a long string of tri-level railroad cars filled mostly with Novas and a few Corvairs. More photos were taken here by the press and plant personnel. And that was that, the Corvair production decade was over."

I wonder if these two cars still exist?
 

Todd,

I had Larry go look at this for me last year when it was $9000 you can contact me for his report

There's a green/gold one on kijiji in Toronto sounds good

I shoulda bought the hardtop at the fall auction it was incredible

that is an interesting read. thnx todd.

Here's a news report about the last Corvair. 

The 2nd generation Corviar was a very good car depite what Ralph Nader claimed in his book "Unsafe at any speed" sic. Nader's accusations were based on 1960 to early 1962 swing axle 1st generation Corvairs. During 1962 a transverse limiting spring was added to production cars for the balance of 1st gen production through 1964. By tyhe time the book was published and digested, Corvair sales began to plummet, even though the 1966 models were much different than the subject cars. Each year since 1966 Corvair sales were cut in half, then half again.

In 1968, Car Life magazine tested a new Corvair Monza coupe with a 140-horse, 4-carb engine and a 4 speed. The car performed pretty poorly in the test, prompting knowledgable Corvair readers to protest. Car Life retested a Corvair after making sure things like carb syncronization and throttle binding werre addressed. The retested car performed much better, but the damage to the Corvair name continued.

My neighbor in Ancaster owned a 1968 Monza coupe, 140 horse with a Powerglide. By 1968 they were becoming a rarity at the dealership and by 1969 they just trickled out the door.

Some people decided to buy new Corvairs to store away. I know of 2 brand new 1969 Corvairs.

Ya, I'd like to say thanks for the stories and for the film clip,
I enjoyed both of them, thanks guys.

-- Edited by degodoug on Tuesday 22nd of March 2011 09:46:06 PM

73SC wrote:

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This is the Mayor of Oshawa's car, I snapped it at Autofest last August.

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Ray do you know if that rear spoiler and the deck scoop intakes are a factory item. I am going to bet that they are not. Do you know one way or the other brother. The sport wheel covers i think are dealer issue. Nice machine. Cheers. George.