Insane LS-Swapped 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Goes Off-Road, Saves Toyota Tacoma TRD

Originally, the 1961 Chevrolet Corvair was an interesting compact car with a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout that wasn’t far off from the likes of VW’s Beetle or Porsche’s 911. Unlike the latter two, though, it has become infamous for its handling issues.

No worries, because this particular build, executed on a 1961 Corvair Lakewood 4-door station wagon body, will probably never have them. After all, it’s been turned from a family hauler of the 1960s into a 4x4 monster capable of handling whatever Utah throws at it from the off-roading standpoint.

As far as we could dig up information about this black and yellow example, its original flat-six was dropped from underneath the cargo floor and instead makes ample LS power from up front. It needs all it can get, judging by the size of the rubber (38s, probably) and all the off-road modifications that casually include a huge suspension lift kit and a very lightweight body that doesn’t even feature a single window—not even the windshield.

Apparently, Matt’s Off Road Recovery team (both the name of the business and their YouTube channel) has been spending some fun time building this ride for their business. And, as it turns out, even though it’s not entirely finished, it gets called into action for its first daring attempt at saving the stranded.

Not just any vehicle, though, because caught in the mud somewhere on a seemingly dry lakebed in Utah was a Toyota Tacoma TRD. The team is clearly a merry one, as one can easily see from the footage below. Still, they reveal themselves as true professionals once they spring into action from the 6:05 mark, and execute a textbook off-road recovery for the Japanese truck.