Rusty But Trusty

While the second series Corvairs are arguably more timeless and desirable, there were many more variants of flat six Chevy in the first generation. These include the Greenbrier passenger van and camper, the Rampside pickup, and the Lakewood wagon, as well as the coupe, convertible, and sedan available throughout the Corvair’s life. So while the shallow among us would automatically pick the second series in the latter 3 body styles, the rest were only available in the early style. And while not quite as pretty as the later cars, they do have their own kind of appeal in being a very pure expression of the GM style of the time – wrap-around windshield, “floating” roof, dual round front headlights, and more. Check out this 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood for sale for $3900 in Richmond, BC.

Corvair wagons were only built for 1961 and 1962, and this one is the slightly upmarket 700 model (as opposed to the bargain basement 500 – who decides these random designations??). The odometer is said to read 89,000, although this could easily be the second time around. The paint color is said to be a little lighter than the original Laguna Blue, but still serviceable together with the white roof. The darker blue wheels are an interesting touch, but need something more (center caps? raised white letter tires?) to make them pop.

There is not much more information about the car’s condition. These cars seem to have a massive amount of trunk space, what with the frunk and the rear luggage compartment. You probably won’t want to leave anything temperature sensitive in the rear, but other than that, this should be an immensely practical classic. The quad round headlights in the rear leave a sporting impression.

So did Chevy build this car as an alternative for its large car buyers? Or were they glancing over their shoulder at VW, with their successful Type 3 line of cars in addition to the Type 1 Beetle and Type 2 bus? Here’s the only car you could surprise both VWs and Porsches with, so a little hot rod wagon might be a great deal of fun.

Tags: american, chevrolet, corvair, Feature, lakewood, wagon

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