Page Four: The Rampside's Flat-Faced Competitors

 


Why did Chevrolet build the Rampside?  It was part of a larger plan to take on VW and Porsche and compete in the small car market.  In the 60’s, the flat-faces had a moment.

In the 60’s, Chevrolet was the biggest car company in the world and could afford to build a car that wasn’t a guaranteed success.  America built big, heavy cars while Germany, Japan, and other European manufacturers ruled the small car market.  Chevrolet figured why not dominate that market too.

Ed Cole hoped the Rampside would beat this VW at its game
Ed Cole, Chevrolet’s chief engineer and later general manager, really had Porsche’s air-cooled rear engine set up targeted, at least for the Corvair cars, but he wanted the Corvair “Forward Control” vehicles (called “FC’s” because the driver sat forward of the front wheels) to challenge VW’s Transporters, both the vans and trucks.

Chevrolet hoped that "economy" would be the key for success in this market.

Why a Flat Face?

Shoving the driver to the front of the frame leaves most of the frame available for cargo.  The forward control setup allows the most cargo space for a small truck, in the Rampside’s case a 95-inch wheelbase.  The Rampside (and the earlier version called the “Loadside”) were small, lightweight trucks compared the C10 Chevy’s standard pickup, but it had more cubic feet of cargo space because of the FC configuration.  Since the drivetrain was beneath the bed, it allowed cargo that a standard pickup configuration used for its engine.

The Corvair 95 (referring to the 95-inch wheelbase) trucks didn’t have the payload weight capacity of the C10’s, but they had loads of space for stuff.  The Rampside’s bed is longer (8.1 ft or 105.75 in) than the C10 long bed (8 ft or 96 in) with 1885 lbs. of weight capacity to the C10’s 3,000 lbs.  More space but less weight.

Ford and Dodge Flatten Faces Too

Ford and Dodge saw what Chevrolet was doing and wanted in the game too.  Ford’s Econoline and Dodge’s A100 series, which like the Corvair 95 series, had vans, a passenger and cargo model and a pickup.  Chevrolet’s Loadside FC and Ford’s Econoline pickups hit the market in ’61.  Dodge, a bit late to the party waited until ’64 to get their A100 pickup to dealers.

The Econoline series was Ford's answer
to the Chevrolet's Corvair 95 series
Unlike the Corvair 95, the Ford and Dodge flat faces had an engine wedged between the driver and passenger seats, and they raised their beds to accommodate the drive shaft running the length of the bed.  The Corvair 95’s had a full-size, three-person bench seat, the same as the standard C10 interior.  To be fair, the Rampside bed had a large bump at the rear of the bed for the drivetrain, posing some logistical difficulties when using all the bed space.  The ramp door on the passenger side mitigated the problem but didn’t quite solve it.

Dodge's A100 series entered the fray as well

The End of the Flat-Faced Moment

By 1970, the lightweight flat-faced trucks had run their lap.  Chevrolet ended the Rampside in ’64, Ford’s Econoline lasted until ’67 and Dodge held out until 1970.  But what killed them?  Simple, they didn’t sell that well, but why?

People who needed to haul or tow loads more often opted for a conventional pickup truck.  Unlike conventional trucks, FC’s couldn’t offer the engine and frame varieties and configurations that conventional trucks could.  The Rampside’s air-cooled engine could only be upgraded so much without completely redesigning it.  Admittedly, the Rampside’s 95 horses were anemic compared conventional Chevrolet in-line sixes and V8s.

Any fleet manager judges the value of a vehicle based on how much it costs to operate and maintain and how much time it spends on the job vs. in the garage.  The Ford and Dodge flat-faces had conventional drivetrains, so shops were set up to fix them; they had spare parts and tools ready to go.  The Rampside’s “unique” drivetrain, although almost as reliable as the others, was weird and fleet mechanics didn’t love seeing them in their shops.

The flat-faces had a niche as in-town delivery vehicles, but there were El Caminos, Rancheros, Suburbans, panel station wagons, Chevy also had a small flat-faced van with a conventional front engine drivetrain, as well as other fleet vehicles filling that space too.  An argument could be made too that air-conditioning, even in trucks, was becoming more desired if not expected, and adding AC to the Corvair platform was difficult with meh performance.

In the 60’s, trucks were equipment not daily drivers, and there were more reliable, affordable, capable and flexible options.  (I’m saying this as an enthusiast, lest you think I’m down on Corvairs.)

1963 Corvair 95 print advertisment


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