High octane Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 In 1967 I was heading east across the state of Indiana through the pouring rain at 110 mph in my '65 Corvair Corsa without a quiver. Unsafe? I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walt francis Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I love Vairs and I really like that green on it with the gold strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvairJim Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Shoot, looking at all of these great Corvairs coming out of the woodwork, I'm thinking a Corvair CBP might be in order somewhere along the line! I have a couple of those '63s sitting around waiting their turn. One had it's vent window posts cut to lay the windshield back a bit and had the little lizard that came with the kit glued to it's trunk lid! The other one is an old toy store friction model. Both are molded in a light pastel green. Seems to me that I've already seen your cars somewhere along the line, Walt. If you ever decide to sell off those two unpainted ones, you know who to ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvairJim Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 In 1967 I was heading east across the state of Indiana through the pouring rain at 110 mph in my '65 Corvair Corsa without a quiver. Unsafe? I doubt it. I don't know if I ever had one up to 110 in the rain, but I had my most recent one, a '66 Monza coupe (mechanically modified to roughly Yenko Stinger Stage III-specs) up over 90 for extended stretches in the rain a number of times. I also had the right front tire blow out in the rain at over 70, and I had absolutely no control issues. That was on the trip home to where we live in suburban Philly from Denver, having just bought the car. I had bought it on eBay and had a local club member check it out for me. Let me tell you, there's nothing like a 1,750 mile cross country trip in a new-to-you classic car! My wife and I love long road trips, and that one was our all-time favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsoder Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Very Nice!! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbowser Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 My first car was a '66 Monza I got for $400 in 1972! Maroon, black interior. Great little car. Sold it to my uncle when I went in the service and he totalled it I've got the AMT Prestige release to build when my skills get a little better. Yours looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promo55 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 This is a great project! I especially like that this car was a rebuilder/Glue bomb and that you saved it. It's all factory correct, as well. Years ago, I knew where a real car was that was just like your model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvairJim Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 My first car was a '66 Monza I got for $400 in 1972! Maroon, black interior. Great little car. Sold it to my uncle when I went in the service and he totalled it I've got the AMT Prestige release to build when my skills get a little better. Yours looks great! Bruce, if you want or need any info on the actual 1:1 car for your project, you know where to find me! Only bad thing about the Prestige release is that the tires are too wide. They are roughly 55-series when they should be 80-series in today's measurement system. You'll need to remember to shave the side marker lights. The kit steering wheel is the 1967-69 style, but the correct wheel is available in any of the 1965-66 Chevelle kits out there. This is a great project! I especially like that this car was a rebuilder/Glue bomb and that you saved it. It's all factory correct, as well. Years ago, I knew where a real car was that was just like your model. Thanks, Ronnie! I really enjoy rebuilding "Glue Bombs". Also, I find it's the most economical way to fill out holes in my Corvair model collection. These old built-ups can be found for the cost of a new kit in the LHS, if not less sometimes. Factory correct was the only way I was going to do this one because my actual 1:1 car was pretty much factory correct. I noted the few mods I made to the model, and they were the same ones I had made to my car when I owned it back in 1980-83. This is actually the 3rd built up Corvair I've rebuilt, but the other two were modified. I did a '66 Corsa as a weathered, worn-out car like you might find in a front yard along a back road with a "For Sale" sign in the windshield. My '67 Monza coupe was redone as a "Phantom" Yenko Stinger convertible. Don Yenko built 4-10 convertibles (the number is open for debate, even among people who really know their Stingers!), after the initial run of 100 Corsa coupes in 1966, and he built 10 more coupes in 1967, but no convertibles. The body had some damage at the base of the rear window that would have been tough to fix, but the convertible top boot from the 1969 reissue from about 2005 covered the damaged area just fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewaskew Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 That came out real nice Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimaxion Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 You must read the Book "Unsafe at any Speed" before you can criticize it . I owned , or was the riding Mechanic , for a 1960 700 4-dr. . It wanted to turtle . I found deflating the rear tires to 10# rather than the #15 reccomended it wasn't so unstable . Note : not a fix . If these early ones didn't have handling problems ; why was Ernie Covacs killed in his wife's , Edie Adams , new 1961 Wagon ?? Read the book . He certainlly didn't "push" to see what it could do on the way to the Grocery store . The '64 MY was the year of the fix . Another sin on these "cars" is the engine belt . Once you chuck a belt , throw it out . It took until the , once again , 1964 MY for a simple fix for this issue . Something like a little finger of steel to slap the belt back on prior to damage and chucckkin . J.C Whitney offered a (approximatly) $12 kit to stabelizer kit . The same modification all those racing these made as Prep . You hated these or loved them . The dealers had to accept these to get a popular easy to sell car since 1966 My some time of this year . . GM decided to drop the Corvair ASAP . After the cost was Amortized for the car . This decision was made at the start of the 1965 MY . Unloved and maligned , yes indeed . When the Last 1969 fell off the line , Chevrolet dropped all support for Corvairs . All parts not returned to GM within 30 Days , the dealers ate . What fun for repairs to vehicles in state of Repair . I know of one at the Body Shop almost totalled . It ended up being a trade in due to lack of parts . Lack of parts made especially Body and Collision next to impossible . . GM subsisdied Chevy Dealers to offer large bountys for Trade for other Models . The trade ins went ...away as any other undesired clunker . I have more ..this is enough . Any questions ? You did this build allot of justice . It triggers many memories . Thanx .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominik Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I like the corvair - its a sweet little car with a very nice design. Your model looks also nice with the green and gold stripes. Looking very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvairJim Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 (edited) In responsw to John Landgraver's (dimaxion) comment above: First off, thanks for the compliment on my model. Now to the gist of your comment... ~I did read the book - I own two copies (an autographed hardcover and a paperback). ~Ernie Kovacs blood alcohol content was found to be well over twice the legal limit after the fatal accident (.21%). He was known as a drunk, and it finally caught up with him Driving in that condition, it would have happened in whatever vehicle he was driving at the time. Don't blame the car for the driver's stupidity! ~Tossing the fan belt wasn't a major problem if the belt was adjusted properly in the first place and the engine wasn't overrevved. I've thrown a grand total of THREE Corvair fan belts in 31 years of Corvair ownership. One after someone else had adjusted it (the previous owner), and twice during autocross events where I spiked the revs around 6,000 rpms. NEVER on the street when I had adjusted the belt myself. ~GM never forced Corvairs on their dealers - I have no idea where you came up with that! This is the first time I've ever heard something that crazy! Sales dropped off as a direct result of the Ford Mustang. The American car buying public wanted a boring, conventional sporty car instead of an unconventional SPORTS car that could seat as many people comfortably, handle better, and acheive better mileage all at the same time. Still, Chevy managed to sell 109,800 of these supposedly hard to sell cars that had to be forced on the dealers (according to you) in the 1966 model year. I can still find some Corvair parts at two local Chevrolet dealers (in Plymouth Meeting and Phoenixville, PA), and bought out a couple of station wagon loads of Corvair parts from another Chevy agency where I worked in the 1980's. I guess they didn't get the memo about having to return the parts, huh? ~"GM subsisdied Chevy Dealers to offer large bountys for Trade for other Models"? GM offered $500 trade in bonus for any 1969 Corvair through the end of 1973. Car manufacturers offer bonusus like that all the time, especially on last year of production models. ~"Maligned"? Unjustly by people who only believe one side of the story, yes. "Unloved"? Not art all! The Corvair Society of America has nearly 5,000 members - Hardly unloved! ~I too had a 1960 700-Series 4-door sedan, and not once was the car anyhting but the picture of stability. If it weren't, I wouldn't have given it to the person who helped me restore it - my eldest daughter - for her 16th birthday. She was the only kid in her high school class to drive to school in a car 20 years older than she was! Edited December 10, 2011 by CorvairJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Corvair Jim, you are correct in your facts. Especially the Ford Mustang scenario. I am also sure the Camaro which debuted in 67 also had a lot to do with GMs decision to put the Corvair to rest. About Eddie Kovacs, the car was secondary to the cause of the crash. Speed, wet pavement (it had rained), alcohol and some say he was also trying to light his cigar while negotiating the turn. Nader's problem with GM initially was because they (GM) tried to dirty his image. I put Nader in the same class as Micheal Moore, and those of his ilk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagercr Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 That turned out really nice. I learned to drive in 1961. They were fun cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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