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Corvair Year & Model Appearance Guide
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Corvair Year & Model  Appearance Guide

1960

Unique concave front panel with large chrome winged Chevrolet emblem centered within.  Affectionately known among Corvair collectors as the “Caveman’s Corvair” because of the unique front style and the utter simplicity of the interior “design” - basic coal black rubber floor mat, stone grey unadorned side panels with no armrests, a single driver’s side sun-visor, stone grey cloth upholstery, stone and rock grey interior paint and a gravel grey headliner.  No outside mirrors, simple hubcaps and blackwall tires - it was a true “economy car” in it’s basic transportation form.  The 700 series was a big improvement - truly “De Luxe” compared to the 500 sedan but certainly not lavish.

In January 1960 the Club Coupe body style was added to the line.  

Chevrolet displayed a special edition of the coupe at the Chicago Auto Show in February - it had bucket seats with leather embossed vinyl upholstery chrome accents on the dash with embossed, decorated door panels, full carpeting, and the manual transmission had a floor shift.  This Corvair is what the young car buyers wanted!!  It changed the direction that Chevrolet was marketing the car completely.

Based on the show car designs, the Monza was introduced in May of 1960 and was an unprecedented success!  Dealers could not get enough to fill the demand before the end of production for the model year.  Chevrolet knew they had a winner and also knew that they needed a more basic conventional “economy compact” to compete with the Ford Falcon.  They got to work on the Chevy II.

From the beginning though, the Corvair did not diminish the sales of the full-size Chevrolet models, however the Falcon really cut into the sales of full-size Fords - matter of fact, Ford lost market share significantly in 1960. Down 22.5% of the market while GM gained its share and then some!!

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1960 Models:

Standard 500 -

Deluxe 700 - external beltline polished stainless steel trim

Monza 900

Options:

Gasoline Heater $74, Radio $54, wide whitewall tires $21, Powerglide Automatic transmission $146, 4 speed transmission $65

1961

Primary body style change was a new convex front panel.  All models have a chrome bar with shallow V with the Corvair name and plastic “bowtie” emblem in the center.

Model line was greatly expanded to include the Lakewood Station Wagon in the 500 and 700 series. The 900 Monza now included a 4 door Sedan as well as the Club Coupe,

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 Based on the Corvair’s compact powertrain, a new Forward Control Greenbrier “Sport Wagon” debuted in the car lineup.  Chevrolet’s Truck line included a new Rampside pick-up truck and the Corvan delivery vehicle.  

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1961 Models:

Standard 500 -

Deluxe 700 - external beltline polished stainless steel trim

Monza 900

Greenbrier Sport Wagon  $2,651      -  18,489 made

Chevrolet Truck Line:

1962  

Front styling was changed to a pair of chrome outlined black rectangular shapes with a centered chrome triangular emblem on all models. Tail lights were flat with an attached bright metal  perimeter trim piece.

The year began with a new Monza Station wagon, but the Corvair line was obviously appealing to a young sporting customer, not as interested in utility as they were in bucket seats and a “four on the floor”. (although the wagon was available with those and a 102hp engine!) The Monza line was a huge hit with the public - with over 75% of the productions totals.  

In the spring Chevrolet introduced a new convertible model of the Monza to help satisfy this new found demand.  They also introduced the first Turbo-charged engine to America when the 150 hp Spyder option group became available on the Monza Club Coupe and Convertible.  

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1962 Models:

Standard 500 -

Deluxe 700 - external beltline polished stainless steel trim

Monza 900

Greenbrier Sport Wagon $      - 18,007 made

Chevrolet Truck Line:

1963

Things were going quite well for the Corvair this year.  Minor styling changes included a front horizontal bar with a flat black recess and the Corvair wide V emblem on the left above it.   The front parking/turn lamp lenses were now amber to comply with new standards.  Tail lamps received a new vertical chrome divider bar.  Wheel covers were the same design as 1962 but added flat black recesses for a new look.

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1963 Models:

Standard 500 -

Deluxe 700 - external beltline polished stainless steel trim

Monza 900

Greenbrier Sport Wagon $      - 13,761 made

Chevrolet Truck Line:

1964

Another continuation year with minor styling facelifts.  The styling now included the word C O R V A I R spelled across the engine lid and the front of the trunk lid.  Below was a revised trim bar with the Corvair wide V shape in the center enclosing a bowtie emblem.  Tail lamps received a new chrome center circular trim piece.  The fake vents on the rear deck were now painted raised castings with chrome decor. The rear air exit grill was a new perforated metal design.

Suspension was upgraded with a new transverse leaf spring that linked the suspension arms and allowed much softer coil springs above.  It controlled the camber changes as the suspension was working.  The engine was enlarged by adding to the stroke length.  It was now 164 cubic inches displacement.  Strangely the horsepower rating of the Turbo-Charged engine did not increase along with the almost 20 cu. in. of displacement.  No doubt saving the excitement for the next year’s all new design.

The Monza Spyder now became it’s own Model series - 600 and included the Club Coupe and Convertible.

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1964 Models:

Standard 500 -

Deluxe 700 - external beltline polished stainless steel trim

Monza 900

Monza Spyder 600

Greenbrier Sport Wagon $      - 6,201 made

Chevrolet Truck Line:

1965

This was the second generation with a new longer more aerodynamic body and new trailing arm independent rear suspension based on the double jointed half-shafts of the Corvette design. In the Corvair Collector’s world these are the “Late Models”  

Front end styling carried the familiar wide Corvair V emblem in the center with a bowtie in the trunk lock cover.  It was a wide chrome bar with the center section in red.  The Corvair name was on the front lid above the left headlight.  At the rear, the air grill below the bumper was two separate openings.  Seldom seen these days, but the Corsa model had a single pin stripe just below the beltline as seen below.

All models were now frameless glass “hardtop” styled including the low priced 500 sedan.

The last of the Forward Controls was produced this year.   Greenbrier models were made at the beginning of the year.  They restyled it by moving the front door badge down a couple inches to inside the cove area.

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1965 Models:

Standard 500 -

Monza 900

Corsa

Greenbrier Sport Wagon $      - 1,528 made

1966

The most notable external changes were the new front chrome bar with a wider reach and a shortened V shape in the center now painted  blue. The Corvair script was moved from the trunk lid to the front left below the bar. Tail lamp lenses were restyled to a deeper shape with a jet exhaust style to them.  Below the rear bumper the rear air grill opening is now one long rectangle, although the Corsa models add a facia with a divider in the center.  The dash face panels for Monza were now black finish same as the Corsa.

The market created by the original Monza in late 1960 was where the action was.  The mini revolution stirred by Chevrolet quickly was exploited by others.  Notably, Ford began to encroach by making the Futura model of the Falcon. - it was a bucket seat, floor shift, stylized de luxe version that used the Monza playbook completely.  Then they went one better:  Create a new body for the old bird and turn it into a Mustang.   That went over well - really, really well!  Again Ford had hit a home run that actually took sales away from previous models.  The Falcon naturally took a steep nosedive along with the Fairlane mid-size introduced in 1963.  GM had already countered somewhat by bringing out their own intermediate line and promoting it to the hilt.   GTO, SS 396, 442, GS are all well known hits among GM’s lineup that fought in the marketplace of high performance personal cars.   The Corvair was not equipped to be able to handle the competition in the market when “everyone” wanted a V8.  That’s why Chevrolet and Pontiac were getting ready their own “ponycar”  and why the Corvair was seriously declining in sales figures.

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1966 Models:

Standard 500 -

Monza 900

Corsa

1967

Chevrolet carried on with the Corvair even with the introduction of the Camaro - the personal sporty car that occupied the market position originally created by the Corvair Monza!

Chevrolet dropped  top line Corsa with its Turbo-charged performance engine. No way would it be allowed to steal any Camaro sales, they even started the year by dropping the 140 horsepower 4 carburetor performance engine as well, but there were sufficient complaints from dealers that they reinstated it as a Central Office Production order option.    

The external styling is virtually identical to the previous year, the only easy giveaway from outside is the smaller, thinner bucket seats on the Monza models, and a subtle thicker padding on the top of the dashboard.

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1967 Models:

Standard 500 -

Monza 900

1968

This year the Corvair lineup became even smaller.  The only models available were the 500 Coupe, Monza Coupe and Convertible.  Sport Sedans were no longer available. As with all cars, the factory V.I.N. plate was moved to the top of the dash to allow it to be seen from outside the vehicle.

Side marker lamps were mandatory on vehicles built in 1968 and the Corvair units were nicely integrated next to the bumper ends.   Lens was translucent clear with an amber tint bulb in the front. Red in the rear quarter.  Same exterior appearance as before, otherwise.   More padding on the interior with new integrated armrest/door handle protector.

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1968 Models:

Standard 500 -

Monza 900

1969

The last year of the Corvair Decade ended with no Corvairs available after May 14th at 1:30 pm.   An Olympic Gold Monza coupe rolled out of the Willow Run Assembly plant, where it had all begun, was photographed and then - disappeared.  No one was allowed to buy the last Corvair, it was kept by GM, perhaps they destroyed it, perhaps it still is tucked away for posterity.

The easy identification is by the front marker lamp - it is an amber lens instead of translucent clear. Headrests became standard this year.  Would someone please fix the mirror.

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1969 Models:

Standard 500 -

Monza 900

Total 1969 Production: just 6000 Corvairs!

Total for all of the “Corvair Decade” amounted to 1,839,439

 

…. and that’s the way it was…..