Corvairs gain a foothold

[TonyL]

At last. After YEARS of work, I can safely say that Corvairs are catching on. It's always been my stated goal to introduce the Corvair as a viable Pro-touring alternative car. They're cheap, fun, and look awesome fixed up.

Where's the proof you say?







and this is the kicker. Someone finally took one HERE.
The mods are too many to list. Stellar car.





Sorry, just had to toot my own horn. I'm stoked that people are starting to think Corvairs aren't just for "weird" people any more.

I was actually approached by a guy last weekend at a Corvair show In Sacramento. He told me he had my PHR article on his garage wall, and that he'd gone out and bought a Corvair because that article made them look so cool. That one guy made every late night, every busted knuckle, and every scraped together dollar all worthwhile.

Now If I could just convince the magazine guys....

[Lowend]

Seth Emerson has been racing some very cool Corvairs since before I was born
I've always had a soft sport for those goofy little cars ;)

[ALLstrokedOUT]

My dad just got a 68' for a VERY good price. He loved them back in the day, he always talked about how good of traction it got in the snow. Rite now hes doing all the body work for it (sorry TonyL, but we kinda stole your paint scheme, it just looks killer!). I had a chance to drive it before he stripped it down, the thing was quite fun and nimble, if only it had a few more horses than the stock 140..all in due time.

[TonyL]

I would love nothing more than seeing my paint scheme on someone else's car. ;)

Don't get me wrong, Im not trying to take all the credit for Corvairs breaking out. It's one of those right place, right time things. Im seeing them everywhere now.

We've even got widebody ones now. and they look angry.




More PT themed vairs.

[78 Type-LT]

That orange one is sexy

[cluxford]

That orange one is sexy

x2

[Mark Antrim]

Tony, my first classic car was a 64 corvair convertible. Loved that car just had too much mud. I do like the orange one also.

[elitecustombody]

I agree. orange one is beautiful. I always like how Corvairs look, unique roof line and c-pillars

[John Wright]

and they look angry.

No wonder it's angry....somebody stole the motor out from under it's hood!

[twosaturns]

I think I'd want one w/ a WRX boxer in it...

[BuddyP]

Back when I first signed up on this forum I was suprised not to see any except yours. I always thought the Corvair had nice lines to it, and was a clean design. My dad has a '66 and '67 (light blue and dark blue) but sold em back in the early 80's.

That orange one is sharp!!!

[TonyL]

Okay, the orange one. So far I have found out it belongs to an interior guy in Utah, he's found a way to get one piece 69 camaro door glass to fit, which is awesome, installed a billet insert into the rear air grille, rounded off the gas filler door, shaved everything, made a new chrome piece for the front, tucked the bumpers, the exhausts, and installed a turbo on a 4 carb 140 motor. Pictures of the engine haven't been posted yet.

Seeing a street rodded Vair made my day. That says to me "main stream". I just wish more people would hop on the bandwagon.


As for the wrx idea, people are working on it. There's an adapter to mate a wrx motor to a vw trans. So that should work. Remember that the corvair drivetrain rotates backward. so either the swapped motor must be modded to run backward, or you have to find a new trans that will work instead.

[Bjkadron]

I want one with the stance and wheels like the first one, A paint scheme like yours except reversed. And a porsche 911 gt3 engine and tranny. That would be awesome!

[Steve Chryssos]

I'm falling for these cars in a big way. We're just finishing one up at Classic Motorsports magazine. It came out beautiful. I dig the early turbo application. And the early cars are really growing on me. I still prefer the later cars though.



Link to project intro and updates:
http://classicmotorsports.net/projec...-monza-spyder/

[2ndgenhunter]

Tony,
You should see the corvairs that gather in Helen, GA (small german theme town next to me). The town is filled with 125-150 Vairs once a year. It is a site to see them all racing through the mtns around here. There was 1 guy had a 63ish wagon with a Stinger engine and old school ARs in 15". That thing would fly. I love going to the Corvair meet. Its 1 event I really enjoy just looking around.

[Josh69]

My first car was a red '63 110, much like the one pictured next to the orange car. Sadly, it was too much work for a green 16yo to handle, and when I got my '66 Imp a few weeks later, the 'vair got sold.

Always wanted a later model with a V8 conversion.

[rednecknate]

My Brother in Law had a sweet 66 like 20 yrs ago i remeber riding in it when i was like 12 or 13 i thought it was so cool It had 295 and was way jacked up in the rear It blew up on the way to ALABAMA WHEN he was going into the Airforce.. I have alway shad a soft spot he had pictures of one In alabama that had a 440 dodge motor Mid engine in it always thought that make a sweet ride.. Love em all A buddy in Az has one i could probrobly have i think its a 63 or 64 ...Havn't looked at it in 2 or 3 years .. Is the orange one Bagged up front??Been eying yours tony for a few years or so ... I kinda sit in the dark here .. Oggling..

[novaderrik]

why no love for the Corvair vans?
imagine this one with a full on PT treatment..

or how about the Corvair pickup?

[Off Duty]

My dad had a Corvair back when I was around 12 or so. I learned to drove on that thing and we kept it until the transmission died. Like everything else in life..."if I'd only known"

Sold the car to a guy who took the aircooled 140hp engine and ran it in an airboat for several years, dropped a small block in the back seat and went racing

Wouldn't mind an LSx based pro-touring Corvair.....would be as sweet ride

[formula]

you people are all CRAZY WEIRDOS.

jus' kiddin! I personally think you're the best kind of weirdos, and I'm very jealous of you, Tony. Your car's cost-to-badass ratio is THROUGH THE ROOF!

Just out of curiosity--I know the unsafe at any speed thing was grossly misrepresented--but I also would assume there is SOME underlying truth to the old story about some flaw in the original rear suspension's design leading to virtual swingarm travel that can cause trip-rollovers (the original beetle suffered a similar design flaw)--is there now a fix or alternative aftermarket suspension configuration that addresses the issue? Or is it truely a nonissue, maybe something that was addressed after a certain model year?

I hope I'm not stepping on sore toes--I don't mean to, and I'm sure asking a corvair fan if their car is going to flip is at least as bad as asking a poncho guy why gm stopped making pontiac engines, if not much worse, so feel free to just e-slap me if that would be the most appropriate response. I am just nuts about the idea of a rear-engined american pony car, and am thus considering building a stripped-out little trackrat 'vair someday. So now I am at the stage where I'm starting to research and find out what's out there--and of course when looked at from a PT angle, the inherent platform limitations that will need to be addressed become priority 1.