Hagerty’s popular Will It Run seriesHagerty’s popular Will It Run series returns once more, featuring a classic car that has seen better days, getting back on its feet following a prolonged period of sitting around.
This one isn’t a muscle car, it’s one of Chevrolet’s quirkier creations that still has a following today: the Corvair.
Notable for its rear-engined layout under an inconspicuous American exterior, this one is also special due to its spell of bad luck in a flood 11 years ago: when Hurricane Sandy brought destruction to the East Coast where this car was at the time.
It got flooded and since then sat in a mixture of places including inside and outside, but today Davin is back with a toolbox to see if there’s hope for the Corvair.
Hurricane Sandy Can’t Put This Chevrolet Corvair Down For Long
Hagerty’s Will It Run series has covered many interesting cars, and this beautiful Corvair convertible in red deserves to get fixed up and restored, as from the outside it seems relatively unscathed.
However, it’s under the skin where damage got done, and the first thing the team do is a visual inspection followed by popping open the trunk – which is in the rear on these cars.
The Chevrolet Corvair was a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive car that came with a 2.7-liter, flat-six ‘Turbo-Air 6’ motor. There were both 95 hp and 110 hp variants and this one is of the latter flavor.
Davin notes that the cars with the convertible roof weren’t that structurally strong, and the roof being up will help it maintain is structural integrity – which looks questionable from below given the amount of rust on show.
This Is How Much The Chevrolet Corvair Is Worth In 2023
Throughout the video there are many tips on how to check cars for damage and get them to a point where they can start. Under the hood, the engine looks ok. The team check the distributor which works, the air cleaner comes off and the carb also looks ok.
Spark plugs are black but uniformly-so, and get cleaned up, followed by the oil from the engine and transmission getting drained; the color suggests no water ingress there either.
A new battery, fuel-tank bypass (the existing fuel smells funky), new oil filter and more results in success as the engine runs.
Before taking it out, the mechanic notes that the clutch cable got frayed and the brakes need some attention but following that the car runs around the compound with apparent ease, even making an emergency stop safely.
There was hope for the Corvair, which is also relatively affordable depending on the version. Second-generation Chevrolet Corvairs – from 1965-1969 – are worth an average of $20,000 with cheap examples available. Sought-after models like the ‘Yenko’ variants and others costs considerably more.