The decline and death of the 1962 and 1963 Chevrolet Corvair concept cars is one of the pitiful ironies in self-propelling history . Though these lively yet stinting powder compact would be perfect even in today ’s world , they were disparaged by consumer advocates – the very people who might have been expected to receive it .
But Ralph Nader was not responsible for stamp out the Corvair . The ax had actually fallen some six months before the press release of his 1965 volume , Unsafe at Any Speed .
General Motors ’s decision to continue the cable car beyond 1965 , but only until development and tooling monetary value were amortise , meditate the success of Ford ’s Mustang " ponycar , " which overmaster Corvair in the sporty - car mart the way Ford ’s Falcon had deluge it in the saving field .
It was Mustang and not Nader that forced GM to rethink its ideas about bucket - seat sportsters , which eventually lead to the Chevy Camaro as its right Mustang - fighter . Of course , Corvair was more technically advanced than either Mustang or Camaro , which partially explain why it still inspire enthusiasm .
The Corvair also inspire designers and applied scientist to habituate it as the starting distributor point for several entrancing experiments . Some came surprisingly tightlipped to reaching salesroom .
GM ’s first Corvair special was the 1961 Sebring Spyder , a sporty , short - wheelbase preview of the 1962 Corvair convertible security . Though basically sprout below the beltline , it boast down racing windscreens and fix door windows , a two - seat cockpit with " keystone " divider taproom , and long double headrests faired into the rearward deck .
A yr later came the 1962 Super Spyder , a Billy Wilder evolution of this introductory design on the same 93 - column inch wheelbase ( 15 inch less than strain ) . Race - car design clue are obvious , and a stock 150 - horsepowerturbochargedCorvair six return public presentation to couple .
Like its predecessor , the Super Spyder wore a tonneau behind its cockpit but with a single gadget driver ’s headrest in a tapering seedpod a la Jaguar ’s famed late-1950s D - type and SS summercater / step on it cars . A trio of erect louver rode beforehand of each rear - bike opening night as dummy air scoops ( the Sebring had a duo of functional slots in that spot ) .
treble chrome exhaust fumes pipe exited from behind each rear steering wheel , which prompted thoughts of the late Hudson Italia . The drivetrain comprise a 150 - HP turbocharged six and four - speedmanual transmissionfrom the product Monza Spyder .
All told , the Super Spyder was a good - smasher , more striking than the Sebring , and the most advanced Corvair special built up to that dot . But GM never even hint that it might be built .
See the next department for detail on other Chevrolet Corvair concept railroad car .
For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, check out:
1962 and 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT and SS Concept Cars
Though they digest a confidential information of Mako - shark - era Corvette styling , the 1962 and 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT and SS concept cars look like nothing else : smooth , well - formed , and ultra - clean . configuration and detailing were vintage period GM , yet also slightly Italian .
GM house decorator L. W. Johnson get a look at Bertone ’s two - rump , Corvair - found Testudo as it was nearing completion in 1962 - 1963 and happily informed the Italians about his own company ’s latest Corvair special .
Though built in 1962 and tested colloquially that twelvemonth at Elkhart Lake and Watkins Glen , the new Monza GT fastback was n’t publicly unveiled until April 1963 , when it handily stole the glare at the New York Auto Show along with a racy open sibling call the Chevrolet Monza SS .
Both these experiment were fiberglass - corporal two - seaters with four - wheeldisc brakes , magnesium - metal wheels , hydraulic clutch , stock four - pep pill - manual Corvair transaxles , fixed seat and adjustable pedals .
Both were also flawlessly styled in the billowy idiom then favored by General Motors , with bumperless fronts and oblong headlight concealed behind large " clamshell " lids .
Yet for all their similarities , the Chevrolet Monza GT and SS differed markedly in some path . The GT coupe , for illustration , carry its engine in the lead of the rear axleline ; the SS roadster put it behind , as in production Corvairs .
Wheelbase was 88 inches on the Monza SS , 20 inches shorter than farm animal , but 92 inches on the more visually aerodynamic Monza GT .
Like product Chevrolet Corvairs , the buggy pop the question a modest front luggage compartment but the coupe did not . deep down , the Monza SS dash was sodding but extremely informative , with a large tachometer andspeedometer , plus five subsidiary gauges .
Had a production version materialized , the low , racing windscreen and fixed side window would have been replace by a established screen and roll - up field glass .
The Chevrolet Monza SS also had normal doors where the GT used a Testudo - fashion aerodynamic lift - up cockpit canopy , again front - hinge at the cowl and extending back to the B - column realm .
Also echoing Bertone ’s work was the rear - hinged hatch that swung up to break the engine , which was a two - carburettor variant for quiet , smooth running . The SS used a four - carburetor setup .
Though often credited exclusively to GM purpose chief Bill Mitchell , Corvair Monza GT and SS styling was actually the work of Larry Shinoda , now lionize for his work on various Corvettes and early-1970s Mustangs , and Anatole " Tony " Lapine , who would go on to plan Porsche ’s 928 . Both the GT and SS were make under projection computer code XP-797 .
The Chevrolet Monza SS at least came fair near to real production – as confining as any Corvair special . call back that when these Monzas first appeared , Ford had n’t released the Mustang , and Corvair was still GM ’s only lowly - cost sporty car .
Had the redesign 1965 Corvair sold better against the Mustang , it ’s not unimaginable that a street SS or GT could have appear by 1967 or 1968 – which intend GM might not have postulate to make the Camaro , with all the disbursal that entailed .
But the Mustang sold like nickel hamburger from 24-hour interval one , and GM cease work on future Corvairs entirely . Which was a shame , because the Mustang was n’t half the sports car these Monzas might have been .
AsRoad & Tracksaid at the time : " The enthusiast grocery sorely take a hike , and these are two elevator car that could do it . " Come to guess of it , they still could .
