Corvair, give me an idea if im crazy.

[PorscheGuy79]

So I was turning wrenches with my old man a few months back, one of my favorite pastimes, and stubbled across so old pictures. It showed one of my dad's first cars, a bright red Corvair coupe. I thought it looked spectacular, he really kept it in good shape and for some reason today I thought a nice way to celebrate his 60th birthday which will be coming a number of years. I would love to get the lowdown on these cars a bit, I would like to know what kind of stigma they have and if they, with modification, make suitable performance cars.

I have a couple questions.

It seems that Corvairs can be had pretty cheap, in good running order. Are there any particular things to look for, best years, engines etc?

Can you really make a nice little sports car out of them? Is there any kind of performance underground for them?

This is basically what it looked like.



Also, I know a good bit of you Gruppe B guys like to run their mouths off about me but I would really appriciate this not posting over on the GB site. I have no plans to go ahead with this, just trying to do some research.

[billwagnon]

I've noticed it always works well on the internet to ask for information NOT to be spread....

I think Corvairs rock.

[PorscheGuy79]

This looks fun!

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by billwagnon
I've noticed it always works well on the internet to ask for information NOT to be spread....

I dont even have a sex tape, yet its all over the internet already.

Once, again this is me setting myself up.

[Jim Richards]

Corvairs are pretty cool, Matt. I think the later models, like the one pictured above, have a more manageable rear suspension. A Corsa model would be very nice.

Look here for some info: http://www.corvaircorsa.com/

[Facey]

i know they had some scary handiling characteristics...

something to do with the rear suspension geometry changing under load, and when combined with the excessive rear weight bias, actually stearing from the rear...much like the early 3-series bmw, and porsche actually engineered this into the 928's....


you can get a turbo covair...i'm sure with modern gaskets and sealing combined with a newer BB turbo it could actually make some power and be a fun car.

and i agree that they are good looking, kinda moved the 60's muscle look onto a smaller car.

[widebody911]

Unsafe at any speed.

I've been working a lead on a rampside pickup for a couple years now.

[targa911S]

My first car was a Corvair. I think it made me want a rear engined car for the rest of my life. 10 VW's and 5 Porsches later it is still true.

[nota]

poor man's Porsche
65 up with the new body have a good rear set up
no more swing axels

66 with the 4 speed is a good V8 swap car
the chevy V8 goes in the back seat with a kit
and is scary fast and a desent cheap track car

like 914s they rust BAD

I went thru a 1/2 dozen back when they were cheaper to replace then fix in the 70's

[masraum]

I think KevinP73 has a couple, doesn't he? Actually, I think there are anothe couple of folks from the group here that have a couple of these cars. When I was in college I almost bought one. I did some research on parts availability and found that most stuff was special order and, to me at the time, pricey. I still think that they are pretty cool. Parts probably aren't cheap, but then we are on a Porsche board, so that's not necessarily something that we look for in a car.

[Dueller]

Buy him one...take your pick

http://www.oldride.com/classic_cars/chevrolet_corvair.html

[dean]

I had a bunch of Corvairs growing up. They were a blast but if I could of afforded 911's I would have had those. 911's are WAY better cars.

So, you have to watch out for rust and don't over rev cause the stupid fan belt will fly off. And if it does shut the motor off. I liked 65 and new cars myself.

[on2wheels52]

The body design has aged well, I drove past a white one on my way to work for a year or two.Unfortunately it was on a 4X4 chassis of some sort.
Jim

[KevinP73]

Did someone say Corvair? They are a ton of fun, much cheaper than a Porsche. What would you like to know?

[TWork]

Grassroots Motorsports magazine had a pretty good 4-5 page write up on the Corvair a few months back. Good overview of the different trim levels, etc. I don't think I still have my copy, but I'll look. Maybe someone else has the mag handy.

[Dan in Pasadena]

That picture of the red one is the last body style. To me the best Corvair style, hands down. Up to '69 if I remember correctly. Properly setup a Corvair is no slouch. How could it be?, rear engined, air cooled, opposed six...where have I seen successful cars using that configuration?

That Unsafe At Any Speed is a crock. The early cars had issues ...so did the other rear engined, yada, yada car we're all familiar with. No one wrote a self serving book is all! The later model Corvairs could have survived well into the 70's and possibly beyond if the whole thing had come down differently. Alas, "if a frog's legs were longer he wouldn't bump his butt when he hopped". Woulda-coulda. Building one of those with your Dad would be cool. If you do, kep pictures coming

[tabs]

FKING DEATH WISH ON 4 WHEELS....Dad had 62 4 door Monza, that car liked to swap ends, and I'm surprised that it didn't happen when going up and down Route 39 when I was a kid. Fan belts are long and do have a tendency to fly, also fan bearings can be problematic.

The later cars supposedly fixed the rear suspension problems, or a 100 lb bag of cement in the front would at least help it. I suppose a convertible would be the way to go.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Tabs, my understanding is those early ones were the problem, the later ones were fine. I'd love to hear from an experienced Corvair guy..someone akin to Grady if there is such a person.

[tabs]

That car scared the ***** outa me...

Later when I got my hands on a Porsche, I was a fearless SOB...Over in front of Citrus College in Azusa/Glendora there is a 90* turn...Foothill turns into Citrus Ave...I went into that corner at 60 mph in the rain in 3rd, downshifted into 2nd and came out shifting back into 3rd an ran...that was in a 66 912 that I owned. I was racing a 67 912 at the time...

[KevinP73]

Originally posted by tabs
FKING DEATH WISH ON 4 WHEELS....Dad had 62 4 door Monza, that car liked to swap ends, and I'm surprised that it didn't happen when going up and down Route 39 when I was a kid. Fan belts are long and do have a tendency to fly, also fan bearings can be problematic.

The early cars (up to 64) had swing axle rear suspensions that were not very forgiving. "65 to "69 has an independent rear ala Corvette or Jaguar or Porsche. In the 8 years that I have had one on the street I have only once swapped ends and that was in the rain on a hard left hand sweeper that I knew I was taking way too fast for the conditions. Corvairs have handling characteristics very similar to Porsche's. Any experienced Corvair driver will tell you "no matter how bad things get Don't lift".