Chevrolet produced the Corvair from the 1960 to 1969. This car was designed to be more compact than most cars available at that time, with a rear-mounted motor and optimized transmission design. The Powerglide automatic transmission was standard, although manual transmissions were available in all Corvair model years.
The Powerglide transmission is a fully automatic transmission, with two forward speeds and one reverse speed. No setting for "Park" is available with Powerglide transmissions. "Neutral" is between the "Reverse" and "Drive" selections on the dash-mounted gear shift in the Corvair. Corvairs were equipped with rear-mounted engines that required adjustments to the transmission placement that made them not compatible with Powerglide transmissions in cars with common front-mounted engines. Powerglide transmissions were designed to be placed behind the engine, but with the Corvair's rear engine placement, the transmission is in front of the engine. Thus, the transmission in a Corvair is referred to as a "Corvair Powerglide" because the Chevy Powerglide had so many modifications when applied to the Corvair. The actual operation of the Corvair Powerglide is very similar to the operation of the Chevy Powerglide transmission.
An optional feature for the 1960 Corvair was a manual transmission with three gears and synchromesh in the second and third years. Synchromesh ensures that when a gear is engaged, both moving parts are in sync. Manual transmissions were an option available in the Corvair for all model years.
The Corvair Powerglide was originally cased in cast iron, which gave it a weight of 240 lbs. and made it too large to be feasible in compact car design. The 1960 and 1961 Corvairs included this cast iron casing. In 1962, aluminum casing was introduced for all Powerglide transmissions, including the Corvair Powerglide. Redesign of the casing did not have a major effect on the design of the transmission itself. The versions cased in aluminum had an transmission oil pan attached to the bottom of the transmission, but the ones cased in cast iron did not. A four-speed manual transmission option became available for the 1961 Corvair.
