Midweek Matinee: Corvair in Action, 1960

The 1960 Corvair, in all its initial release glory. All photos are frame grabs from video below.

The Chevrolet Corvair was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 1960, due in part to its air-cooled, OHV, 139.6 cu.in., horizontally opposed six, featuring an aluminum alloy crankcase and heads and detachable ferrous alloy cylinders, fed by dual single-barrel Rochester carbs—all of which resulted in 80 hp and 125-lb.ft. of torque at its debut.

Chevrolet was eager to promote its new and radically different (for GM at least), rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive compact, with its welded steel unit-body and rear independent swing axles. That last item quickly proved controversial.

True, maybe this wasn’t your typical Lime Rock fare, given its Road & Track-tested 0-60 of 17.5 seconds, quarter-mile of 21.5 seconds at 65 MPH, or a top speed of 85.5 MPH…

…but still: lookit how she’ll go all-terrain commando on ya in a heartbeat.

Of particular interest is this “disguised Corvair” used for initial testing, along with the obligatory crash tests where our intrepid Corvair goes to battle with both a ’59 Impala Sport Coupe and Kingswood Station Wagon. Enjoy!

Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.