Yahoo Autos The Most Wonderfully European American Car
GM's first Z platform was only used for the Corvairs. After all, no other American car combined a Fisher-built unibody with an air-cooled aluminum flat-six mounted at the rear. The Corvair was Ed Cole's bold move into the compact market, sporting a design one would have expected to come from a funky French manufacturer. Or maybe from Ghia of Turin, through Volkswagen and Karmann.
But the Corvair was designed and built in Detroit, and after getting through some undeserved bashing from the media, GM was ready to take it to a new level for 1965. That meant independent suspension, wider axles, bigger brakes, quicker steering, and sleeker lines. Talk about a facelift!
Christian Mejia is a property manager who has owned over 25 Corvairs. Yet it's his 1965 Monza that gets most of the attention; it was purchased brand new by his godfather in 1964. The car has been passed down in the family ever since, and although Christian managed to crash it twice before deciding on a complete rebuild, his godfather would be proud of the final product. The subtle changes include a pushrod air ride suspension ending in custom wire wheels, the door handles and wipers being shaved off, and a downsized steering wheel for easy access into the mostly original cabin.
It's a Corvair worthy of its Monza badge.
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