In December of 1959, General Motors management gave the Chevrolet division the green light to start development on an all-new compact car, codenamed H-35. The vehicle was to compete directly with Ford's new Falcon, and to sit alongside Corvair, which had only just been introduced, but was felt a bit too radical for mainstream American buyers with its rear-engined, air-cooled format. Plymouth also had Valiant, Studebaker Lark and the American public was showing a taste for this new style of smaller, more frugal car.
a no-nonsense, yet stylish design, built for good fuel economy and to be affordable Using a 110-inch wheelbase and semi-unibody (known as X-body) construction, the engineers chose a bolt-on front subframe to support the engine and suspension, with the rear having a separate subframe for the…