The Corvair

[johnsjmc]

I bought my 1964 spyder for $200 from the original owner in 1972. In the early 80's I showed up at a local slalom (solo1?). They were classing the Corvair with any 6 cyl car under 100 in wheelbase. I was in competition with 6 cyl Nova's and v8 Impalas and 6 cyl Mustangs.
I took 2nd best time of day with bad stalling in hard left turns.
I was all set to start trailering the car all over the place. I was notified a couple weeks later they had reclassified me in with Corvettes, 240z's and 911's
No one had expected a stock turbo car to show up as most had been crushed by then. They only made about 3500 in 64 and if 200 are surviving. I would be surprized. And even fewer would still have been dead stock.
That car went to the wreckers with terminal rust as I used it as a winter car for several years. I kept all the original parts and built a ragtop spyder from a standard convert.
Too bad the Corvair has never become particularly valuable to collectors unlike many 60's cars have.

[1-ev.com]

Here is Electric Corvair:

More info is here January at High Voltage Hot Rods « Gold Coast EAA

[jshape]

In 1967, I had a 1965 Monza coupe with 4 speed transmission. Driving back to school with my (soon to be) wife and a normal amount of luggage on the Ohio Turnpike, it started to rain. The car became very squirrelly at 70 mph so I slowed to about 55. That's when the front end started to hydroplane. I had absolutely no control and the car did three spins before impaling itself on a guard rail post. Tore the crap out of the engine and underbody and was totalled. Fortunately, neither of us was hurt but both very shaken. Not a fan of Corvairs.

[nota]

Originally Posted by ZOOMiata

I really want a Corvair . . .

A friend is a collector and tinkerer -- my favourite of his collection sports an LS1, running through a Porsche 4-speed. Fortunately he's finally upgraded to disc brakes.

should of put the motor in the back seat
they handle much better that way
the 66 stock 4 speed could stand a v8 tork
and they made a kit to use that trans with the front mounted motor

a buddy built 2 with a kit to use the 66 4speed
one was very fast cheap track car
that was a local winner until a factory race built 3500 cslr BMW showed it up
but the vair cost 10% of the BMW

[rouxroux]

Here are a few of ours:

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

I'm always amazed at the number of random people who come up just to share their Corvair story with me. Seems like everybody had a buddy who owned one, or a friends dad had one, or some childhood memory that included a Corvair.

Here's me in a pic with my dad and his new ride... a 63 Monza. It was red and had baby spots on both sides. I remember standing up in the back while driving (no hump)

[J P Stein]

I had a 66 Corsa,140 hp. Good car & fun to drive......right up to the time it started bleeding oil from every orifice. I'm told modern sealants can now cure this but I'm out of the game.
I'd still like to put an SBC in the back seat.....oh well......

[manbridge 74]

Am I wrong or is the Yenko pictured earlier missing the belt tensioner that came on high HP versions of these?

Sadly, Nader gave rise to words like "snap oversteer" which have no real meaning. IIRC, he also saved us from Gore and should be lauded for it.

[tevake]

I've tried multiple times to move a post by Sarc over from the random trans thread.
Its a custom vair that is truely beautiful. A little help?

Cheers Richard

[gwmac]

first car 63 vair, $275 in 1969. Leaked a bit of oil.

[RWebb]

copy the text - save the pics to your disk then upload them
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Corvair looks even better if you compare it to the other gee-gaw laden US cars of that era - it looks very clean, compact, almost European.

[Tobra]

My uncle has either a '65 or '66 convertible he got from the widow of a friend of his. Black, turbo 4 speed with red interior and wheels that look like they came off a Camaro. Had like 40,000 miles on it when he got it about 15 years ago. He changed the oil and other fluids, all the rubber was good as his friend had restored it before he died. Washed it, cleaned up the interior and has been driving the heck out of it.

Too bad he is giving it to his grandson, wouldn't even listen to me about buying it from him. No idea how many miles on it now. He drove it from NE to CA, back to cornhuskerland, then down to Florida the next summer. He does not drive it near as much since he finished his Model A, which he got because it is the same model year as he is.

[widebody911]

Wow! I didn't know they had Instagram back then!

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Wow! I didn't know they had Instagram back then!

HAHA. My sister converted a lot of my folk's slides and she posted this one to FB. It was easier to pull it than dig out the DVD and load em up. She dearly loves to post up pics of me at a young age..

Either that or I'm proof that time travel is possible....

[thingmon]

Something wicked this way comes... ha.

[thingmon]

Always thought a Greenbrier van would be fun. Place raccoon picture here...

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by thingmon

Always thought a Greenbrier van would be fun. Place raccoon picture here...

That's a very clean Corsa with the Panasport/Minilite wheels. Compare with comparable 66-69 cars of that era.

One could just imagine if GM/Chevy had the foresight to further develop the Corvair drivetrain/chassis. However, that would have been far beyond their limited imaginations back then. Instead, they had muscle cars in mind.

Sherwood

[intakexhaust]

Cheap finds. Spotted this one last Fall near the Wis. border. 1965 Corsair' 140 for $1800. 110 HP + 4 speed. Initial appearance was straight with a few minor surface rust areas. The notorious rust prone floors were replaced, but could have been done a little better. Except for a seam tear in the driver seat, the black original seats were OK. Dash had two cracks. Carpet, all trim, books there. Aftermarket radio garbage and alloy wheels. I only had mild curiosity and didn't bother looking further into mechanicals. Debris and leaves blown inside. Might have made for a cheap project car.

[KevinP73]

Telescoping wheel by itself is worth a thousand dollars.

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

Telescoping wheel by itself is worth a thousand dollars.

beat me to it. Also if he had the quick steering option, those two parts alone were worth more than the asking price. Also, if it was the Corsa 140 and had 4 carbs, it would be 140 HP, not 110. the 110 engine had only 2 carbs. The Corsa was either 140/4 or 180/turbo.