The Chevrolet Corvair may have been a market failure, but its range contained a real groundbreaker. We drive the Monza Spyder, to see if it really deserved its wayward reputation<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-byline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Open Sans|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.3em” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words SAM DAWSON<\/strong> See if you can guess the car from the description. Rear-mounted, aircooled flat-six. Turbocharged. Semi-trailing-arm rear suspension. Limitedslip differential. Monocoque steel bodyshell. Infamous widowmaker reputation because of tail-happiness in the wrong circumstances. Initially available only as a hardtop coup\u00e9 on account of concerns about such urgent power combined with a physically compromised structure. Developed into a racing car by an engineer who\u2019d cut his teeth racing with Germany\u2019s top World Sports Car Championship team. Conceptual origins in the Porsche 356.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] You\u2019re thinking 911 Turbo aren\u2019t you? And yet the Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder doesn\u2019t just predate Porsche\u2019s supercar, but the 911 line entirely, dating from 1962. And of course it\u2019s American, hailing from an automotive industry which, clich\u00e9 suggests, was all about luxury, convenience and V8s in the early Sixties.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The Corvair? Far from being some technical Porsche-predicting groundbreaker, wasn\u2019t that the car that represented all that was bad about the American car industry, prompting safetycampaigning politician Ralph Nader to write Unsafe At Any Speed? Well, yes it was, but there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the Corvair\u2019s design. Rather, its early iterations were just as much a victim of the way the American car industry thought at the time as any unfortunate customers who managed to unintentionally find themselves flailing at the wheel attempting to control its wild oversteer discovered. The car itself, and its pioneering design engineer Ed Cole, were haplessly innocent parties.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_41151-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_4115%911%93″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Corvair designer Ed Cole also worked on the Corvette C1<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Approaching this, the only running example of a Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder in the UK, I\u2019m struck by how strangely rootless the design is. Its dimensions aren\u2019t particularly transatlantic \u2013 size-wise it\u2019s roughly the same as a contemporary Ford Zephyr \u2013 and there are no rocket-fins or muscle-car haunches to scream power or status. Only a few tiny badges tell bystanders it\u2019s turbocharged. There\u2019s a tiny hint of Cadillac in its twin chromebacked headlamps and jutting brow, but with no front air intake it looks more like a gigantic Renault 8, Hillman Imp or NSU Prinz 4. Then bear in mind that those crisp examples of Sixties modernity all copied Chevrolet. Only the boomerang-shaped chrome A-pillar dates its origins to an American drawing office in 1959. If someone told me Giovanni Michelotti had designed it in Turin in the Sixties, I\u2019d have believed them.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Before I climb aboard, I take a look at the tail. There\u2019s a strong hint of Corvette to it in its boat-tailed profile and rows of circular taillights. But those long rows of engine-cooling louvres along the rear deck are pure European sports car. The driving position is very familiar to Europeans too. Pedals are offset towards the centre, and the big steering wheel sits upright and close to my chest. Just like, well, a Porsche. Even the instrument binnacle looks like it came out of Zuffenhausen rather than Detroit.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018It was a victim of the way the American car industry thought at the time\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_4046.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_4046″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Tiny badge, yet it signifies a huge technical step forward: a turbo<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] It\u2019s also reminiscent of a 911 on the turn of the ignition key. First, the starter motor whizzing into life somewhere behind me, then the lusty, windy, thumping chatter of six horizontally-opposed, air-cooled cylinders sparking into life. To an American customer weaned on loping front-mounted straight-sixes in cars of this size and price, this would have been an unusual experience. Offputtingly alien, perhaps \u2013 after all, a dummy grille was available as an official Chevrolet accessory for Corvair buyers who wanted their car to look more familiar.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Or perhaps not. We like to characterise American cars and their buyers in the Fifties and Sixties as a stiflingly conservative bunch, sticking with things like live rear axles, conventional engine designs and gearboxes with a surprisingly small number of ratios in them. And yet, this was the era of NASA\u2019s Apollo programme, the GM Motoramas, and the cultural gift of science-fiction blazing a trail across television screens, childrens\u2019 comic books and novels read by intellectuals alike. This was the nation that had just broken the sound barrier. Americans had a hunger for tangible signs of this sense of breakneck progress, and perhaps not just limited to a fridge that looked a bit like an electric express train.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The turbocharger that hides transversely behind the rear seats in the Corvair Monza Spyder, taking up the space usually reserved for the air-conditioning unit meaning none could be fitted with this luxury, was the joint-first example of this kind of forced-induction being available on a production car. Engine-driven superchargers were as old as the industry. But harnessing the energy of the gases expelled by the engine to increase compression was aircraft technology, originally aimed at increasing air density in a piston-driven aero engine\u2019s intakes at high altitude.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_4059.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair taillights” title_text=”JJP_4059″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Afterburner-style taillights are one of the design\u2019s few Americanisms<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Ironically, the jet age was actually making turbocharging technology mundane by the time General Motors decided to install it in a couple of their cars in 1962 to boost power and torque in its smaller engines. Not that it stopped Oldsmobile calling the other one the preposterously cool-sounding F-85 Jetfire. While that car was otherwise conventionally American, with its Buick 3.5-litre V8 up front driving the rear wheels of a car derived from the Cutlass, the Corvair Monza Spyder wore its European influences overtly, from its near-total lack of Chevrolet badges to a name which spoke of Italian supercars.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Pulling away onto the rural lanes of South Yorkshire, the odd-looking yet precise-feeling curved gear lever slotted home, it still sounds very much like a Porsche 911, although the drum Brakes aren\u2019t completely confidence-inspiring in modern disc-braked traffic. They\u2019d be considered good for their era, although they\u2019re a reminder of one aspect of American engineering holding the Spyder back from true comparisons with European sports cars. But the real surprise comes as the traffic clears. This may be the first example of a turbocharged car available, and yet as I reach 2750rpm and the flat-six chunter is joined by a distant gale-like howl from behind the rear seats, I realise that it doesn\u2019t actually suffer from turbo-lag. It\u2019s probably because it\u2019s a relatively low-pressure turbocharger more akin to the light-pressure units used by Saab and Volvo in the late Eighties, and doesn\u2019t actually help the engine liberate much by way of power \u2013 150bhp \u2013 compared to more performance-focused turbo-cars.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_40831-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair engine” title_text=”JJP_4083%911%93″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] In Corvair parlance, Spyder means turbo, not roadster<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Instead of a sporty 911 jiggle, it immediately acquits itself as a superb highway cruiser. It rides beautifully, gliding along serenely, the turbo-torque meaning revolutions can be kept low, the car sounding like a distant Cessna from the outside. The way the Monza Spyder was presented may have drawn on the imagery of the Autodromo and stripped-out fly-screened sports-racers, but it was built for the era of soaring freeways. And if there was something which kept Americans buying domestic products rather than small-engined imports from Europe and Japan in the Sixties, despite the fuel economy gains on offer, it was the ability to cruise these asphalt airways at high speed with the engine gently turning over. A ground-bound personal jet in the form of a highway cruiser was the true mass-consumed product that really defined the jet age. The number of people who could actually afford to travel on an airliner was relatively small, but highways brought the effortless interstate dream much closer.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] With this highway-orientated character also comes an unexpected sense of stability at the rear, especially under acceleration. The Corvair was much-criticised when new, on account of trailing-arm suspension that seemed poorly-located, making the car hard to control if the rear tyres broke traction. This might have surprised its creator, Ed Cole, because he\u2019d derived the design from \u2013 and tested the Corvair\u2019s engines in \u2013 a Porsche 356. However, just before its launch, GM\u2019s bean-counters decided the suspension was too complex, and simplified it as part of a rationalisation process, removing its anti-roll bars, saving a grand total of $7 per car. As part of its sportier makeover, the Monza Spyder reinstated them, as well as stiffer springs and dampers, ahead of their standardisation across the range in 1964.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018The big wheel leaves you having to flail at it, dragging the car round corners\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] However, by this point the damage was done. Ralph Nader had already investigated GM\u2019s handling of the Corvair\u2019s suspension design in the first chapter of his 1965-released Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of The American Automobile<\/em>. The whole industry came in for criticism in the book for prioritising cost-cutting over driver and pedestrian safety, but the prominence of the Corvair within it caused customers to avoid the car in particular.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] This all weighs heavily in my mind as I pitch the Corvair into a downward-winding hillside bend. The single-circuit brake system needs pumping ahead of hard deceleration, making the process fraught enough, and although the gear lever is slick and linear in its motion it\u2019s fairly long-travel and can\u2019t be rushed. However, all these criticisms could be levelled at old Porsches too. What really undermines the Corvair\u2019s sporty credentials is actually its steering.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_40871-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Cockpit of the Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_4087%911%93″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Unsupportive seats, but interior is more European than US in style<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] At four and a half turns lock-to-lock, it\u2019s just too slow to handle sudden camber-changes or react to a fast, twisty road. The recirculating-ball setup is also vague, and the big wheel leaves you having to flail at it, dragging the car round corners rather than assuredly guiding it as you would with a Porsche. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Chevrolet made a virtue of the Corvair\u2019s budget-priced simplicity when new, pointing out that it didn\u2019t need power steering on account of the lack of weight over the nose, while clearly giving it a large wheel and low-geared steering to lessen the effort needed to turn it. I\u2019m gripping the wheel hard to keep me in place too \u2013 amazingly these flat-bottomed seats with precious little lateral support were the \u2018sports\u2019 option \u2013 standard Corvairs got a slippery full-width bench seat. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018It may be flawed, but it was only ever mere details away from being a genuine rival to the Porsche 911\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] And yet, two serious racers saw Porsche-like potential in the Monza. Original Corvair test driver John Fitch \u2013 who approved the car before GM deleted its anti-roll bars \u2013 decided to offer a set of officially approved tuning and modification options that could be combined in a car known as the Sprint. Fitch had been part of the all-conquering Mercedes-Benz racing team of the Fifties, campaigning the SL at Le Mans and winning his class at the Mille Miglia. As well as straightforward tuning, much of Fitch\u2019s attention was focused on giving the car a greater sense of European-style controllability and stability, and involved creating his own brake shoes, and quickening the steering ratio. Most dramatically, a glassfibre fastback roof intended to increase rear aerodynamic downforce could be attached to the car, any join lines disguised with a vinyl roof. The options remained in production throughout the Corvair\u2019s life until its demise in 1969.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_3968.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_3968″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Sporting potential, but long-winded steering lets the Corvair down<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Don Yenko\u2019s performance workshop took things even further. Starting with the quad-Rochester-H-carburettor, 180bhp \u2018Corsa\u2019 upgrade, he homologated 100 cars for the SCCA\u2019s Class D sports car racing category by removing the rear seats, replacing the steel engine covers with lightweight, bewinged glassfibre lookalikes, and following Fitch\u2019s lead endowed them with faster steering boxes. The engine was overhauled with Moraine conrods and bearings, high-lift camshaft, reshaped forged pistons and an increased compression ratio to give 220bhp. The Yenko Stingers put up a strong showing against British opposition in 1966, but before it could carve out a reputation for itself as a car for the sort of people who owned driving gloves, the Corsa option was dropped as Corvair sales continued to flag in the wake of the Nader revelations.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] And it\u2019s this aspect of it that makes driving the only Corvair Monza Spyder in the country such a bittersweet experience. It may be a flawed car, even given Chevrolet\u2019s own revisions, but as Fitch and Yenko demonstrated, it was only ever mere details away from being a genuine rival to the Porsche 911, yet with the reassurance of mass production behind it, and as the howling Carter YH \u2018Turbocarburetor\u2019 in the rear demonstrates, hardly lagging behind in terms of technical innovation either.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_39631-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_3963%911%93″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Corvair Monza Spyder is at its most confident cruising freeways<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] GM may be notorious for counting the pennies, and would no doubt point out that the Corvette has always been on hand whenever Porsche comes spoiling for a fight. However, with its front-mounted V8 there\u2019s something so predictable about it. The Monza Spyder is proof that once upon a time, Chevrolet could actually have beaten Porsche to market with a 911 rival capable of being built in vast numbers, sold for an affordable price, and proving its mettle on track against the best Europe could throw at it. Given that the Corvair would have been backed by the sales and marketing might of one of the world\u2019s biggest manufacturers, would Porsche\u2019s 911 even have been developed in the way it has, especially if the Corvair had survived its Nader ordeal and made it, Fitch-modified, to Europe, sold via the vastVauxhall and Opel dealerships at a temptingly low price? It\u2019s a fascinating thought to ponder.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-h4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018\u2018I found it for sale in Pennsylvania seven years ago,\u2019 says the Corvair Monza Spyder\u2019s owner, American car repair and restoration specialist Bill Smith. \u2018It\u2019s incredible how undervalued they still are for such a groundbreaking car \u2013 you can still find good Monza Spyders for less than $10,000 in the US. They\u2019re something of a cult car out there – so far as the mass market\u2019s concerned they\u2019ve never quite shaken off their reputation for being a bit of a lemon thanks to Nader\u2019s book. But there are enthusiasts out there that appreciate them, who\u2019ll restore them and ensure they\u2019re worth something, and dry-state cars are often well-preserved.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] I had to do a partial respray and address some rust here and there, but it\u2019s been reliable, and all the mechanical parts are available. Refreshing the interior will be trickier though – the dashboard needs re-covering. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018When you look at the specification of the car, and how futuristic it was, it\u2019s clear it was the right car at the wrong time. People just weren\u2019t ready for it. One of the main problems with it was tyre pressures \u2013 the correct ones for the car were 15psi front, 26psi rear. Back in the days of forecourt service, attendants used to inflate all the tyres they saw to 24psi regardless as part of their vehicle checks, accidentally biasing the grip towards the front and making the steering overly light and ineffective. Most accidents happened just after their owners had stopped for fuel.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-h4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] Engine:<\/strong> 2683cc horizontally-opposed six-cylinder, ohv, two Rochester H carburettors, Carter YH turbocharger AIR FORCEThe Chevrolet Corvair may have been a market failure, but its range contained a real groundbreaker. We drive the Monza Spyder, to see if it really deserved its wayward reputationWords SAM DAWSONPhotography JONATHAN JACOBSee if you can guess the car from the description. Rear-mounted, aircooled flat-six. Turbocharged. Semi-trailing-arm rear suspension. Limitedslip differential. Monocoque steel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"akindell","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1382"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1707,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382\/revisions\/1707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Photography JONATHAN JACOB<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_37601-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Chevrolet Corvair” title_text=”JJP_3760%911%93″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”has-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]Owning a Monza Spyder<\/h4>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/01\/JJP_4092.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Bill Smith” title_text=”JJP_4092″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder<\/em><\/h4>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Power and torque:<\/strong> 150bhp @ 4400rpm; 134lb ft @ 2800rpm
Transmission<\/strong>: Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Steering:<\/strong> Recirculating ball
Suspension:<\/strong> Front: independent, wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar; Rear: independent, semi-trailing arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers
Brakes:<\/strong> Drums front and rear
Weight:<\/strong> 1134kg
Performance:<\/strong> Top speed: 103mph; 0-60mph: 7.8sec
Cost new:<\/strong> $2438
Approximate value now:<\/strong> \u00a310,000<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"