Great looking car would love to own it. Being in the UK John Fitch isn't that well known my father was a car mechanic and told me about John & the Fitch Phoenix and how the world missed out on a great car. I'm glad this car is still around today.
Front end damage seems total and catastrophic in every case. Was there any point in trying to rebuild one or was it generally a write off? While the styling was attractive enough, my impression is the Corvair was a dangerous vehicle with too much rear-end weight and not enough front end protection. Any vehicle that collides with a train is going to be toast, but looking at Ernie Kovacs's wreck, it seems like a perfect storm of speed, impaired judgement, rain, and sheet metal.
I have never driven a Corvair. That said, I had driven beetles from 65 to a 73, and they were all a blast to drive on dry roads. Totally different story driving in the wet, though. You could not run fast enough to give me a rear engine car.
I had a 1963 Tempest V-326 3-speed during my 1965 senior year in highschool. With the same Corvair-type rear transaxle and swing axles, my Dad and I installed an EMPI camber compensator on that Tempest to prevent such rear axle antics. My little '63 Cordovan Brown metallic sports coupe was AWESOME.
Because of the swing axle design, the outside rear wheel "tucks" under hard cornering. It's not just the camber that everyone sees, the wheel actually tries to tuck under, extending the suspension and lifting the body. Because of that, the opposite wheel is lifted, causing either a roll or a skip. If the tucked tire has enough grip and you have enough momentum, you're going to roll.
I’m officially jealous. Love these corvairs. Especially with the second gen. Then in the early 80’s BMW ripped off the design nearly verbatim and called it the 6 series.
When the Corvair was introduced in 1959, it was tested by Consumer Reports. This publication did not rely on advertising for its revenue, which allowed it to be unbiased in its assessment of products. When these reports did not live up to GM's expectations, rather than address the problems, they started a new magazine called, "Consumer Digest" to tell a different story. Rather than informing the public as its driving force, this publication was all about making money, so of course they took advertising dollars and their testing results reflected this. This is much like the efforts of the pharmaceutical industry today which is responsible for over half the funding for national news media and their ubiquitous and annoying commercials touting the latest drug-of-the-month with a goofy made-up name. Ever wonder why you seldom see any stories regarding the lies told to the American people about CoVid-19 by Fauci and his frock-coated pharmacists? Why would NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. want to bite the hand that feeds them? Follow the $$$!
Very interesting and primitive by today's test standards. I'm left with two thoughts: 1) I wonder how many of those engineers/suits could change a tire w/o a coach; and 2) My family had a '59 and true, the trunk was a bit difficult to pop open -- but we never had to go to THAT length to prevail, although I wouldn't be surprised if my dad considered it.
Volkswagen Beetles had the same swing axles and would roll just as easily. They also had a front gas tank that would crush in a frontal collision and leak causing a fire hazard.
I drove one for a year when I was on Okinawa in '76 with 3rd Battalion/ 9th Marine Reg. They were very loud. they would go anywhere except the volcanic ash from Mt. Fuji. I was just driving around while everybody was playing war. I got stuck in a very big hole with loose ash I got out and stepped back about25 ft watched it dig it's self in after a couple of minutes I got back in and backed out of the hole it dug, and drove around until I found a better way out. I could pull the front wheels off the ground by getting the rpms wound up in 1st shift to 2nd real fast the Goat would pop a wheelie. I drove it like a 5 ton sports car.
95 isn't bad for a 6. Even a built one isn't really for drag racing except against other corvairs; they're better at road racing. I've seen posts of them beating Porsches.
I remember that car very well. Totally inconspicuous, but presumably quite tricked out with gadgets, like Bond's Astin Martin. That said, my favorites were the little European convertibles they (mainly David McCallum) drove during MFU, especially the little red Sunbeam Alpine from MGM's stable of cars, also driven by Elizabeth Taylor in "Butterfield 8." They must have really smashed it in Butterfield, because the little red car vanished early during the series.
Too bad Chevy didn't have the $8. needed for a front sway bar and a few extra bucks for a camber spring at the rear. They finally got it right with the 64s. And then all the problems were cured with the 65. Typical and of GM, when they finally perfected the Corvair they started to phase it out...but those of us lucky enough to own one are glad they did perfect it...
