CorvairJim

Finally! Someone built one of these things with the RIGHT engine! None of this VW corn-popper power for this serious beach buggy! A Studebaker may be a bear's natural environment, but ol' Kermie will be right at home in this bright green, Corvair-powered pond-hopper...and I'm sure Miss Piggy will love being seen in it too! This car is a real looker. (BTW: I agree with the comments above - More pics, please, especially the engine!)

Mike, that GTX looks great! I'll have to take a look at the one in my stash and see if I can get away with doing that with mine. I like the color. But since you've shown yours on here already, I won't be copying the idea for this CBP... Turns out I just recently got my hands on a nearly complete 1962 AMT Corvair Monza coupe annual builtup that was never painted. I think I might just be able to work the kit's smooth, even white plastic into a good enough condition that it would pass for this sort of thing. I'll have to check interior color availability for a factory stock (re)build on the thing, but at the moment I'm thinking a nice medium blue would look pretty good. Something like this would make a good quick project to kick-start me again. I've been going through "Builder's Block", and haven't done much of anything on my 4 or 5 CBP entries for a month or more. ("Hello. Modelhaus? Could you shoot me some wheel covers and a couple of bumpers for a '62 Corvair? Maybe a couple of pairs of headlights too? Thanks"! )

Let me get this straight: Is it that the car is FROM Turkey, or that it's looks make it a real "TURKEY"?

That's "the exact shade" I've been looking for too! That's Pontiac's take on Chevy's "Lemonwood Yellow" from 1966, which I need for the replica I'm planning of the '66 Corvair Monza I had for many years. Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, I kinda thought you'd say that. I might just do one of each! As an aside, here's one I think you'll like: I built a Corvair-bodied, early-style Monster Truck back in 1990, based on an old AMT Blazer Monster kit. I had a blown 409 powering it. It was named "Vair Force One". That was the first model I ever entered in a contest, at the 1991 Corvair Society of America National Convention, where I took 2nd place in the "Engineering" division. Unfortunately, our cat knocked it off it's shelf a few years ago and I haven't gotten around to restoring it yet. I might just revisit the whole concept based on a modern Monster Truck kit.

I say REAL... Why would someone make a model of something that looks like that thing?

I think this whole Mars landing thing as an allusion, uh, ellusion, um, ILLUSION! It's just a hoax perpetrated by NASA, who got Harry to Photoshop it for them!

Au contraire! The air intake would be those four little stacks on top of the manifold between the superchargers mounted in front of the engines.

Since there's no deadline, might as well put me down for a fire-breathing Corvair gasser. Now I need to decide if I want to build it as I originally planned with a blown Corvair flat-6 out back (with all of the chassis reworking that would entail), or just take the easy way out and use an existing chassis from another kit under it and stuff the (front) trunk full of an injected 409!

Holy decapitited Beetles, Batman - it IS!!!

I'd guess I had probably built close to 150 models by the time I was 17, but not one of them was anything like as good as either one of these beauties. Not even close! Welcome to the MCM forum, Pauli. I hope to see many more of your fine models in the days and weeks to come

What did I get today? I got a splitting headache from dealing with the idiot management at work! That's life at the good ol' U.S.P.S., I guess. I really hope we get a Postmaster General who actually has a clue how to run the Postal Service after November's election instead of the clown who's there now.

Ask Harry... He knows EVERYTHING!!!

Dominik, I'm floored by the imagination that you put into the boat! If I'd thought of that, I never would have swapped the Hemi Hydro I had to a friend last year. The '60 Chevy "Bat Wing" fins look like they belonged there all along.

Hey Michael: Let me know when you get time on that 1:25 scale plastic engine dyno... and WHERE - I'd like to line up a session myself!

Jordan, you're my new best friend!

I've read the suggestions about making the front of the LSR car resemble a Corvette, and I can see it.. Squint just right and it could be transformed into something very similar to the factory Corvette SS sports Prototype from the late 50's.

Here's the glaring figure I look at: MY glaring figure!!! I don't fit into any Miata ever made! My 34" inseam legs and 40" waist are big for me to fit into it and still drive it safely (I have the same trouble with Triumph Spitfires, MG Midgets, A-H Sprites, and Fiat Spiders and X1/9's... and stick shift Chevettes!). The Solstice, on the other hand, has plenty of room for me. It will also out-accelerate and out-handle any stock Miata. As for being discontinued due to poor sales, it was discontinued due to G.M. closing down Pontiac Division. Now let's check your numbers for a second - Pontiac sold 114,773 Solstices in two (or was it three - I don't recall for sure) years. Then add in the Saturn Skys that were the same car under the skin. Meanwhile, Mazda only soild 500,000 Miatas here in over 20 years. The Solstice handily outsold the Miata on the basis of an average year's sales. That's like Ford's claim that the F-Series is the best-selling pickup. True if you don't combine the identical Chevrolets and GMCs. Do that and the Ford has NEVER outsold the G.M. twins. Tom, I don't have a problem with you liking your Miatas. My wife wants one of her own. I even built a Miata model to her specifications back in the early 1990's, while we were still dating. And I'm not saying it's a bad car. It's just that from everything I've seen read, and heard from people who have driven both, the Solstice is the better car... But I gotta say, the Miata from any generation is the better looking car!

Casey makes a very good point. The Vega definitely got a bum rap for it's supposed reliability problems, brought on by owners who didn't maintain their cars properly, but why shouldn't the pretty little Vega be considered for this list. We're going strictly by appearance here, and to heck with the car's unfounded bad reputation! I know the owner of this particular 1973 "Millionth Vega" and had the pleasure of riding in it last summer at the Maple Grove Super Chevy Show (where it won "Best In Class" and an "Editor's Choice" award). It was like a brand new 38 year old car, with fewer than 8,000 ORIGINAL miles on it. It's completely original and unrestored. Take a good look at this car's lines. It is a seriously good looking little machine, easily head and shoulders better than it's compact competition from the early 1970's like the Pinto, Gremlin, Corolla, B-210, etc. The Vega has sporty, aggressive styling while it's competition looks, well, economical. As the header on the photo says, this shot ran in "Motor Trend Classic" magazine, where the car participated in a three-car shootout of early 1970's American compacts a couple of years ago. The Vega aced just about every facet of the competition: The Gremlin eked out a slight win in acceleration, but the Vega took ride, handling (on it's original 38 year old tires, no less!), interior room and overall comfort, not to mention the purely subjective styling element.

Pretty sure I've got this one, unless ol' Harry threw me a curve! (EDIT: He didn't throw me a curve... )

The AMT 1969 Corvair (of course), because it's the only game in town that's readily available for my favorite 1:1 car. I wish someone would come out with a better kit of this beauty, because the current one has it's issues (engine fit, and the front panel has the worst sinks marks in all of modeldom!) Still, I have about 4 cases of the most recent reissue and about a dozen of the "Prestige Series" release from the 1980's that I got when the old Kay Bee Toys chain was getting out of models. Those kits cost me $4 apiece.

Chuck is right: The '67 Corvette trumps the '63. Less extraneous trim, and an unobstructed view out the rear window. The side vents actually do something and look better than the first style doing it! The 1963 Riviera was supposed to have the concealed headlights that debuted on the car in 1965, but GM didn't have the technology to build them yet. The '65 wins out over the '63 in my opinion... and Andy's too. The 1966 Toronado is a modern classic and fully deserves to be on this list. Period. I'm going out on a limb here and risking being strung up as a heretic, but I've always preferred the sleeker, smoother lines of the 1970-73 Camaro over the derivitive, Mustang "Me Too" sort of styling of the 1967-69 Camaros (although the Camaros DID look lots better than the Mustangs!) It doesn't matter to me whether the 1970-73 Camaro has the standard styling or the optional Rally Sport trim package (the "Split Bumper" cars), I like 'em both! Which brings us to the Solstice. OK, someone tell me, just what was that clown thinking when he included THAT on the list of top-5 GM cars of the last 50 years? Really? The Solstice is a great entry level sports car, outdoing the Miata in every possible way, but good looking? Not really. My hat's off to Austin for mentioning the Corvair before I found this thread and could mention it myself. ANY list of the best looking cars from GM HAS TO include the 1965-69 Corvair. That's not just my personal prejudice talking. I was at a car show yesterday and several people noticed the Corvair T-shirt I was wearing and commented to me how (Good-looking, pretty, stylish, sporty-looking, take your choice) the car was... Even folks in the Corvette and Mustang displays. 'Nuff said.

Funny... I thought it looked like a PENNSYLVANIA plate, since I couldn't see the top of it! I don't see white GS-X's too oftten. It seems like most guys like the brighter yellow than the more subdued white. You did a fine job with your Buick!

I may be a B-I-G guy (6'3", 275#), but I've always liked small cars. They don't call me "Corvair Jim" for notyhing, you know. I'm a fan of the Mini because they're "Smaller Than Small", but I stil fit in them just fine. I got a couple of Tamaya Minis in a swap a few months ago. This model might be the kick in the pants I need to actually get going on one of them... Great Job!

How 'bout that: A great-looking Edsel! That goes down as my nomination for "Oxymoron Of The Day"!