Chevrolet Greenbrier

The name Chevrolet Greenbrier was used by Chevrolet for two vehicles, the first one being a van based on the Corvair and produced in the model years 1961 to 1965. During the model years 1969 to 1972 a station wagon of the Chevelle took over this name.

1961-1965 Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon

1961 Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon

Chevrolet introduced the Corvair line up for the 1960 model year. Chevrolet introduced a more utilitarian style of vehicle the following year under the model designation "Corvair 95". In appearance and technical principals the vehicles were similar to the Volkswagen Transporter and brought out as direct competition.

Power came from the Corvair's horizontally opposed 6 cylinder engine fitted to the rear of the car. Its displacement was 145 cu. in. and it developed 80 bhp @ 4,400 rpm. The engine size was increased to 164 CI for the 1964 model year. Unlike the Corvair cars these vehicles had a 95 in. wheelbase and were known as 95s because of the wheel base. They came standard with a manually operated 3 speed gearbox but could be ordered with a two speed powerglide automatic transmission and eventually a 4 speed was also made available.

There were essentially two different bodies available in the 95 series. The van and the truck. The simplest one was the panel van (Corvan) where no side or rear windows were to be found; The van upgrade was the Greenbrier. The Greenbrier normally had windows all around and six doors, although a rare option was to have eight doors where there were opening double doors on both sides. The Greenbrier could seat up to nine people with the available three seat option. The 95s and cars had an optional gas heater running off of gas from the vehicle's tank. The Greenbrier also had a camper option available that made it quite the weekend family get away vehicle.

The truck body consisted of the "Load side" and "Ramp side". The Load side was essentailly a pick up with a standard tail gate only. The Loadside was only produced 2 years and is the rarest of the Corvairs. Only 369 were ever produced. A much more useful version of the truck was the Rampside. The Rampside had a side ramp to be used for loading / unloading. This was used very commonly by Bell System because loading / unloading of cable drums was eased by the side ramp.

Chevrolet stopped producing the trucks in 1964 and the Greenbrier was the sole survivor of the 95 inch wheelbase corvair for 1965.

1969-1972 Chevelle Greenbrier

1971 Chevrolet Chevelle Greenbrier station wagon

During the model year 1969 the 4 door station wagons of the mid sized Chevrolet Chevelle produced since 1964 achieved additional names. The low standard station wagons of the Chevelle 300 series 131 / 132 got the Nomad name, whereas the medium range Chevelle 300 Deluxe series 133 / 134 were called Greenbrier. The top-of-the-line models Chevelle Malibu series 135 / 136 simply were the Concours and Concours Estate Wagon, the latter decorated with exterior woodgrain paneling. Except the simplest Nomad line (which only available in 6P form) all station wagons could be ordered with six or nine places. Power came from I6 (only 6P) or V8 engines.

For 1970, the Chevelle 300 Deluxe series was simply called Chevelle and the I6 engine was not available any more for the station wagons. In 1972 the series' model code was changed to 1C. The Nomad, Greenbrier and Concours names were all dropped for 1973, when the Chevelle was redesigned and the wagons all began sharing series names with other body styles.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Chevrolet Greenbrier

References

John Gunnell (Editor): Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975, Krause Publications Inc., Iola (2002), ISBN 0-87349-461-X