Cool ’60s GM Compacts: 1961 Chevy Corvair vs 1962 Buick Special

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)