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2025 Car Mileage with the Best Gas MileageClassic Utility: Corvair Truck, Dodge A100, Econoline
Today’s vans have truck underpinnings, but it was the reverse for these 1960s pickups.
Type 2 Copycats
If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Volkswagen Type 2 van came in for some major praise from Detroit’s Big Three in the 1960s. Ford, Chrysler, and GM each came out with their own “forward control” van in the early part of that decade, and each offered a pickup truck variant thereof.
Like the VW on which they were fashioned, these trucks were built on compact car platforms and featured either a mid-engine or rear-engine designs. Their forward control/cab over design emulated the flat-faced look of the Type 2, and their small size, simplicity, and affordability made them ideal fleet trucks. Despite their charms, the vans and their pickup truck variants weren’t big sellers for Detroit. Even so, today their distinctive personalities and unusual designs make them compelling classics of the 1960s.
Ford Econoline
The Ford Econoline van arrived in 1960. Built off of the Ford Falcon compact car, the Econoline came as panel van, passenger van, or a pickup (introduced for 1961). The Econoline was powered by a 2.4L straight-six making 85 horsepower. This engine was succeeded by a slightly larger 2.8L good for 101 horsepower. Both engines came with a standard three-speed manual transmission. The truck could be had in either a three-window or five-window version, the latter featuring two wrap-around windows on either rear corner of the cab.
Despite the mid-ship placement, the engine sat well forward of midline making the Econoline very front heavy. As a result, the Econoline was prone to rear lift off under hard braking (when weigh shifts forward and the rear wheels loose contact with the road). To counteract this tendency, Ford added 165lbs. of counterweight over the rear axle. As a promotional stunt, Galpin Ford capitalized on the Econoline’s imbalance with the “Back Up Truck”, an Econoline dragster that performed backward wheelies.
The Econoline wasn’t a big seller and the pickup version, which Ford had hoped to be the strongest selling variant, was solidly outsold by the van version. The second generation Econoline van, arriving in 1968, ditched its Falcon roots for the more heavy-duty underpinnings of the F-Series.
Chevrolet Corvair 95
There’s an old and possibly apocryphal story that says the reason GM took so long in giving the Corvette a mid-engine makeover was due to the failures of the Chevy Corvair. Unlike all other US compact cars of its day, the Corvair had a rear-engine architecture. That unusual engine placement made it a perfect candidate when GM wanted to follow Ford in building a VW Type 2 of their own.
Starting in 1961, Chevy introduced the Corvair 95 which came in two principle body styles, a van, (either as a panel van, the Corvan, or a passenger van dubbed the Greenbriar) and as a pickup truck. The pickup had its own variants, the Loadside had a traditional rear tailgate while the Rampside featured a passenger side loading ramp. The Rampside’s promotional materials emphasized the convenience of being able to easily roll items out of the bed, and indeed this was what attracted Bell Telephone to use the Rampside as their truck of choice.
Similar to the Volkswagen, the Corvair 95 featured an air-cooled, rear-mounted flat-six starting at 2.4L and growing in 1964 to a 2.7L making a whopping 95 horsepower. A three-speed manual came standard while a two-speed automatic or four-speed manual could be optioned.
The Corvair 95 pickup was outsold by the Ford Econoline, which was no sales titan itself. Chevrolet replaced the Corvair 95 vans with the G-Series van.
Dodge A100
Dodge was bit late to the game with their A100 van and pickup, which arrived in 1964. Unlike the Corvair, the Dodge A100 was a genuine cab over design with a mid-mounted slant-six located right under the center consol. Initially a 2.8L engine, the A100’s slat-six could also be had as a 3.2L or a 3.7L. Starting in 1965, Dodge began offering a 4.5L V8, followed in ’67 by a larger 5.2L V8 making 210 horsepower. A three-speed manual or three-speed automatic were offered for transmissions. The standard wheelbase measured 90 inches, but a longer wheelbase version, the A108 lengthened things to 108 inches.
The Dodge A100 truck also got a dragster version. Bill “Maverick” Golden’s “Little Red Wagon” became a drag strip favorite with its HEMI powered wheelies. And that wasn’t the only shine the A100 got. Even though it looked similar to its Ford and Chevy analogues, the Dodge van has received a lot more pop culture exposure from That 70s Show to Dusty in Cars to the ‘60s Batman TV show and even the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The Dodge A100 lingered on the market long after its Ford and Chevy counterparts had been canceled, concluding it’s run in 1970; replaced by the Dodge B-Series van.
The Corvair 95 pickup was outsold by the Ford Econoline, which was no sales titan itself. Chevrolet replaced the Corvair 95 vans with the G-Series van.
