<VV> Very early 1964 Spyder

[Bill Hubbell]

Is This the Oldest Surviving 1964 Spyder?

 

 

 

A new member of our club (Tidewater) has recently purchased this 1964 Spyder coupe.  Although it is no longer stock (repainted, has 140hp engine), the body plate and VIN plates indicate it is one of the earliest 1964 Corvairs ever made.

 

The serial number is 40627W100926, the body was made the 1st week of August, 1963 (08A) and the number after WR on the body plate is 36.  This indicates to me that this is the 36th Spyder coupe and 926th Corvair (of all types) produced at the beginning of the model year.  This has to be one of the oldest surviving 1964 models.

 

I did not go over the car with a fine tooth comb as we were outdoors on the grass for a car show, and my leg cast is not conducive to crawling around in the dirt.  However, I did note some interesting details in the trunk.

 

First of all, the trunk vent on the Driver's side (near the washer bottle) is not the usual 1964 style, but rather the style of 1961-63 cars.  Second, there is no vent on the passenger side (possibly this may have been removed or covered over during a prior restoration?)

 

The trunk lid has no C.O.R.V.A.I.R. letters, but again, this may represent prior repair work.  For those of you who do not know 1964s, there was a mid-year change in Trunk lids (I don't know the exact date of the change).  The earlier lids used letters that pressed into clips, just like on the engine deck lid, and had a solid underside.  Apparently this design caused water to be trapped and early rust to from, so the design was changed to letters with round studs that slipped into round holes.  The deck lid then has access holes on the underside to allow nuts to be attached to the letter studs.  I can take pictures of these differences at some other time.

 

Anyway, I present this car as the earliest 1964 I have seen.  If anybody has an earlier one, please let us know.

 

Bill Hubbell

President, Stock Corvair Group