1961 Chevrolet Corvair

Rust Free Southwest Super Rare and Clean Pickup

Air Cooled Flat Six

Automatic

1R124S120993

Clear

Gasoline

Today we have listed for sale a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside Pickup. This has been a nearly always garaged pickup that has been adult owned and nice weather only driven - Don't let the Texas plates throw you, the Corvair is located currently in McMinnville Oregon, where the owners also currently reside. It belongs to a friend of mine who is selling this to help pay for long term Alzheimer's care for her father, who served in the Air Force (fitting place for the pictures! and he's entrusted his collection of classic vehicles to her to sell to the right homes. I'm here to help them do that. Before asking questions please read all the way through, everything should be pretty well answered, but if not feel free to ask. This is also the first time on the market for this vehicle, so it's definitely not something you've seen, and seen again!. I will do my best to describe it so that you feel you know it. It's hard to show the total story of this car in the words I use, but I have added as many pictures as possible - I tried to use pictures that covered the overall feel and look of the car. Please use the scroll feature to get to all of the pictures, sometimes they don't all come up without that scrolling and on a cell phone they may be harder to get to. We'd rather have you see more pictures than 'needed' than too few - but they are all there, many of the interior, engine and undercarraige - I promise! These pics are mostly all taken at Evergreen Air Museum - many in front of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain that was part of the Normandy invasion in 1944. You will also note the Spruce Goose, a Saturn rocket and other planes in the background of some of the pictures. Evergreen is gracious in letting us use their planes and facility as a backdrop for these pictures. If you're ever in the McMinnville are please stop and see them - they have not only the air museum but an aerospace museum and an indoor water park! I use lower resolution so that anyone in the world can download them with relative ease. Please be aware that this truck is advertised and for sale locally, nationally and globally, and we do reserve the right to end this auction at any time if the vehicle sells before auction ends. This very cool, unique, collectible, stylish and solid piece of American traditional automotive history is definitely for sale and definitely on the money price wise. If you are SERIOUS about the car - please call my cell # 503.580.6225 if I don't answer the first time - try again later - if I am at work I may not be able to answer your call. Please be considerate of the time. This is an amazingly honest, umolested vehicle and overall is simply a great rig - one you can drive, show off mess around with and show with pride.. Someone is going to get an enjoyable, fun and great collectible vehicle here. Buy it today and be the envy of those who hesitated and missed. Corvairs, they made a lot of them and Ralph Nader killed them, or at the very least had a hand in their demise. The Corvair trucks and vans are descendants of the 1955 L'Universelle concept vehicle that Chevrolet designed and built, but never put into production. I know, and you know, the term "rare" will come up here. In the grand scheme of GM Pickup production, the Corvair pickups were a drop in the bucket - and truly were limited, or at least low production. In 1961 nearly 80 percent of production of Corvair 95 pickups were Rampsides, and the remainder Loadsides. The Rampside is one of the most unusual trucks ever produced - and today is pretty rare. Innovative, and simply cool looking in every way. Total production for Corvair was 1, 835,170 - so the total production figure for the Rampside over 4 years at 17786 is a pretty low number in the grand scheme of things, making it the lowest production of any Chevy pickups in that time frame. Unique to the nth degree, and the question bears asking - when is the last time you saw one driving down the road? Oh, it's not impossible to find them but most are projects, and a huge number are firmly involved in a relationship with the rust monster. This is not one of those - it's a running, driving, rust free example that you can hop in and put to work today if you wanted to. This truck has been owned by a gentleman who is now in a memory care facility, and the pickup is only being sold to continue to fund his care. He is a veteran, and served his country well, amassing a decent sized collection that is now being dispersed to help fund his care. This is a nice dry Texas truck that is available to you today and let's go through it so you know it. Please Please Please use the scroll feature before asking if there are interior, engine and undercarriage pics, they are there! Let's dig into what we know about this Rampside: This was, at one time a daily driver around the small town the owner lived in for years, and he loved to drive it to his shop - the way the truck appears to have been maintained is indicative of the way he kept all his vehicles, and maintained them faithfully until he couldn't drive anymore, which wasn't all that long ago. From the Data plate we find that the pickup is equipped with 431A Custom Equipment (Deluxe Pkg) which is an upgraded trim package, chrome trim, bumpers, etc. The original paint color was Neptune Green, maybe a bit more greeny than what's on the truck, but not far off, and it's now done in a factory two tone style adding a colonial white to the accent the green. The air cooled engine starts and runs well, it's a wee cold blooded, which seems typical, but it runs well and goes down the road well. It's really just a hoot to drive, and easy. No wrestling this truck down the road at all. It appears to be mostly all stock, there's an aftermarket coil, but the carbs, air cleaners and all look to be OEM. There is a new battery in place in the super solid battery compartment. It seems to charge just fine, still running a generator, which I assume is how it was equipped from new. I was able to drive 25 miles or so in it, around town, stop and go rush hour traffic and picked up my son from school. Let me tell you this rig gets ATTENTION!! A couple women looked it over at the school and they were absolutely smitten by it. Everywhere I stopped people stopped, looked, and wanted to talk. It does have a bit of oil smell when at a stop light, my guess is valve cover gaskets, a reality of the Corvair it would seem, but rolling down the road really no issues I could find. The transmission is a dash operated GM Powerglide, and it operates as it should. The brakes and suspension are all stock, looks like shocks are newer to the vehicle. It stops well and straight. If you take your hand off the wheel there is a slight pull right, but that is being picky. The tires and wheels are aftermarket, kind of a chromed/slotted rally wheel with a baby moon style center cap. We didn't try and clean them, or acid wash them, but I think that would help greatly. The tires are older in age, but not lots of miles - the are Federal 205/70x14 radials on all four corners. I Started the truck up and moved it all over while taking pictures, highway drove it, stopped at the school, probably 20 or more starts and stops and not a hiccup. I really had fun driving this truck around and the time spent around it has been enjoyable. I'll be the first to tell you that's not always the case. It puts a smile on my face every time i am around it. Hop in, turn the key and drive, while turning lots of heads!! Inside has obviously been redone and the seat looks and feels like new, though it's been done for a while. Much of the glass, including the windshield is original with the original LOF logo and corresponding date codes. The windshield has a small crack in the left side of it, so one may want to replace, or leave original, your choice - it's only original once. The rest of the glass is great, and has a film type tint on it, easily removed. The wipers work, horn works, emergency brake works, dome light works from the switch. Dash lights don't work, typically it's the headlight switch that causes this. There is an inexpensive older am/fm/cassette in the original dash radio location that doesn't seem to work, but I didn't mess with it or try very hard, the good part is that the dash, other than two screw holes seems to be completely unmodified. Floor covering is vinyl, though not sure that's the original vinyl, it's pretty nice if so. There is no smoke smell or burns, it's a non smoker vehicle. The interior overall is really nice with all the sill plates and such intact. It's likely been painted inside from original, it appears, but it's super clean and not crusty at all, reflecting the indoors kept history. Outside the truck is as solid a 54 year old body as I have ever seen, really remarkable for it's age. The bedliner material was obviously done sometime around when the truck was painted, but the inside of the bed is super intact - note the weep/drain holes in the floor, all original and really intact. The bed is really super straight for a truck, and shows that it must have been well cared for from day one. Not sure when the paint was done, but there are no signs of bubbling or rust/rot anywhere that I could find. The body is smooth and clean, the paint isn't show quality, but also isn't orange peeled, dry or terrible, It's shiny, pretty well done, and very respectable. It's obvious that at some time the truck was painted from green to orange, and now back to green. It also appears there was a repair at some time to the left front lower corner that could have been fixed better, pretty minor, but I can notice it, so am telling you about it - and the pictures definitely show it. I'm your eyes and ears here, so really like to be picky about things. The bumper chrome is pretty nice, and all the trim the same. Door handles aren't pitted and even the emblems are all pretty nice. There have never been backup lights that I can tell - they usually are outboard of the engine door, but feeling inside there is no sign of them that I could find. In searching for them I was truly impressed with the quality of the sheet metal on the body. The side reflectors are not lights, they are stick on's - they can be taken off, the left front one has come loose so there is a new set of four that come with the vehicle. This truck could be left alone, or messed with. Used for a business or advertising, shown, refined more to a show quality - really this is a truck that could do anything, and stand tall - or leave it alone, your choice. It hasn't been detailed, rattle canned, buffed, fluffed or phoneyed a bit, nor is it a vehicle that has been bought to flip or sell, this is a very unique and unusual truck that has been well loved and is ONLY for sale due to medical reasons and to pay for an urgent and long term care situation. We are not looking for sympathy here, but a mutual understanding that this is being sold for a really great reason and not being 'flipped' to make a buck. Clean and clear title without any brands or liens that matches to clearly visible Vin tag in it's original and correct place with original attaching method is in hand and available for the new buyer after clear funds have been recieved and are in place. We are hoping that someone who digs what the truck IS will be able to purchase and continue to love on and appreciate it. If I had room and didn't already own a couple of trucks, I'd love to have it, I'd play around with a few accessories, add bumper guards, clean it up here and there, wouldn't touch the paint, drive it around and call it done - a keeper for sure. It will be the source of many smiles, waves, envious stares and enjoyment that we know for sure, certainly not for the shy. Is the truck perfect? No - it wasn't when new, but it is a nice, solid and very driveable 54 plus year old automobile that's had years of love and care - and needs/deserves a new caretaker - will that be you? Show it, store it, restore it, daily drive it - any or all of these makes sense - just take care of it. Buy it, drive it and enjoy it - it's a better investment than stocks, bonds or money in the bank and one heck of a lot more fun! If you have questions please feel free to ask, we will do our best to answer you back in a reasonable amount of time. Now for the nitty gritty: PLEASE DO NOT BID IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO PAY! If you have zero or negative feedback - please contact us first. We reserve the right to cancel bids to those who don't adhere to this request. If you need to get permission of any sort to buy - PLEASE GET IT FIRST. Excuses such as - I had the money now I dont, My spouse doesn't like the color, Gee I got sick as soon as I won the bid in the last 30 seconds of the auction, Oops I hit buy it now by mistake, My kid bid not me, My attorney says etc etc will not be tolerated or excused. PLEASE think before you bid! A 500.00 partial payment is required within 48 hours of auction close, the balance in full due within 7 days of auction close. Paypal will not be accepted on any part of the auction unless agreed upon in advance. Payment is by bankwire, cashiers check or cash. No overpayment situations please. If paid by any form of check - check will clear bank before vehicle leaves it's present location. Winning this auction does not qualify you to fly in and inspect the vehicle then decide IF you want it, or to renegotiate. The vehicle is available for inspection by appointment, so if you aren't sure - please come see it first! Shipping is at the expense of the winning bidder. Vehicle is located in and must be picked up in McMinnvile, Oregon. Vehicle is a used one that is 54 plus years old and therefore sold as is and without warranty of any kind. Vehicle is being purchased from the current owner, not Houseofhotrod, and the bill of sale will be from that owner. We do guarantee the availability and posession of a title with no leins or encumberances at time of sale, and that title is a clean and clear 1961 Texas title with no brands. We will help you arrange shipping any way we can, and will help facilitate a truck picking it up etc., but winning bidder pays for all shipping charges. Sorry if we sound short or demanding here - we just want to communicate that we take our eBay seriously - all we really ask is that you do the same!! This makes it much easier for those of YOU who are also serious about bidding and buying. I have bought many vehicles here and understand your concerns - we've been there! PLEASE ask questions if you have them - I will do my best to answer honestly and quickly. Thank you for looking and bidding