The Corvair story probably started in the mid-fifties when Ed Cole became the head of the Chevrolet Division. By July of 1956 plans were already in motion on what would become the 1960 Corvair. The code name for this project was "Holden LaSalle II". In 1955 Ed Cole approached one of his staff engineers (Maurice Olley) and had him sketch out some designs relating to engine placement and drivetrain designs for a smaller car. At that time studies were underway on a two-piece , aluminum, flat six-cylinder engine. The problem they ran into was that the technology of that time couldn't solve the problems related to producing a lightweight engine for a small production car. From a marketing standpoint Ed Cole felt that the introduction of a small economical car that didn't erode the sales from Chevrolet's "full size" models would fill an need in the Chevrolet product line. Cole wanted a car that would attract those buyers who would be buying imports such as the VW or the domestically produced cars such as the Larks and Ramblers. He wanted a small car that was inexpensive to buy and maintain but would still seat six people. The concept of the Corvair with its rear engine configuration virtually eliminated the center "hump" associated with front wheel drive cars, allowing the third passenger in both front and rear. The designs for the Corvair may have seemed radical for Chevrolet at the time, but what Ed Cole did was borrow the basic design of the VW and improve on it greatly. Although as we stated earlier, the air-cooled rear engine, four-wheel independent suspension and a unitized body were all new to Chevrolet. Chevrolet was not alone to realize their product lines lacked a small model to compete with the imports as 1960 saw the release of the Falcon by Ford and the Valiant by Chrysler. I think the interest Corvair generated by it uniqueness caused it to be scrutinized more closely that the others. Almost immediately there were questions about its handling qualities. Ford even went as far by making statement's that the Falcon's engine was located "up front, where it belongs". But it should be noted that when tested by the motor magazines of the time they found nothing unsafe with the handling. In fact Motor Trend named it their car of the year. Even so, the car buying public wasn't quite ready for anything as radical as the Corvair design. For example, in 1960 the Ford sold 435,000 units of its Falcon model compared to only 250,000 Corvairs being sold. It was time for Chevrolet to re-evaluate its marketing strategy. They were pitching the Corvair a a family economy compact car, but if the truth be known both the Falcon and the Rambler were more logical choices. The 1960 Corvair was introduced on October 2, 1959 as a Series 500 four-door sedan with a two-door coupe being added by January and a Series 700 four-door sedan with the two-door coupe again being added in January 1960. To say that the 500 Series was Spartan would be an understatement. The exterior was offered in ten body colors, but the only available interior color was gray. Black rubber floor mats completed the interior dressing. The base price was $1,984. and did not include armrests, heater, or even a right-side sun visor. If you were willing to pay an additional $65. you could have bought the 700 Series(considered the deluxe series). This got you a choice of gray, green or blue pattern cloth bench seats, anodized-aluminum glovebox door and color-keyed rubber floor mats. No wonder the car buying public complained that they were just "too basic".
By January of 1960 Chevrolet realized they needed to spruce up the line and introduced some coupe models to the lineup. They also offered a four speed transmission option and a power packed version of the 140 cid engine. In May of 1960 Chevrolet finally found their niche market for the Corvair with the announcement of the Monza Club Coupe (Series 900). This model caught the eye of younger buyers looking for a low priced sportster. The Monza can with a much more plush interior including upgraded trim, bucket seats and full wheel covers. Even though this was a late year release Chevrolet was able to sell 11,926 of this model. But the Corvair story wouldn't be complete unless we looked at another incident that occurred in May of that year that had a definite impact on the Corvair. On May 17, 1960 a 16-year-old youth from California was driving his stepfather's Corvair along a twisty, two-lane road when he lost control and crossed the centerline and into the path of an oncoming car. This tragic accident cost the youth his life and was the start of the controversy over the safety of the Corvairs. This is a story in itself which I'll offer here under a separate title called "Unsafe At Any Speed". Well back to the story at hand. We'll next take a look at the 1961 model year.
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