The Chevrolet Corvair is a rear-engined, air-cooled compact car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet over two generations between 1960 and 1969. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it was offered in 4-door sedan, 2-door coupe, convertible and 4-door station wagon in its first generation (1960–1964), and as a 2-door coupe, convertible or 4-door hardtop in its second (1965–1969). It was also offered as a subseries known as the Corvair 95 (1961–1965), which consisted of a passenger van, commercial van, and pickup truck variant. Total production was approximately 1.8 million vehicles from 1960 until 1969.
The name "Corvair" was first applied in 1954 to a Corvette-based concept with a hardtop fastback-styled roof, part of the Motorama traveling exhibition. When applied to the production models, the "air" part referenced the engine's cooling system.
A prominent aspect of the Corvair's legacy derives from controversy surrounding its handling, articulated aggressively by Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed and tempered by a 1972 Texas A&M University safety commission report for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which found that the 1960–1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control in extreme situations than contemporary compacts.
To better counter popular inexpensive subcompact competitors, notably the Beetle and Japanese imports such as the Datsun 510, GM replaced the Corvair with the more conventional Chevrolet Vega in 1970. Today the Corvair has a devoted following among owners and collectors as average prices for Corvairs have steadily increased.
