La Chevrolet Corvair est une voiture à moteur arrière, 6 cylindres à plat, fabriquée en versions coupé, berline, fourgonnette et pick-up ; toutes ces déclinaisons furent lancées pour concurrencer la VW Coccinelle. Avec ses 4,37m, elle était à son époque jugée comme une petite voiture aux États-Unis. On pourrait situer ses dimensions entre celles d'une Peugeot 406 (4,60m) et d'une Renault Mégane (4,20m). Cette taille "démesurée" pour l'Europe (la fameuse Citroën 2CV mesurait 3m80 dans sa version la plus longue) fit que la Corvair rencontra un succès plutôt mitigé. Elle reste cependant une voiture très intéressante pour les collectionneurs, en raison des innovations technologiques qu'elle proposait en 1960, et de son prix plus qu'attrayant sur le marché de l'occasion.
   Ce modèle de voiture est devenue le cauchemar de General Motors lorsqu'une série de poursuites judiciaires fut intentée à la suites d'accidents graves causées entres autres par la piètre tenue de route du véhicule.
   Produite de 1960 à 1969, elle fut une des premières automobiles (de série) du monde équipée d'un turbo-compresseur, avec ses cousines de GM. On peut encore trouver des spots publicitaires d'époque très intéressants, dont une réclame de 1960 de 6 minutes montrant "The Chevrolet Corvair in action !" dans diverses situations plutôt extrêmes vu sa tenue de route...
   Ses moteurs se déclinent autour du flat 6 de 2,3L (140ci) et 2,7L (165ci), agrémenté ou non d'un turbo. La première version comptait 80ch, la dernière, turbocompressée, 180ch.
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   The Corvair name originated as a Chevrolet Corvette-based fastback concept car from 1954. Many future Chevrolet models were based on the Corvette, including the Chevrolet Nomad and Chevrolet Impala.
   The early 1960 models were rather boxy and had few amenities, and had been introduced to compete with the small foreign sedans, like Volkswagen that were just beginning to flood the U.S. shores, but the line quickly grew from plain 4-door sedans with bench seats (the base 500 and slightly more upscale 700) to sportier 2-door coupes with bucket seats, such as the Monza 900which was introduced in 1961.The 1960 Corvair was the first American car to offer a fold-down back seat in its' two-door coupes. It was standard on the upscale 700 models. At the end of the model year a higher performance engine was introduced (95hp)after their win at the Sebring 24 hr. race. This engine had a more radical camshaft and throaty,low-restriction exhaust system. Very few of these were made as 1960 models though.
   For 1961, Chevrolet added an optional 4-speed manual transmission to augment the standard 3-speed manual and optional 2-speed automatic. The Corvair engine received its first size increase to 145 in³ courtesy of a slight increase in bore size. The base engine was still rated at 80 hp (60 kW) when paired with the manual transmissions, but 84 hp (63 kW) when mated to the optional automatic transmission. The high performance engine was rated at 98 hp (73 kW).The heating system was changed from the Southwind gas heater to an engine-exhaust heating system, similar to what was used on standard Volkswagens.
   A rear-engined station wagon, the Lakewood, was also added to the lineup in 1961, and it contained a total of 68 ft³ (1.9 m³) of cargo room — 58 in the main passenger compartment, and another 10 in the "trunk" under the hood. Engine heat and gasoline odors migrating up through the floor of the station wagon proved to be a persistent problem with this particular model, however.
   That same year, Chevrolet also added a panel van (the Corvan), a window van (the Greenbrier), and a pickup, which was notable not only for the fact that the air-cooled engine was mounted under the pickup bed, but that the side of the pickup bed folded down to form a ramp, hence its name, the Rampside.
   The most notable addition in 1961 was the new "Super De Luxe" Monza trim package available. The Monza package included bucket seats up front and carpet all around in addition to a few extra chrome dress up items. Most commonly it was seen with a 4 speed on the floor shifter and the high performance engine. At the time this package was heralded by some as "the poor man's Porsche" since it was the closest thing to an affordable sports car on the american streets. Though introduced half way through the 1961 model year, the Monza Coupe was the best selling model in the line up.
   The Corvair's innovative flat-6 engineIn 1962, Chevrolet introduced the 150 hp (112 kW) turbocharged Monza Spyder, making the Corvair one of the first two production automobiles to come with a turbocharger as a factory option, (with the Oldsmobile F-85 Turbo Jetfire of the same year). The Super Deluxe Monza Spyder introduced improved brakes and suspension, and a multi-gauge instrument cluster which included a tachometer. A convertible option was added as well. The 1963 model year saw the end of the Lakewood stationwagon and the availability of a long 3.08 gear for improved fuel economy, but the Corvair remained largely the same as in 1962.
   The lineup remained relatively unchanged for the 1964 model year, with the exception of the engine growing from 145 to 164 in³ (2.3 to 2.7 L)due to an increase in stroke; the base power growing from 80 to 95 hp (60 to 70 kW), and the high performance engine growing from 95 to 110 hp (70 to 80 kW). The Spyder engine remained rated at 150 hp (112 kW)despite the displacement increase of the engine.
   However, 1964 also saw a critical improvement in the Corvair's suspension; the car's swing axle rear suspension's tendency to lose traction suddenly and without warning when pushed to the limit was tamed by use of an additional transverse leaf spring coupling both rear wheels.
   However, a young lawyer named Ralph Nader had written a book called Unsafe at Any Speed in which the 1960-63 Corvair (and its purported greater tendency to roll over) was used as a dramatic case study. Even though a 1972 safety commission ultimately exonerated the Corvair and declared it no more unsafe than any similar vehicle of its era, Nader's book, which was published in 1965, was a severe blow to sales of the Corvair line. The sporty, inexpensive Ford Mustang, based on the conventionally designed Ford Falcon and introduced in late 1964 in response to the Corvair, ultimately finished off Chevrolet's bold experiment.
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