'60 Corvair A/FX /pre-funny car

[Quiet Eric]

This probably doesn't fit into any actual class, it's more of a match racer. I was very inspired by a picture I saw of the Glendale Speed Center car. I tried a couple times to score an original but rough AMT convertible for this but failed. Next best thing was a reject/rough resin casting I found on ebay. Just what I needed.

The chassis is from the current issue '65 Chevelle funny car. I have cut the interior tub up quite a bit to make it fit. I also cut off the front spring perches, moved them forward and shortened them as much as I could to get it lower. I also cheated some an drilled new locating holes in the springs to get the axle even more forward, but I'm not shooting for realism on this one anyway. I still needed to stretch the rear wheel openings to line up. Not sure if I'll keep them stretched or fill in the back area. Front tires are from the kit, wheels I believe are from a Little Red Wagon wheelstander with modified parts box wheel backs to really narrow the track width. Rear wheels are slightly modified from the kit, and the tires are from an AMT Model T kit.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I like it. A lot. A whole lot.  

But you're right. Initially, A/FX cars had to be built with factory-available parts...main structure, engine, gearbox, rear end...(though they didn't have to be factory-available on the model of car they were used to race with), and nothing like that amount of engine setback would have been legal.

Mickey Thompson's A/FX Tempest is a good example: 421 Pontiac V8, manual gearbox behind it, and the Tempest's transaxle rear end and independent suspension replaced with a stout Pontiac solid rear axle.

However, something like your Corvair could conceivably have been a class-legal M/SP (modified sports) car...depending of course on the sanctioning body. The engine setback is even too extreme for that though.

But as you say, more likely it was built as a crowd-pleasing match-racer.

Man, I miss those days.  

Edited Sunday at 06:31 PM by Ace-Garageguy

[Shark]

I bet that thing was a handful to drive.

[gtx6970]

Very cool.

 

These make for a very unusual, but very cool drag car 

 

There were several back in the day 

[M W Elky]

This is a really neat and unique project I like it a lot . The topless cars of the60’s are really growing ie :melrose missile , Canuck , Flying Dutchman , Garlits dart , Hayden Proffit’s CORVAIR and the manny more  . I can’t wait to see it finished 

[papajohn97]

Very cool project Eric. One the big challenges in reproducing scale models of these early funny cars is finding reference photos of the engine/ chassis/ interior details. It seems most of the mags at the time mainly published exterior photos of the cars at the staging area or launching and rarely showed details of them in the pits or under fabrication. Anybody out there have any magazine articles about this car??? (MW Elky???)

Looking forward to watching this one come together!

 

Edited 16 hours ago by papajohn97
Corrections