CorvairJim

Ah, hand-me-down cars. My dad is a closet hot rodder while claiming not to care about cars. We're talking a Fuelie '57 Bel Air hardtop, a '58 Impala 348 Power Pack, and a '62 Impala 409 4-door sedan as a family car when we kids started coming along. In 1969, we got a new Kingswood Estate wagon powered by a 427. That thing would MOVE! It was replaced by a '77 Impala wagon set up to Police unmarked specs. By that time I was only about 2 years away from my license and my mom (who, sadly, does NOT share my dad's penchant for powerful cars) wanted to trade in the '65 Chevy II sedan she inherited from her mother when she passed in 1968. The dealer only offered $50 trade in on it for a new Pacer (!) so, with two sons nearing driving age, my folks kept the car instead. My older brother wanted nothing to do with a boring little sedan with a manual transmision, opting instead to go out and buy himself an old, beat-up '68 Mustang coupe with a 200 cid six and an automatic. The Chevy II became my first car, with that seriously quick Impala wagon sharing the driveway with it. Personally, I would have much rather have had the '69 427 wagon and, when I mentioned that to the folks, they asked why I hadn't said so at the time! (Hey, mom and dad: I'm your motorhead son! The wagon has a thumpin' huge big block under the hood, not to mention an AM/FM stereo and A/C! Why even bother to ask whether I'd prefer it to an underpowered, rusty little sedan with an AM radio and precious little else?) I did have the chance to drive the Impala from time to time, and it was the very image of a sleeper. NOBODY saw that thing coming! (... And my 194 sraight-6 powered Chevy II sedan had no trouble whatsoever dispatching my brother's Mustang! He didn't like that!) Fast forward 7 years. My mom is getting tired of the Pacer's 3-on-the-tree hanging up in second, the same problem that made her want to get rid of the Chevy II in the first place. My (now-ex) wife and I needed a second car, and the dealer once again offered only $50 in trade on a new Chevy Nova (the rebadged Toyota Corolla), so my folks gave me the Pacer. At leat their hearts were in the right place! I brazed up the bushing in the shift arm and redrilled it to do an economy rebuild on the shifter and it never gave me a moment's trouble after that. In 60,xxx miles, my mom had already gone through 2 clutches and the one in the car was beginning to slip. I managed to make that clutch last for the two years I drove the car as my daily ride. It was in pretty sad shape cosmetically when I got it because she never let me detail it for her. She said that wax takes paint off a car (!) so she didn't want it to be waxed! I detailed it all the way the first wekend I had it, and the red paint that had chalked down to pink came right back to a bright shiny red with just a quick hit with Meguair's #7 with a buffer. I did a custom pinstripe on it, feathered out the stone nicks along the rocker panels and resprayed them in semi-gloss black, slapped a set of beauty rings around the poverty caps, added a set of whel lip mouldings, and basically made it into the best looking base-model Pacer I could. It was still slow as molasses, but at least it looked good doing it. When my dad told me he was thinking of trading in the Impala wagon, I told him I wanted it... but my little brother totaled it before I could get my hands on it. Dad's out of the hot rod habit now. He'd driving a Saturn LW300 wagon today. Frankly, I don't really want that one.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say MODEL on this one. Thee's something about the sticker on the bonnet that doesn't quite look right to me. Having said that, the entire car (real OR model) is fantastic, and if it is a model, the wheels are downright incredible!

Looks like you're all set to go there, Nick! It seems like most of these cars I see have the typical "Smokey & The Bandit" S.E. gold on black color scheme, so I'm looking forward to seeing it in Sammy's red on black! Not that gold on black is necessarily bad, just that I like some variety.

I'm with you guys. I'm sure that I've rebuilt more Glue Bombs over the past few years than I've built new kits. There's a certain satisfaction out of building a model that looks good from something some kid screwed up 40-50 years ago. Besides, it's a relatively inexpensive way to add some annuals to my collection that I wouldn't be able to afford any other way.

Consider yourself in it, Nick! I'm not familiar with the song, but Sammy is one of the greats of road music, so it shoulkd fit right in with the theme. See if you can post a video of the song so that we can get a handle on the song. We're all familiar with the basic car, of course, but we all want to see YOUR take on what Sammy had in mind.

Easy with the Corvair digs there, my friend. Corvairs are beautiful! This, uh, thing, not so much.

I will definitely be watching this one, Chuck! Phantom Utes have fascinated me for some time now, and I have a couple in the works myself at the moment... Corvairs, of course!

Another tough one, Harry.. I went back and forth with myself on this one a few times befor I decided to say it's the real deal. By brother-in-law is a profesional photographer who has done automotive work most of his career, and I see some of the hallmarks of his tradecraft in the photo work here. I know it's not his photo, but it could well have ben taken by one of the guys he's worked with.

Nah. It's just Ford advertising. If they wanted REALITY, something believable, they should have gone with a Yenko Camaro instead of a rusty Shelby Mustang.

Just to let you know, Modelbahn Hobbies in Gilbertsville, PA is out of business, so it can be removed from the list.

Lots of inspiration for hot rod and custom builds in the attached photo album. Guys, you're missing a lot if you overlook this treasure trove!

Get one of these and be first at the scene of the accident!

I haven't been able to do much of anything model-wise recently due to the weather. My workroom is in the attic of my house... which isn't air conditioned. The temperature has been in the mid-90's the past few days and we expect triple digits through Saturday. Once it gets back around 80-ish, I should be able to make some progress on the several models I have in the works, but until then I don't want to work in a sauna! (Even though I could stand to sweat off a few pounds!)

I'm voting MODEL for many of the reasons already mentioned above. Primarily the unscarred 'dozer blade, the lack of dirt and general grime, the slack in the chains, the lack of a license plate on the trailer, and the fact that the bed of the trailer is bowed UPWARD while the weight of the 'dozer soould weigh it down!

You'd lose that bet!

I was going to suggest eBay for both the kit and the decals, but Jason beat me to it! I have that decal set myself and it looks like it would make for a great replica. As a bonus, the sheet also includes a full set of decals for a stock Cosworth Vega. Like Jason said, any of the late model Corvair kits would be usable, but be sure to remove the emblems and side marker lights to backdate it to a '66. Also, the dashboard and steering wheel of the 1965 and '66 are different from the 1967-69 parts - The earlier dash had 6 gauges while the later one had three, and the steering wheel had 2 spokes and a horn ring for '65-66 ahile '67-69 had three spokes and no horn ring. (I only have a few of the correct dashboards and steering wheels in my stash, but if you know someone who wants to do a resin mold of them I'll volunteer my parts for the masters. I'd want to ask for a few of the 'new' parts for future projects - not for sale! - and I'd pay shipping.) Yenko did make about 10 cars in '67, but the 66's were much more popular, with 100 built for SCCA homologation. There's lots of info on the Stinger available online, and if I can be of any help, please feel free to ask me. I've already built a few Stingers myself (including my favorite - a '67 convertible phantom, a car that Don Yenko never built!), and I'm in the middle of another build for the Vintage Racing CBP. BTW: Instead of using decals, I've always had more success painting the stripes on these models, since it's a relatively simple and straightforward job. That way, you can match the color of the stripes exactly to the rocker panels, taillight cove area and the wheels.As for the numbers and SCCA identification decals, it's pretty wide open unless you're looking to replicate a specific race car. If you're building a street version, you really don't need the decals at all.

Hi Felix, Great work on these two fine examples of Don Yenko's cars. However, maybe I'm biased but I don't see any Yenko Stinger Corvairs in your Yenko Garage! I'm sure this is either just an oversight or you already have one in the works to complete your set. After all, a "Yenko Garage" just wouldn't be complete without an example of the car that started it all...

No sooner said than done! I just went to that CBP and revised it so that the deadline is gone. Anybody looking in on this CBP and wants to get in on the other one is more than welcome!

I've added an update to this CBP on my initial post, lifting the December 31, 2011 deadline. It reads as follows: A CHANGE FROM WHEN I FIRST POSTED THIS CBP: THE ORIGINAL DEADLINE OF DECEMBER 31,2011 HAS BEEN LIFTED! THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT COMMUNITY BUILDS GOING ON (I'm involved in several of them myself... ) THAT I'VE COME TO FEEL THAT A DEADLINE IS UNREASONABLE. AS THEY SAID A YEAR AGO IN NASCAR, "BOYS, HAVE AT IT"! TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY THE BUILD!

Of course it'll have two motors... After all, if it didn't, it couldn't very well be called the "TWIN MILL", now could it???

I'll have to get back to you on that, Charlie. Once I use a spray can, it generally just gets stuck in a box with my other spray cans. I use a marker to write on the bottom of the can what color the can is, but I guess I should also note what model I used it on there too in case I want to use the exact same color again for a diferent project. I know, I ought to be more organized, but I have difficulty with things like that. A dozen or so cans accumulate on my paint table, and then they all go in the box (or back in the box) at the same time. That can should still be near the top of the pile!

The more Ithink about it, the more I like the "No Deadline" thing, Nico. It takes the pressure off and leaves it open-ended so that guys can get involved way into the future if they see the CBP thread later on. The "Cars of Rock 'n' Roll and Country Music" CBP that I started a few months ago that was due to end at the end of the year may well have that changed to become open-ended too.

In my comment on the truck in the "Under Glass" section, I pointed out how she might just have been visiting her Aunt Mabel and Uncle Horace in Winslow, but she lives in Chicago! Maybe I could take that thought a step further and say how she had to take the shop truck on her visit because her dady took the T-Bird away!

If that's a model, I'm completely and utterly in awe of the builder! REAL!

I'm proud to say that Rob built this beautiful truck as an entrant in the "Cars of Rock 'n' Roll & Country Music" CBP that I proposed a couple of months ago. It's a fantastic build, based on The Eagles "Take It Easy". I wanted to see vehicles from popular music the way others envisioned them, and Rob's vision was very different from my own. I saw the "Flatbed Ford" from Winslow, Arizona as being a mainly stock-appearing mid 60's model, painted a fading white with minor rust. This is just the thing I was looking for when I came up with the idea for the CBP. (The only thing that I see that isn't quite accurate to the song is the license plate - I'd think it should have an Arizona tag instead of one from Illinois. Maybe I'm nit-picking here, because other than the connection to the song, the plate wouildn't matter at all. On the other hand, maybe that girl in Arizona is visiting her Aunt Mabel and Uncle Horace, and she drove the shop truck from her home in Chicago... )