The unique architecture of the Chevrolet Corvair spawned a few interesting variants, including the 1961-64 Rampside Pickup.
With its radical air-cooled powerplant, transaxle, and rear-engine chassis, the Chevrolet Corvair must have represented quite an investment in development and tooling for General Motors. From that angle, it’s only natural that the automaker would find some alternative applications for the distinctive package. Hmm, a forward-control van/pickup is one obvious variant. After all, Volkswagen had done much the same with its rear-engine Beetle architecture to create the Type 2 Kombi light truck line.
The Corvair 95 Rampside followed along on roughly the same lines as the VW Kombi, but with an intriguing twist: an extra cargo gate was added to the right side of the pickup box. This side gate was of double-wall construction with a full-width hinge, providing a load capacity of 1,000 lbs to support heavy tools and cargo, and it swung down to the ground at a gentle 22-degree angle. Thus the side gate could double as a handy loading ramp—hence the name Rampside. The 95 in the name referred to the truck’s wheelbase, a compact 95 inches for good maneuverability in tight places.
Of course, you’ve probably already identified the drawback of the Rampside’s Corvair architecture. As the illustration above clearly shows, the rear-mounted drivetrain makes a flat cargo floor impossible. Instead, there’s a tall kickup over the rear axle that reduces the pickup box volume and makes loading from the rear more difficult. The curbside loading ramp was a nice feature, no doubt, but surely not enough to overcome the rest of the platform’s drawbacks for most buyers. Also, all Corvair Rampsides were equipped with a 145 CID version of the air-cooled Corvair flat six rated at 80 hp—a busy and noisy little engine compared to a conventional Chevy pickup of the day.
Sales of the Corvair 96 Rampside followed a familiar arc. Volume was respectable enough at first at nearly 11,000 units for 1961, but then declined sharply as the narrow demand was quickly exhausted. When the Corvair was redesigned for the 1965 model year, all the van/pickup models–including the Corvan panel truck and the Greenbrier station wagon—were discontinued. By the way, there was also a Corvair 95 Loadside (not shown) that was essentially a Rampside without the side gate. It was even less popular with fewer than 3,000 sold in ’61 and barely a few hundred in ’62, and at that point it was dropped from the Chevrolet lineup.
This was a neat and practical concept. It was an option, so presumably it could be purchased by some who could effectively use it. Another interesting concept was the Kelpie pickup. I never understood why in the USA manufacturers have never utilized the advantages of front wheel drive to have full width seats in vehicles. Why do we need three rows of – individual – seats for six people? Too bad the Corvair lived a short life.
Another great history, thanks for sharing.
My family owned both a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership and a public golf course. We naturally used Dodge trucks at the course, but did buy a Rampside when they came out to haul greens mowers around the course. As your lead illustration shows, these were very popular with landscape companies in a pre low-level trailer era.
Having had the misfortune of having to drive a 1500 VW ute as part of a job they were a dreadfull thing. The Corvair with at least a bit more power may have been able to drive into a headwind in top gear.
Have ridden in a Corvair 2 door, maybe 62?,, a bit like a Porker, noisy with the dreaded tuck on corners.But a whole lot cheaper new and now.