1965 Chevrolet Corvair Coupe Walkaround

By the early 1930s, the concept of rear-engine automobiles became something of a fad that lasted for decades.

For example, the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress fair included the Briggs show car designed by John Tjaarda, as well as Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion car.  Then in 1934, the Czech Tatra 77 entered production.

A long list of rear-engine vehicles can be found here.  Included are such familiar names as Volkswagen, Porsche, Fiat, and Renault.  Also listed is the Chevrolet Corvair -- I deal with its second-generation design in the present post.

In the late 1950s, VW Beetle sales in America were rapidly increasing, and Renault's 4CVs and Dauphines were also fairly common on US streets.  So Chevrolet General Manager Ed Cole  launched the air-cooled rear-engine Corvair project.  When the original Corvair appeared for model year 1960, Cole was hailed by a number of auto industry observers as being a brave innovator.  College-age me agreed with that idea, and I still do.  He was brave and innovative in the context of his times.

However, despite the vibe that rear-engine cars were the rational wave of the future, it turned out that they had noticeable problems.  Some were relatively minor, such as likely reduction in trunk space if the trunk was up front where width was constrained by the need for front wheels to turn for maneuvering.

More serious was the fact that when driving on slippery surfaces, the heavier rear end of the car had a  strong tendency be pulled in a forward direction, that being nearer the car's center of gravity.  I have experienced that when driving VW Beetles in wintery Upstate New York.  Ditto even my "mid engine" Porsche 914 in the snowy Catskill Mountains area.

Activist leftist lawyer Ralph Nader published a book titled "Unsafe at Any Speed" in 1965 that effectively killed the Corvair brand.  Ironically, VW Beetle sales continued to flourish.  And, of course, classic rear-engine Porsches continue in production to this day.

I wrote about the 1965 second-generaton Corvair here.  An excerpt from that post is included in a Walkaround photo caption below.

The 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Coupe shown below is a car listed for sale.

Gallery

In my previous Corvair post, I wrote: "Styling is consistent with General Motors practice at that time during the Bill Mitchell design supremo era.  Pleasant looking with no obvious major flaws.  Impressive, actually, considering the need to deal with a rear-engine layout."

Four-door Corvairs were slightly more conventionally proportioned than coupes due to their larger passenger compartment greenhouse.  Even so, in those days many front-engine American cars had long trunks and rear overhang coupled with proportionally short hoods.

Air-cooled engine air intakes abaft of the backlight window seem surprisingly small.

From this perspective, one could hardly tell that the car's motor was in the rear.

The flowing fender line is similar to that found on standard-body '65 Chevrolets

Somewhat stubby front end with limited trunk space.

The front bumper looks delicate, and its face isn't far enough forward to do a good job of protecting frontal bodywork.

Like today's electric cars, there was no need for a grille -- not even a fake one.

The dashboard.  Simple, functional.