By Nathan Bagster
There are many iconic cars from the 60s that are easy to spot in the wild – Chevelles, Mustangs, Darts – the list goes on.
But one little buggy that always strikes a commotion is that of the Chevrolet Corvair. With its debut in 1960, this rear-mounted, air-cooled engine remains the only American-designed model of its kind - and for one Monadnock couple, it is a family heirloom come to life.
Justin and Loraine Corbin have had their little blue Corvair for about 4 years now, after receiving it from Loraine’s father as a gift. “It had been off the road for about 16 years, after dying at a car show in Pennsylvania,” Justin said. He then went on to explain that the brakes had given up the ghost and it became undrivable. “It was eventually put off to the side and left alone.”
That was until spending the first year in their care at the garage.
“It spent a lot of time being worked on to get into running condition – it needed 4 corner brakes and a new master cylinder. Then it needed some floor and trunk pan work,” Justin said. “The interior is still pretty old and will need some refreshing in the future. Other than that, I’ve given it a few oil changes, and the oil still comes out dirty.
In terms of build, their little Corvair sports a 2.7-liter flat-6 – which is one of four power options for that year – though theirs comes as the 110-horsepower model. All that power is put to the ground through a 2-speed ‘Corvair Powerglide’ transmission, as opposed to the 3 and 4-speed manuals that were also available.
And it’s sporting a special paint job, “I think they painted it Isuzu blue about 15 or 20 years ago,” he said with a laugh.
After getting through the nitty gritty starting questions, we asked Justin about the dirty details – what sort of modifications and issues came with a car of its age. To which he responded, “We’ve come across two big issues.”
“The first is keeping it tuned,” he said, “Because it’s an older dual-carburetor system, the pair often fall out of sync and we have to spend time returning them.” Any fan of carburetors can attest to this, as the older fuel dumpers require a fair level of attention, and adding a second to the mix doubles that.
“We’re also facing an issue with the charging system,” he went on, “there just isn’t enough power going throughout the vehicle to keep things running as efficiently as possible.”
Like many of its time, the early models of the Corvair came with a generator, a technology that was quickly outdated by the use of an alternator. While Justin's model was modernized with a stock alternator, he believes the amperage output isn’t enough to keep up with the aging electrical system. “A friend of mine bypassed the power system to another output and the engine ran like a top, but when we reattached the original connections, it was boggy and rough. That leads me to believe the alternator or electrical system needs to be upgraded.”
Justin then went on to discuss modifications to the car, stating that there weren’t any crazy custom pieces. “We want to keep it as original as we can, for as long as possible. That being said, the biggest alteration is the exhaust system.” He explained that the current system consists of a y pipe from the engine that leads into a muffler with a crossover pipe that goes directly to another muffler - for that dual exhaust look. “It sounds great and it has a little rumble to it too,” Justin said.
Originally, the Corvair system consisted of a Y-pipe from the engine that led into a single pipe and muffler and poured out of the passenger side.
Other modifications consist of larger, 15-inch aftermarket wheels for the car, “Yes, I still own stock rims. But I couldn’t justify buying 13-inch tires and paying to have them mounted and balanced after I found a set of ready-to-go muscle car rims that had brand-new tread for around the same price.”
There is also an aftermarket stereo, complete with a CD player, in the car. “The dashboard was in pretty rough shape so I didn’t feel bad about doing alterations, and I honestly wanted a place to listen to my CDs since most modern cars all come with Bluetooth players now.”
It’s also important to note that Justin gave a few shout-outs during our talk about the Corvair.
“Most of the work was done through Pass Automotive in Keene, they did a great job getting the car up and running and had it done in a decent time frame. As for parts, we try to go through Clark’s Corvair down in Shelburne Falls, Mass as much as possible. My wife's father used to get parts from there as well, like most of the Corvair guys in New England. They’re super knowledgeable and easy to get along with.”
When asked what sort of plans the couple had for the car going forward, Justin touched on the aging engine, “I mean it has 85k on it - which is a lot for a little engine of its age. I’ve been thinking about what to do when we eventually have to swap out the engine.” Again, he mentioned that they have to factor in their want to keep it original. “I would like to maybe rebuild or replace it with another Corvair engine, but I’ve also seen a lot of cool swaps that guys do with them.”
“One idea that stands out to me is a conversion with the 3800 motors,” Justin said, referring to the long-running 3.8-liter Buick V6 that powered many GM models from 1961 to 2008. “Or maybe something more complex, like making it a midengined car.”
“The most important thing for us is keeping the car drivable though,” Justin said, which makes sense considering the curb weight of the Corvair at the time was a whopping 2,385–2,770 pounds. “Even with just the little bit of power it has, the thing is so light that it can get a little sketchy. If I start hauling down a hill with the thing and hit 70mph, the front end feels floaty – almost like a gust of wind would just make us take off.”
“I know a lot of guys used to autocross them after some major concerns with braking and wheelbase were addressed, but it’s still a big ask. At least they fixed the issues where older models would twist up going around the corner ha-ha.”
For those that don’t know, in 1965 a few changes were made to the Corvair platform - larger brakes were borrowed from a sister model, the Chevelle, while a stronger differential ring gear was used to improve driveline strength. Other significant chassis refinements were made to the platform as well, including the newly designed, fully articulated, independent rear suspension - a coil system based on the Corvette Sting Ray, which used transverse leaf at the time - which removed the danger of the previous generation's swing axles.
With all of that information to digest, we went into closing the conversation by asking Justin what his favorite things were about the car, and what 2024 looked like to him and his wife.
“I think I love driving it firstly, it's so much fun to be in. The looks and thumbs-up you get just passing by people are great.”
He went on to talk about the types of car enthusiasts he runs into at car meets, “Bringing it to shows you have like 3 types of people. Those who go ‘What the heck is that’ or the ‘I hated these growing up’ folks. But my favorite is the ‘Where’s your engine crowd’.”
“My wife and I just love taking it to all the car shows too, especially down to the one in Beaver PA. That’s the show the car died at. We try to trailer it down as sort of an homage to its history every summer – it’s super fun.”
And on the topic of this year, he had this to say “Right now, the Corvair is in storage for the winter. But it will be up and running soon for the local shows.” He added that he hopes to make more connections with the local crowd, mentioning that the car scene in the region isn’t what it should be. “I want to help build more of a community around her and get us car people as connected as possible!”