1965 was the year that made the Impala the king of the Chevrolet castle, as its yearly sales surpassed 1 million units. Impala became the first car in the US to go that high after WWII, so all the other models in GM’s lineup paled in front of the full-size superstar.
It doesn’t mean the carmaker ignored the rest of the models in its portfolio. The Corvair also received a major makeover in 1965, getting equipment upgrades, engine tweaks, and styling improvements like the lack of the B pillar.
The Corvair was now a lot more modern, but its focus on small engines remained unchanged. Chevrolet still offered the car with a 95-horsepower unit as the standard choice, but customers could also go for more powerful mills, including a 180-horsepower version available on the Corsa.
The company ditched the 150-horsepower unit and replaced it with a 140-horsepower version that offered a better balance of fuel economy and performance.
The Corvair that eBay seller fts8888 posted online earlier this week comes with this engine, and according to the list, it starts and runs properly.
The car spent many years in a shed, so it’s now trying to get back on the road and receive a complete restoration.
It doesn’t look as bad as you’d be tempted to believe when hearing about a Corvair parked in a shed for years, especially because certain parts have already been overhauled. The body was restored many years ago, so theoretically, the next buyer shouldn’t spend too much time repairing the metal. However, the rust has already returned, but dealing with it seems an easy job.
The interior requires more attention, and probably the worst news is that the cabin is no longer 100 percent original. The car comes with other seats, so if you hoped to bring this Corvair back to factory specifications, you’d have to find a donor. It’s the correct approach, especially because the car needs several other parts, including a turn signal lever, a speedometer, and God knows what else.
The best thing about this Corvair is that it sells cheaply, which makes sense, considering how desirable a Chevrolet Corvair is today. The owner wants to let it go for $2,900, but they also enabled the Make Offer button, leaving the door open to negotiations. A $2,500 price tag is the right expectation, as projects in worse conditions typically sell for $1,500 to $2,000.
The Corvair costs as much as a MacBook Pro, with 36GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, so if you can hold on to that laptop purchase, you can end up getting yourself a new project for the winter. The car is marked in Marion Heights, Pennsylvania, and you should go see it in person before committing to a purchase.