GM Built the 911 before Porsche did?

[ADDvanced]

So there I was, just eating my breakfast and scrolling over at one of the best automotive websites on the internet, the Autopian, and I read this article:

https://www.theautopian.com/in-a-way-chevrolet-made-the-first-porsche-911/

THIS PICTURE WAS DELETED BECAUSE ITS 2026 AND SOMEHOW THIS WEBSITE WHICH FOCUSES ON EXPENSIVE CARS STILL DOESNT HAVE THE ABILITY TO AUTOMATICALLY RESIZE IMAGES

"The picture shows a GM tech removing a prototype Corvair flat-six engine from a Porsche 356.

In a later article, Karl pins down exactly what year that 356 was – it was bought in early summer of 1957, and Karl includes this wonderful bit of geekery of the sort that’s close to my heart:

“We can date it fairly precisely because it had the new teardrop-shaped tail lamps introduced that spring but not yet the exhaust outlets in the bumper overriders of the 1958 models.”

I mean, they did ID the year of the Corvair, but idk if that dates the actual time of this Corvair powered 356, but .... idk, figured I'd post it here and somebody might know more than me or Torch.

[GH85Carrera]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_87

Long before that. Tatra had an air cooled rear engine car.

[masraum]

My dad had 2 or 3 corvairs before I was born and told me about them later. I always thought they were cool and almost bought one myself when I was in my early 20s, but decided to pass because I needed something reliable and with easy to get inexpensive parts. I was pretty sure that the corvair wasn't going to be reliable or with cheap, easy to get parts.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_87

Long before that. Tatra had an air cooled rear engine car.

Yes they did. Erwin Komenda knew about them and he designed the Beetle (mid to late 30's).

He designed the 911 as well but don't get me going.

Google told me real biological beetles were around 295 million years ago. I mean, FWIW.

[Bob Kontak]

Here's the pic. I had to mess with it a little. It was monstrous.

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_87

Long before that. Tatra had an air cooled rear engine car.

If you read the article, it's not about a rear engined car.

It's about a porsche with an aircooled flat six. Looks like GM did it first. Highly suggest reading the article.

[stevej37]

A girlfriend of mine in the early 70's had a Corvair Monza Convertible. I drove it a few times and it was a great driving car. I think it was a 4cyl boxer engine. I don't remember what year it was...but it was blue,and in perfect condition.

I had never seen a Corvair engine...or a Porsche engine at that time. It surprised me to open the rear trunk and see the low engine sitting in it. I think the belt running the accessories was laying flat instead of upright.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_87

Long before that. Tatra had an air cooled rear engine car.

I seem to remember reading that the bug seemed an awful lot like a Tatra clone.

[masraum]

Here's a fun video of a couple of corvairs and a 911 on a track.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I had never seen a Corvair engine...

And then there's this ↓

[oldE]

Originally Posted by stevej37

A girlfriend of mine in the early 70's had a Corvair Monza Convertible. I drove it a few times and it was a great driving car. I think it was a 4cyl boxer engine. I don't remember what year it was...but it was blue,and in perfect condition.

I had never seen a Corvair engine...or a Porsche engine at that time. It surprised me to open the rear trunk and see the low engine sitting in it. I think the belt running the accessories was laying flat instead of upright.

Steve, Corvairs were flat 6s. The accessory drive came from a pulley on the craft, made a turn over a pulley and came forward over the engine, around the driven pulley, then over yet another pulley to get it back down to the end of the crank. Nothing too complicated there.

[stevej37]

^^^ rcooled
Her Corvair didn't have the turbo.....but the manual tranny made it fun. (can't remember if it was a 4 or 5 speed.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by oldE

Steve, Corvairs were flat 6s. The accessory drive came from a pulley on the craft, made a turn over a pulley and came forward over the engine, around the driven pulley, then over yet another pulley to get it back down to the end of the crank. Nothing too complicated there.

I didn't know that they were all 6's....I thought the 6 was an option.
I was not a fan until Nader did his bit.
Did you know that he is still alive?

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I didn't know that they were all 6's....I thought the 6 was an option.
I was not a fan until Nader did his bit.
Did you know that he is still alive?

The fun option was the Turbo, a decade before the Porsche 930

[look 171]

Originally Posted by masraum

Here's a fun video of a couple of corvairs and a 911 on a track.

I must ask, which one is a better looking car?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by masraum

I seem to remember reading that the bug seemed an awful lot like a Tatra clone.

Komenda stole the design for the Beetle.

It is a bit of a stretch to assume that statement, stand alone, explains the entire scenario. However, Hitler wanted a car for the peeps and that was a red hot poker up Komenda's as*, I'll betcha. I would steal from you little sister if I had that kind of pressure.

As to the subject, for perspective....

Porsche sold just over 5,200 cars in 1957
Chevy sold 1.5 million in the same year.

The article refers to "lowly Chevrolet" Ha

The author does make it clear he's just throwing out a true but click-bait-y story to garner clicks upon clicks.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by oldE

Steve, Corvairs were flat 6s. The accessory drive came from a pulley on the craft, made a turn over a pulley and came forward over the engine, around the driven pulley, then over yet another pulley to get it back down to the end of the crank. Nothing too complicated there.

belts making 90º turns seem fairly complicated compared to the other 99.99% of the belts out there that are planar.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

I must ask, which one is a better looking car?

I think Corvairs are good looking little cars. They made them from 60-69. I think the 65-69 were the best looking models. the model above, is, I think, an earlier model.

I do love the 911s, especially the long hoods and bellows bumper cars.

[wswartzwel]

I learned how to drive when I was 13 in a 65 Monza stick. Reverse was a pain but that was a fun car to drive.

[gregpark]

My buddy spent 2 years rebuilding a Monza flat 6 in high school auto shop. Near the end of the year 1972 he was done and we all (including our auto shop teacher) went out to the parking lot to watch it fire up and drive away. He thought he would impress us with a burn out right off the bat. The car had brand new sticky rubber that hooked up and the car popped a massive wheelie. The ass end hit hard and broke a couple of heads. It was such a bummer after all that time invested and we all felt bad for him. The shop teacher just shook his head.