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Car of the Day: September 3, 2015; Hubley '61 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood wagon
Topic Started: Sep 3 2015, 03:55 AM (501 Views)
Dean-o-mite
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Today's car of the day is from corvairjim's collection, and is Hubley's 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood Wagon.


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Wikipedia
 
The Chevrolet Corvair is a compact automobile manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet for model years 1960-1969 over two generations. As the only American-designed, mass-produced passenger car to feature a rear-mounted air-cooled engine, the Corvair range included a two-door coupe, convertible, four-door sedan, and four-door station wagon body styles, as well as passenger van, commercial van, and pickup truck variants. The Corvair competed with imported cars such as the original Volkswagen Beetle, as well as the Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, Studebaker Lark and the Rambler American. The Corvair's legacy was affected by controversy surrounding its handling, scrutinized in Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed, as well as a 1972 Texas A&M University safety commission report for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which found that the 1960-1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control in extreme situations than its contemporaries. The name "Corvair" is a portmonteau of Corvette and Bel Air. The name was first applied in 1954 to a concept with a hardtop fastback-styled roof.



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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Chevrolet Corvair


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A station wagon body-style, marketed as the Lakewood joined the lineup in 1961 with its engine located under the cargo floor and offering 68 cubic feet of cargo room; 58 cubic feet in the main passenger compartment, and another 10 cubic feet in the front trunk. The Corvair engine received its first size increase to 145 cu in (2.4 L) via a slight increase in bore size and was rated at 98 hp. The base engine was still rated at 80 hp when paired with the manual transmissions and 84 hp when mated to the optional automatic transmission in Monza models. To increase luggage capacity in the front trunk, the spare tire was relocated to the engine compartment (in cars not ordered with air-conditioning) and new "direct air" heater directed warmed air from the cylinders and heads to the passenger compartment. The gasoline heater remained available as an option through 1963. Factory air conditioning was offered as a mid-1961 option introduction. The condenser lay flat atop the horizontal engine fan. A large, green-painted reverse rotation version of the standard GM Frigidaire air conditioning compressor was used, and an evaporator housing was added under the dash with integrated outlets surrounding the radio housing. Air conditioning was not available on wagons, Greenbrier/Corvair 95, or the turbocharged models introduced later, due to space conflicts in those models.



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Hobie-wan
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SUV
Interesting, that has a tab, but looks like there was never an actual hitch on there.
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Sweet to see an old school USA made toy featured. I approve!
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corvairjim
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This one holds a special place in my collection. Being a station wagon fan, I knew I needed at least one of these Hubley Lakewoods. I found this one, my first (of four... and counting!), at a Corvair swap meet/cookout hosted at the shop of the President of the North Jersey chapter of CORSA (the Corvair Society of America). Quite a drive for those of us in the Philly area. But it was worth it, not only for this wagon, but moreso for some quality "Dad & Daughter" as well. (I'll always remember the part of the trip where the radio was playing Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good To Me": He sings about "My Maserati does one-eighty-five... ". My 7 year old daughter Becky asks : "What's a Maserati"? Her timing couldn't have been better because just at that precise moment, a Maserati Ghibli blew past us, doing at least a hundred! I just pointed and said "That's a Maserati"! Anyhow, I grabbed this little Lakewood for, as I recall, $3, then made the mistake of carrying it around in my back pocket for the next hour or so. That accounts for the paint being rubbed off the fenders above the headlights.

At one point, the owner of the business next door decided to crash the party. Seeing about 25 Corvairs sitting out in the sun gave him the idea to drive over with his late 1920's Franklin Touring Car, the most successful air-cooled American brand until the Corvair came along 30+ years later.

One of these days I'll get around to restoring one of my Hubley Lakewoods and resto-modding another by grinding down the casting flash, changing the color and doing a bunch of paint detailing. It won't be this one, though - like I said, this one is special to me.
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pjedsel
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:thumbup: Neat toy car - it was an interesting choice of model by Hubley - not just because it was a Corvair but a wagon no less. Old toys like these are wonderful.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think will get my vote this week, not often we get slush mold cars and not often we get something like a Corvair Lakewood Wagon!

Now, to find a Crown V8 conversion...(I'd settle for a Kelmark...)

Oh yeah, back to diecast...we still need some "legit" forward control Corvairs, guys! AW, M2, GL...are ya'll listening???
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corvairjim
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Oh heck yeah, Juan! If Matchbox can make a plebeian Dodge A100 pickup, imagine how much more interesting a Rampside would be. And seriously, what's up with that "THING" that Hot Wheels calls a Greenbrier??? That thing is an insult to the sensibilities of Corvair fanatics everywhere. I had the opportunity to buy one of them about a month ago... and passed.
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