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with all the modern amenities.
wouldn't you take one for a test drive?

It's not a bad looking car compared to what they are offering these days.





Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
 
Posts: 54500 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
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My dad had one like that as a company car back in the sixties.
Same color, I kinda remember not being the best ride though.
A lot cooler today. Cool
 
Posts: 22858 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Is it safe at any speed? Smile


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Posts: 15841 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 23, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I've owned several Corvairs and still have 1.5. I don't know what any of them got for gas mileage, as gas was so cheap that it really didn't matter. Just drove till there was a quarter tank left and then $3 filled them back up (with ethyl).

They are a fun and easy car to drive. Kind of like the SIG P250 of cars.
.
 
Posts: 1345 | Location: WI | Registered: July 07, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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No argument on styling. The Corvair was always a nice looking car--including gen 1.

They oversteered a bit Wink. I had a '64 for awhile. I was driving from Walsenberg in S Colorado out toward I-25. There had been a light rain and I was gliding through some gentle esses when it did a 360 on me. I ended up stopped in the middle of the highway, but if there was a warning that I was approaching loss of adhesion, I sure didn't sense it.

I would have liked to have seen Chevrolet get the opportunity to evolve the car. I saw an episode of Wheeler Dealers where Edd fixed up a Corvair. Chevrolet had already come up with a transverse suspension stiffener by '65 that improved handling. It's a shame that Nader's book held such sway with the press and public.

If I remember Edd China's monologue about the engine, the flat-6 Corvair pre-dated the flat-6 Porsche. There were darn sure some problems to sort out. I knew an old Chevy mechanic who specialized in them. He referred to them as "road oilers." I now know that the oil loss came from the push rod tubes. Each one had an o-ring at top and bottom and as soon as they began to harden, would allow oil to pass.

Edited to correct as per Cycler

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,


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Posts: 13165 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mensch
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"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind."
-Bomber Harris
 
Posts: 16119 | Location: Ivorydale | Registered: January 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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The first car I owned was a 1969 Corvair Monza coupe with 4 single barrel carbs. It would have been a blast with a 4 spd manual. There was a lot of weight in the back and stickier tires helped.
 
Posts: 10821 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Constable
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I can get 30 mpg in my 17 Camaro SS as long as I allow the software to keep me in 4cyl/6 cyl mode. Meaning...keep my foot out of it.

It's truly amazing where we are today with engine efficiency.

In HS a buddies Dad had the 210 hp version of the Corvair...it was scary fast. At least it was to two 17 yr olds anyway.
 
Posts: 7074 | Location: Craig, MT | Registered: December 17, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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The Ernie Kovacs picture is a bit too esoteric for me. What's the joke?


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Posts: 13165 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by TMats:They understeered a bit Wink. I had a '64 for awhile. I was driving from Walsenberg in S Colorado out toward I-25. There had been a light rain and I was gliding through some gentle esses when it did a 360 on me.

That's not understeer, it's oversteer and the early generations were notorious for it. Very much the same as VW Beatles and Porches and for the same reasons.
 
Posts: 1571 | Location: SW PA | Registered: November 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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quote:
Originally posted by Cycler:
quote:
Originally posted by TMats:They understeered a bit Wink. I had a '64 for awhile. I was driving from Walsenberg in S Colorado out toward I-25. There had been a light rain and I was gliding through some gentle esses when it did a 360 on me.

That's not understeer, it's oversteer and the early generations were notorious for it. Very much the same as VW Beatles and Porches and for the same reasons.

Of course, "understeer" is pushing through a corner. I meant the other understeer Big Grin


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Posts: 13165 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
The Ernie Kovacs picture is a bit too esoteric for me. What's the joke?


Not really a joke, but Kovacs died wrapping his Corvair wagon around a power pole. It was 2am on wet roads and he was returning home from Mr. and Mrs. Milton Berle's baby shower.
 
Posts: 10821 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
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I don't know that a modernized Corvair would sell. The only extant rear-engine/rear-drive car of any significance is the Porsche 911, a "niche" car even for the already "niche" Porsche. It would certainly not have an air-cooled engine.

The early cars had a swing-axle rear suspension (semi-independent with the drive axles having only a single universal joint at the transmission end), which was terrible for steering the ass end around the front and spinning the car right off the road. Those of you who have ridden older shaft-drive motorcycles will recognize "shaft jacking" or "shaft effect." In 1965 it went to a true independent rear suspension. The one pictured is from one of the last years, 1968-69.
 
Posts: 27834 | Location: Johnson City/Elizabethton, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Official Space Nerd
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I knew a guy (friend of my father) who collected Corvairs. I asked him once how many he had. He responded "I don't know - 60?"

He's gone now, and the cars are all sold, but walking through his 3 car garages was an experience I'll never forget. Besides the Corvairs, he had several '60s Rivieras, Vettes, about 3 ski boats, and many other toys.

I've always liked Corvairs. They are a very elegant design.



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Posts: 21821 | Location: Hobbiton, The Shire, Middle Earth | Registered: September 27, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by Cycler:
quote:
Originally posted by TMats:They understeered a bit Wink. I had a '64 for awhile. I was driving from Walsenberg in S Colorado out toward I-25. There had been a light rain and I was gliding through some gentle esses when it did a 360 on me.

That's not understeer, it's oversteer and the early generations were notorious for it. Very much the same as VW Beatles and Porches and for the same reasons.


Tell me about it. I spun out a "61 VW Bug (1500cc motor) one morning on the way to work. Scared the crap out of me.

2 ply German 15" tires didn't help the rear suspension.


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Posts: 8228 | Location: Arizona | Registered: August 17, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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That Mk II is one of the most beautiful cars ever built, in my opinion, and with the IRS, I believe it handled pretty well. If I could find a good one (4-speed, of course!) and a parts source, I'd use it as a daily driver.

My college room mate had a first-model coupe, bright gold, with the turbo engine, neat as hell, until the day I lost a stoplight grand prix to a 1950 DeSoto Limousine! Eek


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Posts: 9127 | Location: Illinois farm country | Registered: November 15, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I'll never forget, I was about 8 years old, and one of our mechanics at our gas station brought me over to a turbo charged corvair and said, this is the wave of the future, referring to the Turbo. Guy was right!
 
Posts: 2044 | Registered: September 19, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Diversified Hobbyist
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quote:
Originally posted by bendable:
with all the modern amenities.
wouldn't you take one for a test drive?

It's not a bad looking car compared to what they are offering these days.


I would be shocked if the pictured '65 or '66 Corvair 'Corsa' with four single bbl carbs got 30 mpg.
The two carb Monzas only topped out at around 23~24 mpg.


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Posts: 2463 | Location: Wylie, Texas | Registered: November 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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A friend of my Dad built a Corveight, put a small block in the rear seat. I don't remember the details and but I did see it once, pretty impressive.


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Posts: 3388 | Location: Utah's Dixie | Registered: January 29, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I had one, I'm cured. Had a two speed powerglide auto and twin carbs and wouldn't spin the tires in gravel. I spun it out and so did my brother. If a car would have been coming I wouldn't be writing this.

Some of the fun quirks was when the generator bracket broke it caused the gen fan to rub on the steel fuel line. Spinning steel rubbing on steel with fuel spurting. The rear motor mount broke and the rear of the engine dropped on the road.
 
Posts: 7437 | Location: Over the hills and far away | Registered: January 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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