1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe Is Junkyard Treasure

General Motors sold more than two million Chevrolet Corvairs from the 1960 through 1969 model years, and the Corvair's combination of "interesting car" and "not worth very much" means that many of them have been moldering in driveways and yards for decade after decade… and a certain number of those are going to end up in the Ewe Pullets of the land each year.

Today's Junkyard Treasure is one of those Corvairs, which ended its career along with seven of its air-cooled brethren at a self-service yard in the shadow of Pikes Peak.

Yes, eight Corvairs showed up at the same time at the Colorado Springs U-Pull-&-Pay last spring. I documented a 1962 Corvair 700 sedan from that group in June and tried to spread the word about the rest. Sadly, all have been crushed by the time of this writing. Perhaps their constituent metals have been reborn in washing machines and Geely Emgrands by now.

The yard employees informed me that a man sold them all eight Corvairs at the same time and said he had many more. Interestingly, they weren't from the Corvair Heaven hoard a few miles away.

The Corvair is easily the most controversial American car ever made, and I suggest you read Aaron Severson's excellent essay on the subject to get all sides of the Corvair story.

Corvair sales were already in decline before Ralph Nader's "Unsafe at Any Speed"got serious attention, partly because a Chevy with a rear-mounted engine was just too radical for 1960s American car buyers and partly because of some highly publicized Corvair crashes. The Chevrolet Division undermined sales of its own compact by introducing another compact— the much more comfortingly traditional front-engine/rear-drive Chevy II/Nova— just two years after the introduction of the Corvair. Sales declined gradually from 1963 through 1965, then plummeted after that. By the late 1960s, most car shoppers weren't even aware that new Corvairs were still available, and just 15,399 were sold for the 1968 model year.

This car appears to have been saved for parts by a serious Corvair collector, who put 1970s coffee cans over the intake manifolds after the carburetors were removed. This engine is a 164-cubic-inch boxer-four, rated at 110 horsepower (making it the mid-level engine choice for the 1968 Corvair).

Its final owner, apparently realizing that long-term outdoor storage was in the works, sealed up most of the body and window seams with aluminum tape.

Does that work? I'd say it can't hurt!

By 1968, the Corvair was available only as a two-door hardtop coupe and as a convertible, and the latter was a Monza-only model. This car is a base-model 500.

Believe it or not, this car is one of eight Corvairs that washed up in this Colorado Springs junkyard a few months ago.

According to the U-Pull-&-Pay employees I asked, all eight of those Corvairs were brought to the yard by the same man.

Presumably these were parts cars he no longer needed. I thought they might have come from the "Corvair Heaven" stash a few miles away, but that turned out not to be the case.

Unfortunately, all these cars have been crushed by the time you're reading this. I wrote about one other for another publication and tried to spread the word about the rest, but you can't find forever homes for every cool old car.

1968 was the second-to-last year for the Corvair, but sales had collapsed after 1965. Only 15,399 were built as 1968 models.

The "110" badges indicate the horsepower rating of the 164-cubic-inch (2.7-liter) boxer-six engine. Engines with 95 and 140 horses were available for 1968 as well.

Owners of early swingaxle Corvairs disregarded tire-pressure specifications at their peril; GM recommended 15 psi for the front tires, to minimize oversteer. This car has the independent rear suspension, which went under the 1965-1969 Corvairs.

Edwards was and is the Safeway store brand of coffee. This can appears to be of late 1970s vintage, indicating long-term storage of the car.

There's a lot of history in the junkyard, if you know where to look!

Aluminum tape was used to seal gaps from the elements.

By 1968, the Corvair was available only in hardtop coupe and convertible form.

This one is a base-trim-level 500, not the more upscale Monza.

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe in Colorado junkyard