Chevrolet introduced the Corvair, its compact rear-engine car, in 1960.
The Corvair was developed for the 1960 model year as Chevrolet’s answer to growing interest in smaller, more economical cars. It used an air-cooled, horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine mounted at the rear, an unusual configuration among American cars of the period.
Unlike most Chevrolet passenger cars, the Corvair did not use a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Its engineering also allowed Chevrolet to offer several body styles, including a sedan, coupe, convertible, station wagon and pickup-derived versions.
The Corvair later became closely associated with safety debates after publication of Ralph Nader’s 1965 book “Unsafe at Any Speed.” That controversy focused especially on early rear suspension behavior, but the Corvair remained in production through 1969. Its launch year is sometimes confused with the later Chevrolet Vega, another compact introduced in the 1970s.