2. Chevrolet Greenbrier Rampside
In the late 50’s Chevrolet presented the Corvair, a revolutionary compact car with a rear-mounted air-cooled flat-six engine. Despite the promising sales and initial reception, in the mid-60’s they discovered the Corvair was unstable. This killed its sales and gave Chevrolet bad press. However, before that happened, Chevrolet introduced the Greenbrier, a van they based on the Corvair. Using the same floorplan, engine, and drivetrain, the Greenbrier was a cool-looking and decent performing compact van.
The engine was underneath the cabin or truck bed if you chose the pickup version. It could carry up to nine people or half a ton of weight. Since the floor was flat, Chevrolet introduced a practical Rampside version with a side ramp for easier unloading of the cargo. However, they only offered the Greenbrier for four years, from 1961 to 1965. Despite its qualities, the market simply favored more conventional models from Dodge and Ford.