69 Chevy Corvair

[mangodart]

Midget whisperer ask me to post some more pics of my Corvair I built last year. It was a resto build, as I start with a built model I bought to a friend. First yellow, I decide to do it black with a gold interior, to match an example I saw in an old car magazine. The challenge on this model was to get the rear wheels well aligned, and to find nice WW tires. It's build box stock,

Hope you'll like it

[mangodart]

SOme more pics of the chassis and interior

To me, it is one of the most nicest design of the 60ies, Chevrolet did well on it, it's a pity the car doesn't sell well, 'cause by reading the the mag, the car was very well balanced, compared to the first model !!!

[High octane]

You did a great job on that build as it looks sweet. I ought to know as I had bought a brand new one in '65. It was the Corsa with the 140, 4-speed, and posi. Unsafe at any speed? I don't think so as I was doing 110mph in the pouring rain without as much as a quiver. I had rebuilt and modified the carbs and had Dick Scully give it a custom paint job as well. I also ran it a the drag strip several times and usually won my class if I recall.

[Cato]

Very nice build. You only forgot the oil stains from the pushrod tubes underneath.

I know because I owned 3 of them...

[Zahadum]

Nice build! Thanks for sharing.

[W-Machine]

Your build shows off the clean styling of the second-generation Corvair nicely. Looks great.

[Porscheman]

Nice Build. Nice to see it built stock.

[JasonC]

Nice build! It is a model of lesser detail and you done it up right! I got 3 of these kits to finish, plus i own a 65 Corvair too.

[mangodart]

Thanks, Yes I can see it in your "avatar" Looks nice, I would love to drive one, I'm very curious about that car !!!!

[Foxer]

Very nice! That sure looks good in black.

[vintagercr]

That is very nice! I have a soft spot for Corvairs, having owned a 60, 61 and a 66

[Ace-Garageguy]

,,,,,,,,,Unsafe at any speed? I don't think so as I was doing 110mph in the pouring rain without as much as a quiver.....

Sad what happened to the Corvair. The '60 swing-axle cars WERE extremely sensitive to tire pressure, and could indeed roll quite easily in the hands of poor drivers who failed to heed the tire pressure requirements. GM added a "camber compensator" that alleviated the problem by keeping the rear wheels from "tucking-under" in severe cornering, but the '65 and later cars had an entirely re-designed rear suspension layout that was superior to Porsches of the period. The '65-'69s were EXCELLENT handling cars (I've owned one of almost every Corvair built, including a '60 4dr bought for $5, and a 180HP turbocharged Spyder.) For some reason, GM tucked its corporate tail and ran rather than defending a fine car.

Very nice build of one of America's more interesting cars.

[bbowser]

Very nice build. You only forgot the oil stains from the pushrod tubes underneath.

I know because I owned 3 of them...

LOL, my first car with the same issue. Dad wouldn't let me park in the driveway because of the oil slick. $2 worth of O-rings was the fix, but $100's in labor. Great model, I really loved my

'vair.

[JasonC]

so it's even more fun to drive

Thanks, Yes I can see it in your "avatar" Looks nice, I would love to drive one, I'm very curious about that car !!!!

They are a fun car. Kind of like a go kart lol. I got a 140hp with 4speed in mine. The 140 isn't stock So it's even more fun to drive and get looks from people from the way it sounds!

[MrObsessive]

That's a nice and clean build........excellent paint! My Uncle I believe owned just about every Corvair model that Chevrolet made at one time or another, so I'm very familiar with them. Right down to the way they sound when they're firing up--------------very unique sound!

Unfortunately, my Uncle passed away in '09, and I never found out what happened to the last Corvair he had. It was a '66 Monza 2dr hardtop painted "Willow Green" with a black interior. I have an old builtup of a '66 that I'd like to restore sometime to match his car.

And yes, GM could have defended that car much better than they did. I can't help but wonder if the Vega was actually Chevy's attempt at restyling the Corvair. Its styling looks somewhat like an evolution of what the Corvair might have become. Of course the Vega was front engined, but its styling would have been in the works at the time the 'Vair was in its last years of production.

Here's a tidbit I thought I heard years ago..................does anyone know the truth about the other divisions "compacts" for 1961 being based on the Corvair's floor pan? I had heard the Pontiac Tempest was based in part on the Corvair as well as the Buick Skylark, and Olds F-85. Maybe I'm remembering things wrong, but there was some tension in the other divisions ranks that Chevy was getting their compact for '60, but the other divisions were left out in the cold.

Just wonderin'..............

[High octane]

I don't think that the Corvair's floor pans were the basis for any other makes of cars.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's a tidbit I thought I heard years ago..................does anyone know the truth about the other divisions "compacts" for 1961 being based on the Corvair's floor pan? I had heard the Pontiac Tempest was based in part on the Corvair as well as the Buick Skylark, and Olds F-85. Maybe I'm remembering things wrong, but there was some tension in the other divisions ranks that Chevy was getting their compact for '60, but the other divisions were left out in the cold.

Just wonderin'..............

I have heard that story over the years as well. It's conceivable the floor pans and rocker structure could have been shared, but I don't think so. The aftermarket rust-repair panels don't appear to be the same from platform to platform. It would be interesting to look through some crash books from the period to see if ANY stampings interchange. An old Hollander should show any interchange as well. I'm wonderin' too.

You know, come to think of it, the front-engined GM subcompacts from the early '60s had hat-section, light gauge frame rails spot-welded under the floorpans as part of the unibody structure. I don't see how Corvair floorpans could have been used with that design. However, the EARLY Corvair floorpans DO have diagonal stamped stiffening ribs similar in appearance to the first generation 'Y' body car floors, so that may be where the idea came from. The idea may also have originated from the visual similarity of the "flat-floor", "rope-drive" Tempest interior.

One thing that IS interesting is that the first-gen Corvair wagons did share the roofline with the Y-body wagons.

[GerN]

Nice work on one of the sweetest American car designs ever produced. GM could bring it back as a hybrid and use the battery pack to balance weight distribution. Maybe I should do a model - a transverse four instead of the flat six, electric motors for the front wheels, thinner seats for interior room - yeah! Could have 300 HP total and still get decent MPG if driven gently.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Crown Mfg. made a kit to put a smallblock Chevy V8 in the back seat, called a Corv-8. It made quite a sleeper. There was a guy in my part of the world who ran a BIG-block midships in a Corvair convert in A Sports Racing in SCCA (the class for privately run CanAm cars, basically), early '70s. I only ever saw it run once at Road Atlanta, where it launched a flywheel. It was FAST while it lasted though.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[slusher]

Excellent looking build. Perfect black finish.

[cobraman]

Nice. I had a red 65 Monza back in the day. It was a pretty nice little car.

[Lunajammer]

Excellent work. Clearly a labor of love.

Conspicuously absent from this conversation... CorvairJim. Ohhhh Jiiiiiimmm?

[Dominik]

Very nice! I think, i schould built one again.

[mangodart]

Thanks for all these nice comments, I didn't think this build still deserve so much reactions, proof that this car is not so "unliked" that so many thinks !!!!

[jparsons1969]

Excellent detail and paint job.