Chevy Corvair Rampside Redefined What a Pickup Could Be
Jay Leno loves his restored Chevy Corvair Rampside because of its car based platform and unique styling.
Modern pickup trucks earn their stripes by blending serious capability with on-road refinement. But gasoline powered trucks adhere to a standard that’s been set for decades. Basically, customers dictate what automakers build. But that wasn’t always the case. Case in point: the Chevy Corvair Rampside.
When Chevy introduced the Corvair Rampside for the 1961 model year as the Corvair 95, it was revolutionary. Decades later, it still is. Jay Leno recently waxed nostalgic about the groundbreaking truck in a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. His thorough review detailed the advantages and disadvantages of the storied pickup. Overall, it’s a very interesting and unique truck with very few successors.
Chevy Corvair Rampside: Disadvantages
Chevy managed to create a boundary-pushing pickup with the Corvair Rampside. However, it boasted some characteristics that back then might have turned off truck shoppers. For starters, the pickup, like its sedan counterpart, came equipped with the engine in the rear. That limited accessibility to the engine as it sat underneath the bed and in front of the tailgate. Presumably, the tailgate would have to come out for any substantial engine work as well. The bed is also two separate heights, which is not ideal for storing things that would roll easily.
Engineering compromises resulted in other issues as well. The front vent window opens right into the driver’s side mirror. Imagine the controversy if a modern vehicle exhibited such behavior! “Just the idea that it actually hits the mirror. Is uh, it just makes me laugh. It comes from the factory like that,” says Leno. Additionally, the cab forward design of the Corvair Rampside offered zero crash protection for its owners. “The complete lack of any safety equipment at all just makes it almost hilarious. I mean, you have no crash protection in front of you. You got…metal dashboard. The glass is right here. The car is right here,” says Leno.
Some Good News
With the unfortunate aspects of the Corvair Rampside out of the way, it’s time to talk about the things that worked. Turns out that the Rampside moniker accurately described the truck’s most notable feature. Unibody construction enabled designers to create bed sides that flopped right down onto the ground. It allowed people the ability to wheel something right up into the bed, which was pretty deep up front. “You could get a motorcycle in there. Or you could get a lawnmower. Or whatever you wanted. As I mentioned, these were popular with the phone company. They could roll up those huge spools of wire,” says Leno. Not having to carry around additional ramps would be quite advantageous for someone in 1961 and in 2020.
The lack of an engine up front also made the pickup quite maneuverable. “You would think this car has power steering if you didn’t know,” says Leno. That’s an impressive feat for a pickup truck manufactured in 1961. But that’s not all. Owning a Corvair in 2020 seems pretty easy. “The clubs are terrific. Since they built 1.8 million of these there’s plenty of engines available. Plenty of parts available,” says Leno. Cheap-to-maintain classic cars deserve praise and we’re glad Leno brought it up.
Decades Ahead of its Time
With unibody construction and an independent suspension, the Corvair Rampside revolutionized the American pickup. Unfortunately, it didn’t really catch on. But it demonstrated that trucks didn’t all have to be body-on-frame behemoths. “I think the Corvair…certainly the most innovative American car ever developed,” says Leno. Coming from Leno, that’s high praise.
Sixty years after its debut, the car-based pickup is still a rarity. Honda has the Accord-based Ridgeline but that mimics the look of more traditional pickups. Similarly there are other car-based utility vehicles like the Ford Transit Connect. And there’s substantial rumors that Ford is close to revealing its own unibody pickup. But those trucks will most likely fall short of something as revolutionary as the Corvair Rampside. Even the Tesla Cybertruck won’t offer as much bed access as the Corvair did. Chevy already offers an extremely competitive small truck. But we’d love to see a revival of a Rampside-type vehicle. This episode of Jay Leno’s Garage should be required viewing for any Chevy fan.