Corvair's best seller

The 1962 Monza club coupe was a smash hit produced in greater numbers than any other Corvair. A total of 51,738 were built, accounting for 9.1% of all cars made over the 10 years of Corvair production in the U.S.A.

The example below is Powerglide equipped, as you can tell by the dash mounted gear selector seen at right. There was a crossed flag emblem on the rear deck lid, suggesting the car had the optional 102 horsepower engine. However, it also had a set of dual exhaust pipes, and since the 102 was a single exhaust engine, I couldn't be sure. The car's trim is true to '62 with the exception of the late model wheel covers.

In the picture below, note the crescent shaped ignition switch directly under the fuzzy dice. This style of switch enabled the owner to unlock the ignition and remove the key, which in turn made it possible to start and run the car without a key in the ignition. You could share your vehicle without sharing your keys. Of course, as car theft became more commonplace, Chevrolet eliminated this convenience.

In 1962, you could order air conditioning in any sedan or coupe equipped with a radio. Based on the interior photo above, it appears that if you didn't have the radio and its enclosure, it was impossible to mount the A/C unit. The owner of this car has swapped out the original radio, replacing it with a more modern unit complete with the original face plate and control knobs. A custom pod of auxiliary gauges is mounted under the air conditioning hardware.