Second Seller? 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood – Now $13,500

February 8, 2023 Update – There aren’t many Corvair Lakewood station wagons around, so when we came across a new listing for a baby blue example with aftermarket wheels, the car looked eerily familiar.  Sure enough, we stumbled upon what appears to be a new seller located in Georgia, relying on horrible indoor pictures to flip their recent purchase.  The new seller asks $13,500, which is less than the last caretaker requested.  Oddly, the last seller listed their Corvair as a 1961 model, while the current seller in Georgia reports the car to be a 1962 vintage.

November 8, 2022, Update – We confirmed the seller of this “Classifind” deleted their listing, so we’re now able to call this one “SOLD!” 

October 27, 2022 Update – The seller did not wait long to lower their asking price on this Corvair Lakewood station wagon. Two days after posting their listing, the seller reduced the price from $16,500 to $14,500.

Chevrolet had high expectations for its new Corvair when it launched in 1960. After launching with just a two-door coupe and four-door sedan, the next model year Chevrolet offered nearly every body style imaginable such as this 1961 Corvair Lakewood 700 Four-Door Station Wagon we came across on Craigslist in October 2022 in Ormond Beach, Florida (Daytona). The car is now relisted by what appears to be a new seller in Georgia here on Craigslist.  When these cars were new, the electrical system relied on a generator.  We noticed that this Lakewood features a more modern alternator, likely needed to support the power requirements of the modern aftermarket stereo.  While most cars we would not give this change much thought, Corvair’s unique fan belt design (it changes 90 degrees from the crank pulley vertically to the cooling fan mounted horizontally) might be even more of a challenge to keep it engaged.

Now offered for $13,500 (the original ask was $16,500), Classic.com, the analytics and search engine for the collector car market, confirms the ask is in line with the one-year rolling average of this guide’s summary for first-generation Chevrolet Corvairs of all body styles produced between 1960 and 1964.  By clicking on the green dots in the graph below, you can navigate to each comparable car sold as a way to help you evaluate the price of the Corvair featured here:

As a second data point, the  Collector Car Market Review Online Tool reveals the seller’s ask falls between this guide’s #2 Very Good” estimate of $11,300 and its #1 “Excellent” appraisal of $19,200.

For the Corvair’s second model year in 1961, in addition to Chevrolet introducing the Monza upscale trim to the four-door sedans and the club coupe body styles, the company also added the Lakewood Station Wagon to the lineup.  With its engine located under the cargo floor, the Lakewood offered 68 cubic feet of cargo room along with an additional ten cubic feet in the front trunk, or “Frunk.”  Chevrolet increased engine displacement to 145 cubic inches and mated with a two-speed automatic transmission such as this example, the engine was rated at 84 horsepower.  To increase luggage capacity in the frunk, the spare tire was relocated to the engine compartment and a new “direct air” heater moved warmed air from the cylinders and heads to the passenger compartment.  As sales of the wagon versions proved to be a disappointment, Chevrolet dropped the Lakewood name for 1962 and when the second generation Corvair debuted for 1965, the wagon was not part of the lineup.

The Cassidy Gecas YouTube Channel features this 1961 Corvair commercial showing three Corvairs driving around a dessert:

This 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood station wagon for sale is a nicely restored example featuring very nice alloy wheels shod with modern radial tires. About the only things we would consider improving on are perhaps making the modern speakers more stealthy and clean up the wiring on what appears to be an alternator upgrade over the original equipment.

Here’s the seller’s description:

Show or go: What would you do with this restored 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood station wagon for sale?  Please comment below and let us know!