If you would like to see photos of my 61 Corvair, I must warn you that some may react with disgust... you have to remember that when my Dad and I started to 'customized" the car it was 1976.. fur, carpet, wood paneling was in, and I wanted a paint job that would get noticed. Well, mission accomplished however that was 1977 and the paint job (hand rubbed lacquer) has aged..and looks very dated. But so does my hair cut. And I am also posting a link to my 87 "Nova" just for giggles

http://www.billt.com/corvair.htm

http://www.billt.com/1987nova.htm

 

".....unsafe at any speed" If I could only remember the auto exec. that said that. That's the first thing that comes to mind any time that someone even mentions the word "corvair".

 

Auto exec? It was Ralph Nadar. Don't forget that the VW Beatle had the gas tank in the front too.

Les

 

Wasn't he an exec? or ran one of the big three? I don't know much about him as he was "before my time" so to speak. All I remember is that quote on that car...............and I have the same love for the Beetle as I do for Corvairs. But hey.........to each his own.

 

He was a lawyer, writer, political advocate, some say consumer advocate. He wrote the book "Unsafe at any speed" where he took special exception to the Corvair. He runs for president every 4 years and no one cares.

 

Ahhh; good to know...............thanks

 

Nice - I also had a '61. Converted to a front engine V8 - 327 ci

 

I guess you put a radio in it since the later photos show an antenna. It looks great.

 

looks nice and the guy's name is Ralph Nader also, Beatles have gas in their bellies sometimes... BEETLES have gas under the front hood... speaking of gas and beans... the beetle was not as bad as say a Pinto? Beetles had engine fires, but did not generally explode into the passenger compartment and this was caused over 98% of the time because people did not change the fuel lines every few years... on each of the bugs I have owned... when I bought them that is the FIRST thing i did!!! Oh, also... know where the fuel tank is on the Porsche 911? front most rear and mid engined cars have it that way. same as most cars with engines in the front have fuel tanks in the rear...

Seannon

 

I just saw on the "speed channel" 101 cars you must drive show and they had this car on their show. So of course I spent all night surfin' the net looking at specs, options, etc...may get one now..to once again be different, just as is with my XFire. My choice would be a 'vert with the turbo. Found one somewhere on the net that was a frame off restoration for somewhere around 14500 I think it was. Agua with white int/top. Don't want white int/top though. The search continues........

 

The legend of the infamous exploding Pinto has been grossly exaggerated. There was a bolt that the fuel tank could possibly hit up against and rupture in a severe enough accident. The Pinto actually had a history of fires that was no worse than the norm for cars of that era. But hey, it makes a good story.

Heard on the radio years ago that the ultimate explosion would be a Pinto t-boning a GM truck equipped with side saddle fuel tanks and carrying a Maytag washer in the back.

 

A really fun thing to do in a Corvair was to go over a RR crossing at high speed. I mean the kind where the rails were several feet above grade.
Car would go 10 to 20 feet with the front wheels off the ground.
Scary as hell and only fun if your 18.

And imortal.

Excellent way to get a girl to break up with you.

roadster with a stick

BTW How many are old enough to remember pickup trucks with the gas tank right behind the seat. The filler neck went outside the cabin just behind the driver where the vent hole would escape fumes inches behind the lit cigarette in the driver's mouth. Look left out the window at a stop and BOOM!

 

This is so wierd, I'm reading this thread, and Ralph Nadar just came on Conans show, and is going head to head with Triumph the insult comic dog.

 

I've always been curious. How do you do a "Frame off" resto to a car with a unibody?

 

It's what the ad said. I told you I'm still doing my homework! Now back to my studies!! LOL

 

I can't stop laughing at the furry seats, OMG !!

Great pictures you saved, the car looks great.

My first car was a 1967 lime metalic green Mustang, with a two tone ivy gold interior. I don't know what they were smoking in the 60's , but it was horrid. My father was a painter/auto body guy so we spent six months stripping and gutting the car to restore it to showroom condition (and painted it factory vintage burgandy with a black top and black interior, it was a beauty).

Welcome to the forums, my SRT6 is getting delivered (after a little detour to HOUSTON...not sure what to think of that) on this Saturday, I can hardly wait to see it in person.

Brian

 

Thanks for the nostalgia trip. At first I thought that was Farah Fawcet with that hair. I don't think many of us have the nerve to post pictures of ourselves in that god awful fashion era. I know I won't.

I remember well when the Corvair came out. They made quite a hit and I think they would have been more popular if GM had put a little more time, effort, and money into them. That was back in the era when car company's and espcially GM let the customer do the road testing and refining of their cars. They released them too soon. We used to call Corvairs "road oilers" when they first came out because they put the oil pressure sending unit too close to the engine and it would burst. We installed the new ones with a longer shaft to get it away from the heat and that did the trick.

We had quite a few customers with Corvairs and I installed one of the first sets of "mags" I ever saw on one. One of our customers had a bolt on blower installed on his Corvair Spyder Convertible and with the excellent traction with the engine in the back, it was a real screamer.

We also used to install a brace between the rear wheels to keep the them from folding under during a hard turn and making the car roll over. I personally saw two Corvairs roll over. One during a race that I was in and another on the street.

Thanks again, that's a great nostalgia car to hold onto.

 

My mother actually owned two Corvairs. Basically hers were junk piles, and when she drove me to school in them I was soo spaced out from the exhaust leaks I couldn't remember where my home room was. Damn I wish i had one of them now! It would be a fun project car!