It’s time for another Shitbox Showdown! Today’s contestants are both from General Motors, back when each of the divisions had a lot more freedom to do its own thing. These two compacts show just how wildly different their approaches sometimes were.
We’ll take a look at those in a minute, though; first we should finish up with yesterday‘s little pickups. It’s a little earlier than I usually call the vote, but this one looks like a foregone conclusion. It’s the Mazda by a country mile. From the sounds of it, it’s the body damage on the Toyota that put you off.
I’m inclined to agree; that’s a lot of wrinkled sheetmetal in some very hard-to-fix places. Besides, I had more fun driving my Mazda truck than I did the Toyota. And I always had SE-5 envy when I had mine.
Back in the late 1950s, American cars were big. And I don’t just mean popular; they were big. Longer, lower, and wider were the words of the day, and designers like Virgil Exner at Chrysler and Harley Earl at GM took them to heart. But newly-formed AMC, as well as Volkswagen and other imported makes, showed there was a market for smaller cars. Detroit had no choice but to offer its own compacts. While Ford and Chrysler basically pointed a shrink-ray at their existing cars, Chevrolet took a different approach with the rear-engined Corvair. Buick, Olds, and Pontiac all shared a basic structure for their new compacts, but fleshed their ideas out in very different ways. None of these weird designs was particularly successful, but they’re all fascinating bits of history, and they make compelling classic rides today. Let’s take a look at a couple of them.
1961 Chevrolet Corvair – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 145 cubic inch overhead valve flat 6, two-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Sandy, OR
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Recent barn find, mechanical condition unknown
By now, we all know the Corvair story: It was weird, but very popular; it had a lot of problems early on, but GM steadily improved it; the second generation was actually a really good little car, despite what some guy named Ralph said. Corvairs were available in a huge range of body styles, including a sedan, a wagon, a pickup truck, and a van, but this two-door coupe was by far the prettiest and the coolest.
Corvairs are powered by air-cooled flax-six engines, available with one, two, or four carburetors. This one has two carbs, which I believe makes it the 95-horsepower “Super Turbo-Air” version, which, despite the name, is not turbocharged. Three- and four-speed manuals were popular in Corvairs, especially among enthusiasts, but the automatic transmission had already sunk its nasty, mushy claws into the US car market by 1961, meaning buyers were also able to order a Corvair with a two-speed “Powerglide” automatic, like this one. I honestly can’t tell from the text of the ad whether this car runs or not; they say it “looks like it needs a tuneup and carb work.” Does that mean they got it running and it needs work, or are they guessing? Only one way to find out, I suppose.
As barn finds go, it’s pretty good. Even the upholstery looks all right, though I wish they hadn’t put that dirty – what is that, a fan shroud? – on the passenger’s seat. Some people, I tell ya. That steering wheel doesn’t belong in a stock automatic Corvair either, and it really doesn’t go with the aftermarket wheels, which are actually pretty cool.
Despite Ralph Nader’s best efforts, the Corvair is still a popular car, and a whole bunch of restoration parts suppliers cater to those who prefer their lack of safety at a variety of speeds. This one doesn’t look like it needs much cosmetically, as long as the floors are solid. A mechanical refresh should have it back on the Cars & Coffee circuit in no time.
1962 Buick Special convertible – $2,100
Engine/drivetrain: 215 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed manual, RWD
Location: Centralia, WA
Odometer reading: 43,000 miles
Operational status: Non-running, but “won’t take much”
Buick’s approach to a compact car was more traditional – mostly. The new-for-1961 Buick Special, and later Skylark, are of unibody construction, kind of a new thing for GM back then, but its layout is strictly conventional, with the engine and transmission in front, driving a coil-sprung solid rear axle. Pontiac’s very similar Tempest took a different path, with independent swing axles and a rear-mounted transaxle. This difference may not have meant much to anyone but GM engineers at the time, but many years later, it became very important.
The Buick Special’s unusual part was under the hood: it came with either a 198 cubic inch V6, or for those who wanted more power, a 215 cubic inch all-aluminum V8. Buick later sold off both of these engine designs, but bought back the V6 and used it in millions of cars for decades. The V8 was sold to Rover, and powered everything from luxury sedans to sports cars to SUVs. But it all started here. This one has a four-barrel carb and is backed by a good old three-on-the-tree manual, and it sounds like the seller has it really close to running, but it isn’t quite there yet.
It looks like the seller has also started to do some work inside; the door panels are off, and it looks like maybe the window glass is out. Whether or not those rather important parts are included, I don’t know. I would virtually guarantee it will need a new top, as well.
It’s got some rust, but honestly, this is one of those cars that doesn’t look bad a little rusty. I think I might be tempted to just fix the mechanicals and get the interior livable, and not worry so much about the outside.
These are both pretty cheap, as far as project cars go. Yeah, you can’t drive either one of them home, but I get the feeling you could have either one up and running in a couple of weekends. Call a buddy, get some beer and pizza, and have some fun getting them going again. Which one are you taking?
(Image credits: sellers)
Had to go with the Corvair. I’ve always thought one would be cool to own. And the parts are available for everything it might need.
I fully expected to vote for the Corvair, because I like Corvairs and I’m really not a convertible guy, but the Buick’s front fenders won me over!
I really like all things Corvair, but nostalgia is steering my boat this morning. My father bought a brand-new ’61 Buick Special wagon and we enjoyed it til he traded it on a ’64 Ford Country Squire.
For a toddler, that was a happy little car with a welcoming appearance and I was always comfortable on family trips to the shore or even the supermarket.
Of course, our comfort level was never impeded by the constraints of seat belts (I don’t think the Buick was equipped with such) or nanny chimes.
I remember the innocent shade of white and red interior with its racy pretensions. And there was always expectation of good things when my father turned the key.
Of course this was more in the head of the child vs. the car, but that’s who’s voting today.
Good times.
These both look like projects that will break you. The Buick will be hard to find parts for (Corvairs have the benefit of a surprising amount of available parts thanks to the cultish following), but the Corvair has some red flags for sure. I’m not as turned off by the PowerGlide (my Corvair had it. The manual wasn’t exciting enough to make the PowerGlide a dealbreaker). The rust on the top of the engine means there is probably some horrifying rust down below.
Also, I wish marketplace and craigslist would implement some specific criteria for calling a car a “barn find”. Did they hang out in the barn with the car and put modern seats and a steering wheel in it? Did it go in a barn in 2014? Yes, some parts are really well preserved – especially that clean looking optional padded dash, but there’s so much rust in the engine bay…
And my Olds had Keystone Klassic wheels on it when I first got it. Keystones look pretty hilarious in four-lug flavor. Like a chrome 4-leaf clover or something. Just a word of warning – unilug wheels like that require some attention or be prepared for tons of broken lug studs.
So, an early Corvair full of problems or a rusty Buick you won’t have much help with? Yeah, you know I still want both.
I have been driving Corvairs for 46 years. I’ll take the Buick.
Corvair is probably 80hp (not 95) and with a 2 speed auto, it is a dog.
The Buick aluminum V8 with manual transmission will be much more fun.
Buick is probably more rare but parts are still gettable.
Red convertible, checkmate.
On a side note… whoever did the website “upgrade” sold you a bill of goods. Just as slow as before.
I actually think it is slower.
And still no images in comments. (Maybe a good thing)
Agree. I have encountered multiple times where it straight up fails to load and times out. That never happened before.
Man, love them both but I’m going with the Buick for the 3 on the tree – I’ve always wanted to drive a column shift manual. Someday…
I really like all Corvairs and they have great parts support because of enthusiast demand, but I just can’t resist that baby Buick. I never see any of these anymore (probably not a good sign), which is sad because just look at those lines! This little ragtop out calibers Ford’s contemporaneous Bullet Birds. Fully restored, or even just reclaimed, the Buick would make for a great weekend Special.
Corvair takes this one for price, its different, and parts are still easily found.
Time for Vair education! That one is a base 80HP engine. The corvairs with a single carb are actually the fastest, the Turbo models. All 80-110hp models got twin carbs, each a 1 barrelmunit feeding 3 cyl. This one you know is a base model by the lack of a trunk emblem. If you opted for ANY option uprated engine, chevy put on a crossed flag under the ‘corvair’on the decklid.
Ugh, more basket cases. I’m just not in a Derek Bieri mood today.
IF the Corvair was second-gen, and ran, it would win based on the rust and incompleteness of the Buick. I’m just not sure this one’s coming back.
Respectfully, these are not basket cases; they are more or less fully assembled. I can see where one might think “basket case” and “crapcan” would be equivalent, but they are not.
An actual “basket case” would be disassembled, major components out, etc. and lots/most of the parts stored in boxes, hence the name. Like this:
https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/21/2014/03/1970-chevelle-basket-case.jpg
I really prefer the 2nd gen Corvair, and would prefer the stick version, but man, that looks like a SOLID car that wouldn’t take much to be cruising and enjoying!
Right? The ’65s and on just look so much better, especially the 4-door, which makes no sense but there it is.
I think the first gens look better as a 4-door and the second gens look better as a 2-door. 2-door second gens are my favorite.
I have owned early and late model Corvairs. I used to prefer the GM coke-bottle styling of the LMs but have gravitated to the funkier EM styling, especially the 4-doors. Interestingly, younger enthusiasts seem to like the EM better and Boomers and tuners like the LM.