So close I can almost taste it...(Corvair related)

I've mentioned before that I've been looking seriously at a red 1966 Corvair convertible. Well today the owner finally agreed that he will definitely sell it to me. Its in winter storage and he wants to do a few things to fix it up perfectly once the snow melts before letting me take possession.

Turns out that it was actually a Monza that was upgraded to a Corsa. Has the 140 hp engine that was available in both but the Corsa quicker steering and heavier duty springs were added. Still has the Monza badges so it was never tried to be passed off as a Corsa. The cars were very similar in the day and totally confused buyers to my understanding with GM selling both versions side by side. It's my understanding that the Corsa is more valuable than the Monza to the 'vair enthusiasts and some Monzas have been passed off as Corsas.

There is a very special place in my heart growing up with Corvairs because my parents had a 1961 and a 1965. I grew up as a military brat with my dad in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1963 we were posted to Holloman AFB in N.M. for a one year stint and drove from Toronto to N.M. in the 61. Took four days without the interstates picking up Route 66 in Chicago. I was twelve and my brother was eight - windows open, no A/C or rear seat belts and a crappy radio.

Bought the 65 new, a 110 hp Monza 4 dr sedan with the powerglide auto trans and took it to England that year for a one year post before spending the next three years on a NATO base in Germany. Brought the Corvair back to Canada in 1969. I learned how to drive on that car along with my mom's Austin Mini 850.

Both my parents turn 90 in April. My intent is not to tell them about this purchase but just show up and take them out for a ride.

You can imagine how excited I am about this purchase. Will keep you posted.

Looking forward to reading and seeing more about this!

Welcome.

The Corsa is pretty easy to distinguish (besides the badges). It will have a silver rear cove areas (stock) and the "rally" dash (tack, clock, temp and manifold pressure). Yes, lots of cars are "mix and match". As far a value, I wouldn't worry about it, none of them are really worth much.

Realistically, now days, Corsa's are dirt common. Everyone saved them, so they are the most common in cars shows etc. (you would think the turbo Corsa Convertibles was the most common model!) If you want a rare Corvair, try finding a low optioned 500 (base model), THOSE are what you rarely see.

aircooled wrote: Welcome. The Corsa is pretty easy to distinguish (besides the badges). It will have a silver rear cove areas (stock) and the "rally" dash (tack, clock, temp and manifold pressure). Yes, lots of cars are "mix and match". As far a value, I wouldn't worry about it, none of them are really worth much. Realistically, now days, Corsa's are dirt common. Everyone saved them, so they are the most common in cars shows etc. (you would think the turbo Corsa Convertibles was the most common model!) If you want a rare Corvair, try finding a low optioned 500 (base model), THOSE are what you rarely see.

There is a guy a few miles from me who has a couple of 500s. They've been out in the weather for years & he won't sell them. I have a friend who offered him outrageous money for the pair. That just caused him to clamp down tighter.

So is this one a Canadian built Corvair? If it is, that's awesome.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Yes this is a Canadian built car, one of only 279 Monza convertibles produced in Canada in 1966. In contrast 10,345 Monza convertibles were produced in the USA that year, so there is some rarity in that. I get these stats from the book "The Corvair Decade" by Tony Fiore (1980)

Nice! Canadian Late Models have body colored engine compartment and trunk, which the American ones did not.

Yes,

Interesting story about Canadian built cars. A percentage of every manufacturers, product had to be, don't know if this is still true, made in Canada. All the North American Big 3 had at least token plants there. And even OEM suppliers like the Budd Company did for the same reason as well.

Canadian eh? You might be interested in this then:

1966 Canadian Corsa turbo convertible build

He also has a list of the differences for Canadian cars:

65-6 Canadian Differences

In reply to aircooled:

Nice! I knew there were more, I just didn't know what.

Didn't know they had a 2nd plant in Canada, interesting!