RARER THAN RARE – THE CHEVROLET CORVAIR LAKEWOOD 700 DE LUXE

Peter Hind is selling not just one of the rarest station wagons in the UK but one now seldom encountered in its homeland. And in 1961, no other US station wagon had a technical specification on par with the Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood 700 De Luxe: power from a 2.3-lire ‘flat-six’ engine mounted at the rear and with all-independent suspension.

The original Chevrolet Corvair sedan debuted on the 2nd of October 1959 as General Motors’s rival to the Ford Falcon and the Plymouth Valiant. The Lakewood followed in October of 1960, with GM modestly promising it was “the greatest thing for families since houses”. Your friendly local dealer could tell you the engine layout meant a low silhouette, flat floor, and a 58 cubic feet load bay. Hence, the Lakewood was able to do a “wagon-sized job with cargo”.

A further sales feature was that before Volkswagen introduced the Type 3 Variant in 1962, the Lakewood was the only station wagon in the world with front and rear cargo bays. Opening the front ‘boot’ gained you another 10 cubic feet of luggage space. Two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission as fitted to Peter’s Corvair was an optional extra. Chevrolet urged its dealers to sell the Lakewood as a “second car” and to farmers - “One of its biggest attractions is the terrific traction in snow and mud”.

Other markets included “Small Business”, “Fun Wagon” and “Travelling Salesmen - he can load the samples in the roomy inside cargo area, store his own belongings in the separate trunk up front”. Plus, demonstrating how remote 1960 now seems, “Suburban Housewife’s Car - Lakewood’s key-locking front trunk gives concealed protection for her shopping goods (means she doesn’t have to lock the doors every time she gets out)”.

Dealers should also “Sell the kind of styling that America’s asked for simple, functional, the Lakewood kind!” and the Corvair undoubtedly had clean, understated lines.  The rear engine layout meant GM thought there was no need for a power steering option, while the Lakewood would “treat you and your budget more gently than ever”.  

The trim levels ranged from the $2,266 500 to the $2,331 700 De Luxe, with a cigar lighter, a passenger sun visor and colour-keyed matting as standard. As with its rivals, the Lakewood was a “Thrift Car”, and so other extras included a clock for $16. You could also specify the ‘Comfort and Convenience Group’ for $39, which included windscreen washers, reversing lamps, and a glovebox light.

Lakewood sales figures in the first year were 26,920, compared with nearly 100,000 Ford Falcon Wagons.

Other, somewhat more conventional US competitors included the Valiant Wagon and, outside of the US’ Big Three’, the Rambler Super Cross Country and the Studebaker Lark Wagon. A minor facelift for 1962 with a name change to ‘Corvair Station Wagon’ and a new Monza 900 flagship was to no avail, Worse, General Motors introduced a new in-house rival in late 1961. GM so rapidly lost faith in the Corvair that in December 1959, they commenced work on the more conventional Chevy II. The latest Chevrolet was available in station wagon form, so Lakewood production ended in 1962 after just 33,271 examples.   

There appear to have been no plans for official UK sales, which makes this 700 all the more fascinating. As the launch commercial proclaimed, it really is “beautifully and sensibly styled” - 

With thanks to Peter Hind for his time.

With thanks to Peter Hind for the permission to use the images in this blog.