You see a lot of repetition in the custom car world these days, but this 1962 Chevy Corvair Rampside bucks the trend as a true one-off. Built over the course of nearly eight years, this classic Chevy Corvair is now ready for the burnout competition thanks to an LS V8 mounted smack dab in the middle of the bed, plus a host of unique homebrew touches that definitively set it apart from the crowd.
The story behind this build starts with Wayne Dick from Alberta, Canada, who first spotted this 1962 Chevy Corvair in a junkyard in Idaho. At the time, Wayne was a student and couldn’t afford the $700 asking price, and eventually, the Corvair disappeared off the lot, leading Wayne to assume that it had either been crushed or sold. Fast forward a bit, and Wayne spotted the same Chevy Corvair up for sale online, prompting him to quickly scoop it up and get it back home to Canada.
After getting the Chevy Corvair running and driving for inspection purposes, Wayne quickly realized the Rampside was gonna need something more – much more, in fact. Cue the build montage.
The first thing to grab our attention is the crate engine mounted high in the bed. This particular powerplant is the naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 LS3, which was upgraded with a new cam, new pushrods, and new springs. Also of note are the custom headers and exhaust setup, which not only looks phenomenal, but work wonders in fitting the LS3 onto the bed.
The custom exhaust was also needed to make room for the custom Chevy Corvette suspension, differential, and transmission. This thing is also dropped on air ride.
Making all the disparate components fit was certainly an enormous challenge, but this Chevy Corvair pulls it off with style, especially with details like a cola cooler box to house the battery, and the license plate sideview mirror.
Indeed, there’s a lot that went into this wild LS-swapped Chevy Corvair, so hit play for the full 30-minute feature, and make sure to stick around until the end for some fun on the road:
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Comments
When I was 15-16, my dad had an Amoco Service Station/Tire @ recap shop. I drove it and tortured it quite a lot. I could never have imagined something like this. So insane! I just love it. 100 octane unleaded was $.29/gallon.
Thanks for sharing.👍🏻🐺🤠
Real neat. There’s a photographer who had a custom bagged Corvair van who traveled all over the world taking pictures of cool rides.
Now, this is quirky enough for me to give it a 10. I like this alot!
I’m glad someone finally did this set up.
I have had this build in my mind for over 50 years.
I was thinking to set up in a flat nosed Econoline or Chevy van of mid 60’s vintage.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, yes it is possible, exactly as I invisioned. It’s a great day!!!!!
Tim Donley, Stuart FL.