1954 Chevrolet Corvair

The Corvair dream car was an experimental two-passenger fastback. It was built with a fiberglass body and was touted as a “new aerodynamic design” for the closed sports car class. The streamlined roofline swept back into the jet exhaust-type rear opening. It was originally a ruby-red color for the New York City Motorama in January but had repainted in a lighter hue by the time of the Los Angeles show in March. Sluggish sales of the 1954 production model Corvette deterred GM management from moving forward with the fastback coupe. Hence, the Corvair was the only one of the trio of designs not to make it to production in some form. Of course, the nameplate would be recycled later for the infamous 1960 Corvair rear-engined compact car.

The 1954 Corvair’s fastback styling with chopped off tail was influenced by European designs. In Europe, designers were more conceirned about aerodynamics than American designers were. Note the hood vents and front fender "gills", wich were both scrapped on the production Corvette. Like its siblings, the Corvair used the same front design, though it also sported ribbed air intakes on the hood that routed fresh air to the interior and fender vents that allowed heat to escape the engine compartment. In typical Corvette fashion, the Corvair also had a wraparound windshield, with nearly vertical A-pillars like the Nomad, but without the wing windows. The roof was aircraft-inspired, sweeping back and tapering gracefully, eventually ending at the chrome-trimmed license plate housing, which resembled a jet-fighter exhaust port.

The roof was also interesting in a couple of other ways. First, it gave a glimpse of the quarter window and C-pillar treatment of the 1958 Chevrolet line, much like the Biscayne did a year later. Secondly, the addition of a fastback roof did not alter the Corvair’s interior layout. One would have expected that it would have had a finished-off cargo area, perhaps even equipped with fitted luggage, as was a common practice with sports cars at the time. Instead, the body appeared to have the roof grafted right on to a production Corvette, as there is no storage area behind the seats. The stock trunk area is used with a decklid contoured to the new roofline. The seats had the production fiberglass divider between them, just like a stock Corvette roadster. The area is even body-colored, which actually makes for a very attractive, albeit unusual interior layout for a closed coupe. The remainder of the interior is largely stock, with custom white seat covers and chromed interior C-pillar trim pieces.

Unfortunately for this particular machine, it was the only one of the three that did not reach production in some form. With Corvette sales becoming sluggish during the 1954 model year, it was seen by product planners as too high a gamble. The time for a Corvette fastback eventually did come, though nearly a decade later and on a new-generation machine.

В 1954 на традиционном шоу General Motors Motorama были представлены несколько интересных концептуальных модификаций нового американского спортивного автомобиля Chevrolet Corvette. Среди них Chevrolet Corvair – Corvette в кузове фастбэк.

Посетителям январской выставки в Нью-Йорке был представлен «новый аэродинамический дизайн» Корвета. Линия крыши, плавно спускаясь к выхлопным трубам, в сочетании с линиями задних крыльев, образовывали форму, похожую на реактивное сопло истребителя. Стеклопластиковый кузов автомобиля был окрашен в яркий рубиновый цвет. Однако позже, к мартовскому шоу в Лос-Анжелесе, он был перекрашен в светло-зеленый оттенок. При постройке Corvair было использовано стандартное шасси и силовые агрегаты Корвета.

Не смотря на интерес публики к этому концепт кару, до серийного производства дело не дошло. Решение о заморозке проекта было принято в связи с вялыми продажами обычных Корветов. Да и вообще, в то время существование Корвета как такового было под вопросом. Но это другая история...

А серийный Корвет-фастбэк всё-таки появился. Правда, произошло лишь спустя десятилетие. А имя Corvair было присвоено в 1960 году печально известному заднемоторному Шевроле, вписавшему чёрные страницы в историю GM.