CorvairJim

Too Cool Foir School!!! :)

Darn it, I don't need yet ANOTHER C.B.P. to take up my time! I'm already committed to something like 4 or 5 of them; I've lost track! But the thing is, I have a soft spot in my heart for Studes! I have a few unbuilt kits as well as a couple of models that I built years ago that are fairly screaming to be rebuilt... the right way this time! Hmmm... 1953 Starliner? "Miss Deal"? Avanti? (that would be my wife's choice - she loves Avantis!) Give me a little time to think about this one and I'll get back to you. (BTW: Depending on when you schedule it and how much vacation time I have available, I'd love to come out to South Bend to see the Studebaker Museum again (even though my ex lives in South Bend... ). I really enjoyed it when I wa there about 5 years ago. Our son lives just across the border in Michigan so it would be a good time to go visit him as well. Also, our younger daughter is in far southern Indiana, and there are several other car museums I'd like to see in Indiana - The Auburn-Cord-Deusenberg Museum in Auburn andthe Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum come to mind immediately - so we could well end up making a 2-week run out of this thing... See what you started! )

Christian, I can't begin to tell you how much I'm enjoying your talented "What If" model box artwork! I've sent you a P.M. with a few suggestions if you'd like to humor a frustrated Corvair fan... Please?

So THAT'S what they mean when they talk about a "Drum Kit"...

I'm just a few months shy of 50 and wonder just what 16 is like. I was going to school full time and then doing a 4-6 hour shift stocking shelves at a local store almost every day from the time I was 14. I was also cutting lawns and washing cars to make money so that by the time I was old enough to drive I could afford a car and insurance... Then when I was almost 18, I became a father. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter (and her two siblings), but having a child means the end of anything resembling being a teenager. Be patient, my friend. You sound like you're a responsible young man, but easily frustrated. Hang in there - things will get better.

Holy (expletive deleted), Michael! That Mustang looks incredible so far. The wheels and tires you chose for it are perfect, and the stance clearly means business. This thing won't be taking prisoners, that's for sure. Sorry Rob, can't help you with the decals. Have you tried posting in the "Wanted" forum?

PHEW! I'm glad I went back and studied it some more early this morning! You ALMOST had me with this one, Harry...

I've only built a couple of replicas of cars I've owned, because so few of them have been available as models. This first one was converted to a 1966 Corvair 500 (base model) Sport Sedan from a reissue AMT 1969 Corvair Monza coupe, using the back half of the roof from an AMT '66 Mustang: This next one is a salvaged 1965 AMT Corvair Corsa Glue Bomb that I used as the basis for a replica of my first Corvair, a 1965 Monza Sport Coupe. The first shot is where this build began - NOT a pretty sight! I had a couple of better 1965 Corvair built-ups to pick from, but I felt like a challenge... : This last one is a replica of the oldest Corvair I've ever owned, a first year 1960 700-Series 4-door sedan. It too started out as a Glue Bomb. I actually built TWO replicas of this car, the first one about a dozen years ago as a gift for my older daughter. It seems that she came tolike the car so much while the two of us were working on making it roadworthy and decent-looking that she asked me that, if I should ever decide to sell it that she have first dibs on it. I went her one better: I gave it to her for her 16th birthday! She had the oldest car in the high school parking lot my a long shot - It was 20 years older than she was at the time! Another rebuildable 1960 Corvair model came my way so I decided to build this one for myself:

Pretty flippin' AWESOME! Kind of reminds me of the late 1970's six-wheel Elf-Tyrell Formula 1 cars, but with full bodywork and no wings. Rob says '59 Eldorado, but I'm thinking a 1966 or '67 front wheel drive Toronado or Eldorado myself... Or how about a boattail Riviera (... if anyone had ever kitted one, that is)!

This is coming along even better than I expected! The orange is perfect for it... but I'm still not sold on the driver. The guy needs a good meal!

That song was FUN! I like a lot of what Johnny Cash did but I'm not quite what you'd call a "Fan" as such. Still, the man had a way with music. I had forgotten how much fun The Dukes Of Hazzard was, even though I watched it pretty religiously when it was on the first time around (pre-syndication). Still, it kind of hurts to think how many perfectly good 1969 Chargers met an early death because of that show and how many more are now running around painted orange with a great big rebel flag on the roof! When you decide to jump in, you're more than welcome.

Here's an idea for a future build: The Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe he drove in his first Winston Cup race, which was also the final rcae EVER at the old Riverside road course. The car's sponsor was Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet, Inc. Dale liked the young Ernie's competitive spirit and wanted to give him a little help getting a start in the big time. He drove the car a couple of times with different color schemes, and I'd guess the decals are probably available out there somewhere. Here are links to images I've found for diecasts in both: http://www.friesench...0ernieirvan.JPG http://www.friesench...nieirvan87s.JPG

It is kind of painful to see this sort of thing done to a classic Camaro. They should have found some P.O.S. Mustang instead mlike a local MAACO shop had several years ago where they repainted one side and completely detailed that side out, added new tires and wheels, etc, while leaving the other side looking like ######, right down to the filthy windows and the wiper scratch in the windshield.

Yeah, over the winter, when it's a comfortable 65 degrees or so up there due to the house's heat rising (not only is it not air conditioned up there, it's not heated either) I still tend to waste too much time online and not enough time working on my models. (Silly me... )

Styling and image, plain and simple. Sportier cars seem to have finer incriments while luxury barges go in for the coarse scale.

I work from 3:00 'til 11:30 PM, so I'm just getting started around 1AM... When my attic workroom is liveable, that is. With the current heat wave(s), it isn't liveable too often. That's why I'm online at 3AM instead of upstairs with my models...

Handling might get a little dodgy with that gasser-look suspension at sustained high speeds, but I guess if Dennis Wilson and James Taylor could do it in the early 70's, you could do it too 10 years earlier!

Phenominal work. In my area, this could be the "Nostalgia Nights" show held in Pottstown, PA on the first Saturday evening of the month every month from May through September. Of course, I especially like how you put the Corvair front and center, right next to the regestration tent, where it belongs!

HALF a bikini!!!

Well, let's fly in the face of prevailing opinion with this one. It has plenty of detail, but I still think it's a MODEL (although I'm not certain by any means). Some of the things about the background just don't ring true to me. EDIT - Friday 7/20, 3:42 AM: I've been thinking about this one from time to time over the past few days, so I did some more research. I'm changing my vote to REAL... And that's my final answer!

Your Chevelle came out really well! If you hadn't told us that it came to you as a glue bomb I never would have guessed. By and large, I enjoy rebuilding glue bombs even more than building brand new models. (For one thing, it drives some guys nuts when I take a perfectly good, restorable model and cut the heck out of it! But hey, if you can find, say, a rare 1967 kit that some misguided kid built back in 1967 and happened to damage the body a little, and you pick it up at a swap meet for less than a new kit, you don't really feel that terrible about cutting it's roof off and modifying the interior to get rid of the molded-in back seat! Personal experience talking here...)

Sure, what was I thinking? You're blowing across the country at 2 to 3 times the speed limit (or in my case, considerably more than that!), so really, what difference does it make if we happen to, uh, "forget" to stop to pay any tolls?

Thank you and God Bless you for all you do for these gentlemen, Mark.

Sure 'nuff is! Here's the link to it's page at that website: http://microcarmuseu...ur/mopetta.html

Thanks for showing this build in it's present condition! I've been playing with the idea of doing this some day, with an eye toward a wedge hauler like Lanny posted above. Ironically you show a vintage AMT Corvair reissue kit box in the background of the first several photos, and that's what I'd be hauling on the wedge - a Corvair drag car!