The Corvair

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

The question is, what wheels did John Fitch use on his upgraded cars?

And, is the one in Florida really a Fitch? Kevin might know...

The wheels that Fitch used on the Sprints were made by the Hands Co.

[VincentVega]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing
Here is one I was looking at over the weekend.

Wow, that looks nice.

I gotta stop looking at these threads.

[URY914]

[rouxroux]

^^^I feel sorry for that poor '65^^^

[KevinP73]

I was trying to make out what the script across the back of the decklid says.

[dafischer]

Let's see...8 letters...oooh...ooooh... I've got it!... A-B-O-R-T-I-O-N! Poor Corvair.

[kach22i]

Chevrolet Corvair Corsa

The new Corvair Corsa finally got the looks and handling it deserved, although performance could be described as decent rather than remarkable – 0-60 mph took around 10 seconds. You can see it as a poor man's 911....................

GM's turbocharging technology was prematured. At a time without any wastegates, boost control, recirculating valves or low inertia turbines, the engine had severe turbo lag and displayed stronger output only at high speed. This mean 0-60 mph was actually no quicker than the normally aspirated Corsa. For this reason, the turbocharged Corvair was considered to be a failed experiment.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro & 1967 Ford Mustang - Classic Sports Car Comparison - Motor Trend Classic

1967 Ford Mustang GTA 390
Performance 0-60 mph: 7.4 sec

1967 Chevrolet Camaro 350SS/RS
Performance 0-60 mph: 8.0 sec

From the sales numbers it was a one-two punch which knocked out the Corvair. First the Mustang, then the Camaro took it's sales away.

The 0-60 times are about image and perception, as most of the cars of those makes were the base 6-cylinder models.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by kach22i

Chevrolet Corvair Corsa


1967 Chevrolet Camaro & 1967 Ford Mustang - Classic Sports Car Comparison - Motor Trend Classic


From the sales numbers it was a one-two punch which knocked out the Corvair. First the Mustang, then the Camaro took it's sales away.

The 0-60 times are about image and perception, as most of the cars of those makes were the base 6-cylinder models.

Hmm. That AutoZone chart describes the same 0-60 mph time for both the normally-aspirated Corsa and the Turbo version, and the turbo engine was rated at 40 HP more (180 vs 140). Massive turbo lag? Could be mitigated by a special launch strategy.

Sherwood

[enzo1]

[RWebb]

by fall 1965, Chevy faced 106 liability lawsuits in the US and Nader had popped up on their radar screen as he was an expert witness in several of them

Chevy had redesigned the suspension for 1964 but Sports Car Illustrated had had recommended this 4 years earlier - Chevy did not advertise the improvement much (apparently the very terse press release was b/c they did not want to call attention to the previous tricky handling)

The May 1964 C&D named the Corvair the best Compact Sedan.

GM's General Counsel asked his staff to look into Nadar. They hired an investigator who sent back trivia (like the name of a restaurant that Nadar "frequented" - turned out it was owned by his dad). GM then hired an outside attorney who in turn hired a private detective agency, which in turn, farmed out some of the work to others.

They found out that nadar was of Lebanese origin, "smart, hard-working, dutiful, and with out [any] apparent vices." They also could find n evidence of anti-semitism. Nadar began getting strange, late-night phone calls, was hit on by beautiful young women (one blonde accosted him at a magazine stand and asked him to come up to her apt. and discuss 'foreign affairs'). Nadar mentioned these events and their timing to a magazine reporter who was working on an article for the New Republic. The NYT then picked up the info and did more investigation for an article about harassment of auto industry critics. GM's competitor, Ford immediately jumped in with a strong denial of any involvement, and some suggestive comments about other companies.

Roche, the head of GM immediately directed his staff to prepare a similar denial stmt., but then he learned that the people his people had hired (!) were indeed culpable. GM got blamed - directly in the public's mind.

The very next day Roche got a nastygram from Senator Ribikoff informing him that Ribikoff's Senate Committee would be looking into the GM-Nadar affair (and sending him a nice invitation to explain WTF he was up to). Roche couldn't refus. At the hearings, GM's General Counsel began sparring with the Comm. as to the definition of harassment and tried to explain away the questions about Nadar's personal life as being "in fairness to Ralph" and trying to help him. Various Senators pounced on that, incl. Sen. Robt. F. Kennnedy.

Time & other magazines dumped all over the Corvair and GM (Time had praised the car highly 6 years before). Nadar sued GM for invasion of privacy (using his winnings to finance consumer protection groups).

Many consumer protection laws date from this - not just for motor vehicles (1966), but also for pipeline safety, meatpacking, poultry, and medical X-ray devices (all the next year, in 1967).

The Ribikoff hearing and its publicity is likely the main factor that killed the Corvair. Too bad NHTSA was not quicker with their exoneration report.

So, GM's attempt to build an cleanly shaped (no tailfins), trim, and economical car died.

And poor Ed Cole went down in history for the (bad) Corvair instead of as the leading champion of the (good) catalytic convertor.

But in 1974, Nader and Ed Cole met in a head to head debate. Nader went after the car, the factory conditions and rich people's living expenses (touting his ascetic lifestyle - he lived on $5,000/yr). Afterwards, behind stage, Nader shook Cole's hand and complemented him on getting the lead out of gasoline.

- facts & quotes from Ingrassia, P. 2012. Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars.

- very readable book; but not real technical; recommended

[Aircooled6]

Originally Posted by nota

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

The rear mounted LS1 corvair actually handles very well, I helped built it. I can tell you it will easily out accelerate the 997S with fabspeed headers,
reflash, cats and mufflers that it shares the garage with. As for a 66 Transaxle handling the tq of a V8.. maybe some old 350 making 250hp and a "lumpy cam"
but an LS would chew it up in stock form, let alone something with real power. Ours is making 380-390hp ( 03 vette motor with a few bolt ons)

The 930 trans means it will run nearly 100mph in 2nd..

The stock corvair motor is 320 LB, the stock corvair trans is about 170, the 930 trans is about 55# lighter. The car as it sits weights 2780# with a full tank of gas.
(the LS1 is 420 # shipped) gone are the cast headers, PS pump and AC. Had a 4 core griffin rad, Recaro SRD's...etc.


He also has a 66 with a 2.9L motor with Webers that he placed as high as 8th with in the SCCA nationals in the 80's.



Here's My 964, 66 corvair and S197 + the 450



My vair




me chasing the old man (he's 73 and still very competitive) 45 yr SCCA member with the hat and trophy to back it up LOL

[nota]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

I was trying to make out what the script across the back of the decklid says.

ESMELMAR ? a name maybe ?

BTW control and scroll wheel to blow up pictures

[nota]

rumor said the 66 only 4 speed trans in the vair had ROCKCRUSHER GEARS AND GUTS
the same guts as a z28 or big blocks of that era

his 350/365hp had mods to about 400hp as a 70's era cheap track car

[Aircooled6]

66 boxes were strong, but nothing I haven't broken with a stong 6 on hoosiers. Even with a 4 spider gear upgrade. They are made for 150 Pre SAE Hp.. Heavy and big ratio spacing... not a great trans.

[Taz's Master]

Eshelman then turned to buying new fleet-model Chevrolet Corvairs in quantity, which were re-trimmed and re-badged with special gold-colored Eshelman insignia and other appearance changes and marketed to the public as "Eshelman Golden Eagles". By When General Motors learned of this operation, it ordered Eshelman Motors to cease and desist, but Eshelman continued to market the appearance package for those who wished to apply them to their personal cars.


Quoted from wikipedia's Eshelman page.