Today I was at a local car show when I came across this, beautiful example of 65 Corvair corsa. What’s a Corvair? This episode goes into detail period correct ads buttons switches and knobs enjoy this episode =)
1965 was a banner year for Chevy. They did away with the "X" frame on the full size cars and went to the box frame. You mentioned that Corvair was the first American car to offer a turbo, and Olds actually offered on on the F-85/ Cutlass in 62 (really rare car). Had a 65 Vette, and a 65 El Camino. That Corsa was absolutely stunning! You found a really nice example to showcase.
Thank you so much for that correction I totally forgot about the Oldsmobile Jeff fire.. i’ve never seen a jet fire in person would love to feature that car one day on the channel =)
I had a 66 Chevy corvair when I was younger.and boy do I wish I had one again.i used to enjoy driving that car.know I still wish I had one again.if it's not too late at my age.it was called the nader hater.by ralphy.
. .. what a sweet ride! . . . in 65 Chevy moved to flowing lines, and the Corvair epitomised that kind of poetry in motion . . . handled surprisingly well off-road, too . . . Ralph killed it unfairly just like Consumer Reports killed the Suzuki Samurai unfairly . . . what a pity! . . . thanks for a great vid depicting one of my all-time dream vehicles . . .
Yeah that guy did a awesome job restoring the car he told me it was a friend Flintstone car when he got it should’ve should’ve asked to see some pictures I didn’t have any on display but would have been cool before and after
It is true. Losing a fan belt on a Corvair, you also lose engine cooling. However, that's true of most any water pumper of that era. I will admit that a fan belt on a Corvair requires greater care to install than other cars of its time, but when properly installed it's very reliable.
Your videos are very well done. Thanks for doing the Corvair. FYI the Corsa that came with the 140hp engine had (4) one barrel Rochester carbs, not one four barrel Rochester. It had two primary carbs and two secondaries that under normal driving were basically inactive, similar to how one four barrel carb works. Many people have modified their engines to accept one 4 barrel, but Chevy never offered it that way.
Belts last fine if you adjust them correctly. When engine is cold you should be able to turn the alternator pulley with one finger. Kind of loose. When engine is hot, you can't do that. Aluminum expands and actually tightens the belt. My last belt was over 20 years old when I changed it, it was looking worn. 9:22 is the head temp and the other one is a vacuum gauge, or manifold pressure. Will get positive number with the turbo. Parts are easy to get, go to Clarks Corvair. I believe they have over 10,000 different part numbers. They actually make almost all of the interior vinyl parts in house.
True! My 1965 never had belt trouble except when my alternator bearings went out. The ones after 1963 had a lighter fan and additional guides to help the belt stay on and the only time it was an issue is when someone worried about the belt coming off and OVER tightened it. Then the belt would stretch and break or come off.
My Uncle bought a new Corvair in 1961 with Powerglide. He said that driven normally, the car didn't give him any problems with the swing axle. It was a very reliable vehicle which he drove on some long distance trips, putting over 100,000 miles on it in the 6 years he had it. He used to make jokes about Ralph Nader when he pulled in our driveway in NJ after a trip from Omaha, Nebraska.
The Monza Spyder came only with the 150 HP turbocharged engine starting in 1962. The Spyder went away in 1965 and was replaced by the Corsa (note, it was it's own model not a trim level of the Monza as the Spyder had been). The Corsa came with either the up graded 180 HP Turbocharged engine or the 140 HP engine with 4 single barrel carburetors. There was NO 4 barrel except for as an after market hot rod modification. The gauge you called intake temperature is really the manifold pressure gauge to let you know when the turbo is in boost. The Corsa went away after 1966 but you could still get the 140 HP engine in a Monza for 1967. Emissions limited the engine choice in 1968 and 1969 to the 110 HP. The dampers in the corners of the trunk were just for the convertible models and there were also dampers in the engine compartment. The convertible body was not as rigid as the coupe and the dampers helped avoid troublesome vibrations.
Driving a rear engined car was a new experience for most Americans. The use of half axles was somewhat common in other rear engined cars but the weight bias in the Corvair was more pronounced and most drivers weren’t prepared to react correctly. If you watch videos of Corvairs going through a slalom or abrupt lane change you can see the outer rear wheel and tire “tuck under” quite a bit. More so than what you see in VW’s, Porsches, Renaults, etc. What prompted Ralph Nader’s interest in the Corvair was the approximately 100 lawsuits filed against GM by people involved in a 1 car accident. The 1 car being the Corvair. Another Corvair issue was people removing the duct work around the engine intended for cooling. Plus GM hired detectives to follow Nader and pry into his life, which in America years ago was highly objectionable.
I’ve driven both I’ve driven to Karman Ghia and the Corvair if you drive both like a civilized person is really no difference I don’t go around turns going 90 miles around turns more of the time. But to be fair Corvair that I drove had independent suspension it was a 65 or 66 model I have yet to drive a first generation Corvair but really want to. I had a 73 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia that had a swing axle and I remember driving it wasn’t that difficult I honestly don’t think it had enough power from you 54 hp was what it was reading that when I left the factory I’m sure some of them horsepowers escaped overtime that car you had a plan if you were going up the hill a big hill you had to get going pretty fast to make it up it
@@What.its.like. , You’ve had a lot of cars in your young life. My comments were intended to point out GM already had legal problems with the Corvair before Nader got involved. Also, if you do a little searching you can find some videos of the Corvair in slaloms. There are videos of some of the Corvair engineers commenting on the design of the rear suspension. Corvair wheels were 13”, VW were 15”. Also if you look up the length of a Corvair half shaft it’s about 15”, the VW is about 28”. So the VW axle arc wouldn’t be as severe as the Corvair.
Yeah I’ve counted 33 cars so far I have three now nothing to write home about, 2 Honda vans and 52 chevy 1 ton truck =) would like another car for fun but gas is expensive so that’s not happening anytime soon. The old cars I’ve owned 1988 1989 Lincoln towncar both signature series 1973 karman Ghia 1967 mustang 1952 Chevy 1 ton 1992 Honda Civic hatch (was a cool car 40mpg and could drive like you stole it wish I had that car now) The rest of them where very mundane
My 65 Corsa was a great car! It handled great, was fast stoplight to stoplight (ask a few 442''s) and never threw a belt. I could see the gauges with no problem at all.
The main subject of Ralph Nader's book was the VW Type 2 Bus/Van. As with the 6 cyl. Porsche 911's, introduced in 1964, none used swing axles. VW used swing axles until 1969. Ralph Nader didn't scare them. The Camaro took the place of the Corvair and the last 1969 Corvairs were hand assembled in a corner of the Camaro factory. Most of those were 500's. I have seen many Corvair 140's and have never seen one with a factory 4-barrell carb. There was a 4-barrell manifold kit available from J.C. Whitney. I believe that a 4-speed manual trans was standard on Corsa and Spyder models. Never seen one with a 3-speed.
Yeah The information I got the soap from said it was a four barrel carburetor but I think they meant to say it was for single barrel carburetors that’s why I put it in the text because I already recorded the sound before I recorded the pictures
Hi Justin, nice video! I did not realize that you had profiled a Corvair until you told me so. The Corvair was a great car! I am 63 years old and I have driven and worked on very many. The term "boxer engine" comes from Porsche, due to the fact that car has a horizontally opposed piston engine, as does a rear engine Porsche or VW. Boxer meaning "two boxers" in a boxing ring, horizontally opposed to each other. My grand mother had a 1964 Corvair 500, and my mother had a 1963 Corvair 700. The Corvair station wagon was dropped in 1962 to make more room in the plant to produce the Corvair Monza convertible, that did sell better anyway. The first generation (1964 and below) High Performance Corvair was called the Spyder. The second generation (1965 and up) High Performance Corvair was called the Corsa. Both could be had with the turbo option, and both came with the Monza trim level. The vibration dampers or "stabilizers" that you recognized in the trunk of the Corvair that you profiled where factory installed in the convertibles only, due to more body flexing with the convertibles. Back in the 1960s, the closest mechanical configuration to a Porsche 911 was a Corvair Spyder or Corsa, and I would say "still is" today. All Corvars are air cooled, they have no radiator, but many of my former co worker(s) did not realize that, so I would often play a joke on them. I would ask one to call a radiator shop and ask for a price on a radiator for the Corvair that I was working on at the time. Please reply. Dave...
I’m a huge Corvair fan I almost bought one but I ended up buying a Karman Ghia instead.. I got to drive one and I was really impressed by how much power that thing had it had way more power than the Karman Ghia probably three times the power on paper. The Karman Ghia has a type of charm/character that I don’t think any other car really comes close to having. And it’s hard to describe what it is. I wouldn’t mind owning a Corvair I really would like to have a wagon those are few and far between though. Glad you think this episode going to hit the Corvair again I would love to drive one for the show. Thank you so much for sharing all of the information and insight =)
@@What.its.like. Hi "W" The Karman Ghia was an inexpensive sports car with the low maintenance/repair cost of the VW Beetle. The Karman Ghia has a lower floor than that the Beetle, as does the VW Type 3. Most people do not realize that. In the mean time, I would say that the Karman Ghia has the lowest center of gravity of any VW. The four cylinder Porsche 914 was just a glorified mid engine, (engine flipped around) Karman Ghia. The closest chassis to your Karman Ghia is a Porsche 356 four cylinder. After that came the Porsche 912. The 912 was four cylinder, the 911 was six cylinder. What year is your Karman Ghia? Is your Karman Ghia a coupe or a convertible? Please reply. Dave...
Nice video on the 1965 Chevrolet Corsa 140 Convertible ! The 1st year for the Turbo charged engine was 1962 , & also the 1st year for the Corvair convertible ! The belts are not a problem if they are installed correctly ! & not over tighten , The same can be said of any new automobile with a serpentine belt loose that , & you know the rest of the story. I own a 65 Corsa Coupe 180 Turbo , & a 67 Monza Convertible 110 automatic , As well as a 64 Greenbrier Deluxe 110 automatic as well , All are fun to drive & very reliable . Thanks for the video that was pretty accurate.
@@What.its.like. I'm going to be honest ! My favorite I sold , Which was a 1960 model 700 4 door with the gasoline heater ! It was only 80 HP with a automatic , But you could cruise 70 mph with out it breaking a sweat on the hwy. & was so quite & smooth . The 65 was my 1st Corvair ! But the Greenbrier is the most fun to drive on trips with the better half , & the 67 Convertible is hers , & the 67 is the reason I had to sell the 60 to make room. My favorite I can't say !I hope to get either a 65 or 67 Sport Sedan 4 door hardtop , & then I 'll have to let my 65 Turbo go , The 1st car I ever drove was 65 Monza Sport Sedan 4 door hardtop without a licence at the ripe age of 14 ! & IMHO these where the best looking 4 door hardtops of the mid 60's & I think this will become my favorite Corvair.
I’m surprised it’s not the 65 turbo model because they are getting rare it seems, I think they were the most powerful Corvair outside of the yenko stinger line.. I drove a Corvair that had a 140 in it that I couldn’t believe how fast it was for what it was I ended up buying a Karman Ghia instead and it was double the speed it might’ve been triple the karman Ghia did not have that pushing power that the Corvair had
@@What.its.like. The Turbo is fun to drive ! But that is what is great about the 2nd gen. Corvairs they are all fun to drive no matter if it's the 500 with 95 HP or a Monza with a a 110 they all handle great ! & that is why I like the Monza Sport Sedans you could get them with a 140 bucket seats, & a 4 speed , & 2 extra doors , & VW or Porsche never offered that or the HP back then , Plus Chevrolet was 7 years ahead of Porsche as far as flat six ! & the last year for a Turbo Corvair was 1966 , Porsche would not offer a Turbo till 1976 ! But I digress. The sound of that Chevrolet flat six is like no other American power plant ! How sweet it is, If I sell the Greenbrier ? I would buy a 1960 Monza Coupe or a model 700 Coupe ! Those have a lot of 1 year only features that never came on the other 1st gen. Corvairs , IMHO they got it right from the beginning.
1960 Monza cpe opened up the bucket seat sporty compact segment ,61-63 monza coupe was the sales leader , every one copied the monza with bucket seats 61.5 falcon futra, 62 lancer GT/ valiant signet , 63 dart GT 63 nova SS , order a 4speed most compacs had a 3 speed column shift than came the 64.5 mustang and took over the monza market , the late model 65-68 one has to drive one to see, 180hp turbo or 140hp 4 carb , 4 speed , F41 sport suspension , posi, some 15" radials and a twisty roads
The VW had a trailing link suspension with a torsion bar for the spring. The wheel would stay perpendicular to the road no matter how far the suspension travelled. Each live half shaft had an inner and outer CV joint. Maybe you should research the history before you wildly comment on things. Chevy also redesigned that rear end, they wouldn't have spent all that money if they didn't have to, so it sure looks like it was indeed defective. And just like the design defects in the Vega, once it developed a bad name, it was a goner, even though they redesigned it with steel sleeves, etc. I was one of those suckers that bought a Vega, I wish Nader had written a book about that to warn me, but the Vega was sort of safe I guess, just a piece of expensive junk. As always, nice video! Toodleloo! :D
I think the Corvair, particularly the first generation one, is one of the most handsome car in automobile history. Body dimension is still practical in my country At the last, nice digital camera made in Japan!
Yes, I'm a year late. Those 'stabilizers' were heavy weights damped by oil. They would oscillate at a frequency that countered the lack of torsional rigidity that many unibody convertibles have. Similar but much larger devices are used in tall buildings to help make them earthquake resistant. They are about 25lbs each. I removed them from my Corvair convert and you could watch the windshield move left and right about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch on some roads. A better term is 'harmonic balancers'.
I had a Karman Ghia and I driven that thing hard that I couldn’t make it do that I honestly don’t think that I had enough power to go around the corner were would do that 0 to 60 in the ghia was like 32 seconds I will also add Karman Ghia’s had really skinny tires or at least mine did. I’ve seen videos where people have lost control of those cars I kind of wanted to take one to the track and see if I could get it to lose control.. but driven like a normal civilized person I never had a hairy situation in the Karman Ghia I want it for about a year and a half and I drove it everywhere because I got 32 miles to the gallon on the highway
@@What.its.like. Do you know why? It had inter & outer Cv joints from 1966 to 1974. I had a 1972 Karman Ghia. I wouldn't drive it on an expressway, it was too slow & couldn't keep it in one lane! I had a 1961 Corvair.
Not a single Rochester carb but four single barrel carbs. I had a concept of mounting a Fierro drivetrain "behind" the rear seat of a Corvair convertible and other custom features.
There were after market intake manifolds with either two or four tubes (the latter called a spider manifold) that you could mount a two or four barrel carb to (hence the confusion?). There's also a custom six tube manifold, with or without port fuel injection? ;-)
I stumbled on this video today (2/6/24) and, while this video was pretty good, your latest vids are so much improved! I asked you recently if you would review that yellow Corvair (cant remember which video), but I wish I had found your channel much earlier! Your format is much more polished now. You did get a few things wrong, but not a big deal. The Corvair you reviewed here had a few things that were not correct either, but, hey, it is his car and he can do what he wants. And yes, it is a beauty! OK, I'm off to watch the 66 Dodge Charger video now. You may hear from me in about an hour!
=) you should go back and watch the very first one format has definitely improved each episode. I try to keep it fresh and do things a little different each time. Even the intros are different lol There is a Corvair spyder in the pipeline. I don’t remember what year
The Corvair still looks fresh. BMW borrowed heavily from both the Gen one and two corvairs. The 2002.bmw took some of its styling cues from the Gen 1. And the E9 3.0 CS Coupe borrowed heavily from the second gen Corvair.
Thanks for discontinuing speaking of RPMs. It was about as annoying as someone saying they were 6 feets tall. Now, while you were in the trunk, the owner (?) came along to point out the stabilisers in each corner. I tried to find a reference on what they do and how they work, but without success. Can you elaborate on what he said? One more thing - it's not usual to speak of engines of this nature as having a block. It's more common to refer to the crankcase, which is 2 piece in VWs, and I presume in Corvairs too (?), and the 4 or 6 steel or iron cylinder barrels which bolt to the crankcase. So it's not like there is one big block of metal.
Yeah the owner came up and said there is a stabilizer bar in the front weighs 35lbs I believe he said each corner I left that part in because I didn’t see anything about it either he restored the car himself. He should know i’m going to a local car show tomorrow that you generally attend maybe if I see him I’ll ask him to elaborate. I’m trying to get better at talking I had/have a speech impediment problem but as far as talking on this one I slowed down. As far as talking fast for me can you just come up I just try to keep synch with the video showing the gauges which I have to works on still. I say block because that’s what information has listed you and I both know the heads are different cast pieces and sometimes the heads could be aluminum and block/crankcase could be cast iron or vice visa. Thank you so much for the input I look forward to your comments =)
Thanks. Yes, I'd like to know what these stabilisers do. I'll presume for now that they are weights which dampen body vibrations, but I could be wrong. On blocks, it's odd that a source quotes a Corvair as having one. All air cooled motors, including aircraft radials, have the cylinders cast as separate entities due to the complexity of casting the cooling fins. That's quite different from water cooled engines, which have crankcase, cylinders and water jacket cast as a single unit.
Reason #2 'ol Ralphie didn't like the Corvair...camera won't fit in glove box. I've seen these + some 1960 ones at the AutoRama in Houston, TX. Very nice looking cars. Anddd the one belt is still in these new cars as well. So there's THAT!
Just because the camera didn’t fit in the glove box does it mean it’s not a good car I just wanted to use some thing I’ve seen really big in an area that looked really small =)
The minor mistake on your engine specs on the 2.7 L engine. The same for the 2.3 l. The 95 horsepower engine came with one single Rochester one barrel carburetor just like standard water cooled inline Chevy 6s. The 110 horsepower engine came with two one barrel Rochester carburetors, one on each head. The 140 horsepower engine came with four one barrel carburetors. They functioned like a four barrel. The forward two carburetors for the primaries the back two carburetors were the secondaries. A true single four barrel carburetor was never used on the corvair. The corvair only used a one barrel carburetor in either single dual or quad design.
Actually the 95 hp engine had two Rochester carburetors like the 110-hp engine. The difference was in the compression ratio: 8.25 vs. 9.25. The 110-hp engine was the most popular, you got 15 more horsepower for only $26.00, it was Regular Production Option L62. The 110-hp engine requires premium fuel, the 95-hp can run o n regular. Also, both Corvair 500 and Monza got the 95-hp engine as standard, both were available with the 110-hp or 140-hp engines, but the Turbo 180 was only available on the Corsa.
@@gojoe2833 not quite. The 80 horsepower 2.3 l and the 95 horsepower 2.7 l had only one single barrel Rochester carburetor. The increase in compression from 8.5 to 9.5 to 1 is only a 4% increase in power. That's only about four horsepower. The extra horsepower came from the extra carburetor as well as the compression increase.
There was a lot of conflicting information on this car especially with the engine one source said turbo fire was 3.2l but I went back inside the book of collector cars to see that wasn’t right, also said used cast iron instead of aluminum.
The block itself was aluminum. However the cylinders were of cast iron for better wear. Pistons were aluminum. The 95 hp was standard in Corvair 500s and Monzas, it had 2 carburetors. Optional for these models was the 110 hp or 140 hp engine. Monza and Corsas had the same basic trim, but the Corsa got the 140 hp engine with 4 carburetors as standard, but the 180 hp turbocharged engine was optional only on the Corsa. The Corsa was available only with a 3 or 4 speed stick shift, but the 2 speed Powerglide automatic was optional for 500s and Monzas. I've owned Corvairs for 16 years and currently own a 1966 Monza 4 door hardtop with the 110 engine, Powerglide and factory air conditioning.
Porche was a notoriously called the "widow maker" for a good reason and the VW line was too slow to get the pendulum effect to kill enough people for anyone to take much notice. The corvair at the was just as sage as any other car from the era, just got a bad rap since Nator own one and wanted to make a career out of sueing Chevy.
I never got German engineering nonsense, I didn’t drive this one but I drove a different one that had the 140 hp engine and it moved really nice. I am a slow Corvair before about the Karman Ghia decided by the Karman Ghia because it was worth more.. Corvair is an awesome entry-level car
Nader actually extended the life of the Corvair because GM was going to drop the Corvair in 1967 with the arrival of the Camaro but GM was vindicated in the end and Nader actually was proven WRONG!!!!! The Oldsmobile Jetfire beat the Corvair by a couple of months.
What year I’ll look for one I don’t even know what the car looks like off hand but i’ve been wanting to do some Japanese cars.. it’s just finding them in Pennsylvania in good shape and close to stock condition
Refer to a tachometer as a tachometer, or tach. When giving specs, skip the metric engine size for ALL American cars built before (roughly) 1980. It's meaningless. We who grew up around cars only know cubic inches. Tossing the belt happened on several of the early production 1960 Corvairs. Chevy corrected the issue quickly. When I was 13, friends of my parents bought a new '61 Corvair 500 coupe. The base model with no options. Drove it 4 years without incident. In the late 1990's, I had the pleasure of visiting with these people, now in their late seventies. I had the occasion to ask him about his Corvair given its historical significance and the implied safety issues that surround it. He told me, without reservation, his '61 Corvair was the most reliable, dependable, easy to drive car he ever owned.
In 1972, official tests were conducted by the federal government. It was determined that the Corvair was as safe as any automobile produced at the same time as the Corvair. What caused problems with the 1960-1963 Corvair was owners did not maintain recommended front and rear tire pressure. Had recommended tire pressures been maintained, the Corvair's handling would have been significantly less criticized.
