GM sold 1.8 million Corvairs. Yes, I know all of the Nader stories, and quiky Vair stories. Today any automaker would love to sell 1 million of the same model.
Chevy to bring back the Corvair name
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
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Thanks for all the reponses everyone. Yes, it was an April Fools joke. I do like the Corvair and thought “Why not bring back the name”. For those too young to remember the Corvair, Ralph Nader wrote a book about it “ Unsafe at any Speed” which started the dialogue on automobile safety concerns. The car had a rear engine and a Turbo was an option for some years, pretty interesting for a 60’s mass produced car. Thanks for being good sports! Snag.
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I don’t mind that vehicle so much … kinda where we are in style/function these days.
IMO they used up a good name … what’s the name of the SUV on the ZR2 platform?
I've always been drawn to Corvairs. As I said earlier in this thread, "Sleek styling, room for 4 adults, 6 cylinder boxer air cooled rear engine, manual transmission, turbo option." All that in smaller package and for a compact car price. And they were actually quite good off road and in snow. They actually predated the Porsche 911, which stuck to a very similar approach for decades and became a huge success.
Corvairs sold tolerably well but not as well as might have been expected. So why not?
They did have at least one fault; it was hard to provide cabin heating. And the engine sounded a bit odd (like all boxers do). They were a bit quirky - some would have said a bit odd. My dad bought a new car in '63, a Chevy II. A Corvair was about the same size and a similar price and would have suited his needs better, but it wasn't even in the running. For him it would have been too unconventional and anyway he bought "something off the lot", and you can bet there were no Corvairs on hand to cross-shop.
The Corvair was produced in the era of big cars, major annual styling changes, and big block V8 muscle, and the Corvair was none of that. It was out of step with the times, ahead of its time.
In investing it's been said that being right too early is being wrong. Apparently so too with auto design.
Corvairs sold tolerably well but not as well as might have been expected. So why not?
They did have at least one fault; it was hard to provide cabin heating. And the engine sounded a bit odd (like all boxers do). They were a bit quirky - some would have said a bit odd. My dad bought a new car in '63, a Chevy II. A Corvair was about the same size and a similar price and would have suited his needs better, but it wasn't even in the running. For him it would have been too unconventional and anyway he bought "something off the lot", and you can bet there were no Corvairs on hand to cross-shop.
The Corvair was produced in the era of big cars, major annual styling changes, and big block V8 muscle, and the Corvair was none of that. It was out of step with the times, ahead of its time.
In investing it's been said that being right too early is being wrong. Apparently so too with auto design.
I'd be interested in your experience working on them. If I were to ever buy a hobby car it just might be a Corvair.
When I was an 18 year old I really admired Corvair Monzas but I could never have afforded one in those days.
Yes, I had a couple-underpowered, rust prone, leaky pushrod tubes which caused smoky heat in winter-GM’s answer to the Beetle, and not a very good answer at that! The early years swing axle rear suspension caused potential rollover issues with the bias ply tires of the day, the ‘65-69 ones had universal joints on both ends of the rear halfshafts which vastly improved emergency handling-but literally any other American economy car was better (Chevy II/Nova, Fairlanes, Dart/Valiant, even AMCs)!
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I just found everything about working on them to be aggravating. Lots of fiddly shrouding, lots of fiddly little bolts holding on the shrouding, have to be under the car to adjust the valves, etc...just not something I want to work on without getting paid to do, and honestly not something I want to work on if I am getting paid. Never liked working on Beetles either. That's just my opinion, your experience may vary.
A yes but what if GM had developed them. The pushrod inline and V engines weren't good overnight. They've had many years of development.
The early OHC engines weren't that great either.
The early OHC engines weren't that great either.
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I never really took issue with the engine itself...I just didn't like working on them in the car. The biggest issues they had was oil leakage due to poor seal material. I think Corvair enthusiasts use viton seals nowadays and that pretty well solves the pushrod tube leak problem. The corvair just isnt for me. I'm really not the one to have this conversation with because of that.
Classic, beautiful styling! Chevy...please bring back a modern variant!
I agree the later ones (like my '69) were decent looking cars-if there was a way to shove a small block in one (which would have been tough to get the water cooled cooling system in somehow) without breaking it in half or making it too tail heavy, they would have been decent. They just smacked of cheapness in almost every way.
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Can someone please bring back the Gremlin?? Ok, ok, the Pinto then.
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A company called crown conversion used to make a kit to mid mount a small block in a corvair. I think the kit utilizes the corvair transmission and flipped it over to where it faced forward. Dont ask me how the manual transmission linkages were made to work. I just know its been done. Of course your 5 passenger hardtop effectively becomes a two seater roadster.
After growing up in Kenosha, WI, my now 87-year old father owned a Rambler and an AMC Hornet when I was a kid (along with a Catalina station-wagon and High Sierra P/U). I do remember the straight-6 in the Rambler, while the Hornet had a column manual shifter.
Boy, these thoughts go back many years...
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When I was a teenager I worked at a Texaco station. My boss worked on a lot of Corvairs.
The oil leaking problems were mostly caused by owners getting them too hot. This usually occurred more on the manual tranny cars when owners would miss a gear or over rev the engine and throw the fan belt off. The engines would heat up fast and cook the valve cover gaskets, push rod tube o ring seals, and the oil pan gasket. We had many come in that needed all of those gaskets and seals replaced.
On the later models GM somewhat cured the fan belt problem by going to a lighter weight fan, and by putting a fan belt guard near the fan pulley. Once the failed seals were replaced, then you were good to go and they stayed pretty leak free. The rear suspension changed pretty dramatically on the 65-69 models. They went to a link style set up with live half shafts similar to what was used on the Corvette, and the swing axle design was retired. Heaters worked good as long as owners kept the flexible duct work in good shape. GM recommended that it be replaced every two years which most owners would not do, so the heat scavenging off the engine was lost for the most part.
GM made a huge investment in the foundry to make the Corvair's aluminum heads and block. https://axleaddict.com/auto-industry/The-Making-of-the-Chevrolet-Corvair-Engine
When production ended in 1969, GM accountants were determined to still get back some of the large foundry investment. Enter the Chevy Vega. GM accounting pushed engineering to make the Vega block from aluminum so that the investment could continue to be used up and amortized. GM could have used the existing 4 cylinder "Iron Duke Predessor" from the Chevy II if they wanted to.
Most people think that the Vega engine problems were due to the lack of steel liners in the block. That is only partially true. Vega engines used a new high silica based aluminum casting that was machined and honed a certain way to allow the silica to be the wear point for the pistons and rings in the cylinder bore. Most of the Vega engine problems were caused by faulty head gaskets that did not seal properly between the aluminum block and cast iron head. The Vega engine used siamesed bores and the coolant would pore into the cylinders once the head gasket failed ruining the cylinder bores via warpage and silica rupture into the cylinder......well and you know the rest of the story.
My first car was 1974 Chevy Vega GT that was ordered new by the original owner. I think it had every option except power steering, and AC.
When I bought it had 30k or so on the clock and ran really well. It had a 4 speed manual and started showing signs of oil burning around 50k. I pulled the head and did a valve job. Turns out the valve seals were bad. What shocked me the most was when I pulled the head there was virtually no wear whatsoever in the cylinder bores. Factory hone marks were still visible. After I re-assembled everything, I drove the car another 20k miles with no issues. It had the GT engine with a progressive two barrel Holley carb. What I remember most about it, is how well it handled. It could go around curves like it was on rails.
I think the lesson learned from the both the Corvair and Vega are that GM "designed in" maintenance issues to keep costs low. This in turn did not bode well for the general public who typically never follow the mfgrs. recommended maintenance items and schedules. GM has seemingly made this same mistake several times. The late model Corvairs had most all of the early problems solved and were good reliable cars in the later production years, the same with the Vega. But as we all know once a car model gets a bad reputation, it is hard to overcome with the buying public.
Another GM model that seems to have gone through the same fate was the Pontiac Fiero, but that is another story for another day. It is funny how automotive history seems to repeat itself, especially with the same manufacturer.
Thanks for listening if you have made it this far in my post. Have a great day!
The oil leaking problems were mostly caused by owners getting them too hot. This usually occurred more on the manual tranny cars when owners would miss a gear or over rev the engine and throw the fan belt off. The engines would heat up fast and cook the valve cover gaskets, push rod tube o ring seals, and the oil pan gasket. We had many come in that needed all of those gaskets and seals replaced.
On the later models GM somewhat cured the fan belt problem by going to a lighter weight fan, and by putting a fan belt guard near the fan pulley. Once the failed seals were replaced, then you were good to go and they stayed pretty leak free. The rear suspension changed pretty dramatically on the 65-69 models. They went to a link style set up with live half shafts similar to what was used on the Corvette, and the swing axle design was retired. Heaters worked good as long as owners kept the flexible duct work in good shape. GM recommended that it be replaced every two years which most owners would not do, so the heat scavenging off the engine was lost for the most part.
GM made a huge investment in the foundry to make the Corvair's aluminum heads and block. https://axleaddict.com/auto-industry/The-Making-of-the-Chevrolet-Corvair-Engine
When production ended in 1969, GM accountants were determined to still get back some of the large foundry investment. Enter the Chevy Vega. GM accounting pushed engineering to make the Vega block from aluminum so that the investment could continue to be used up and amortized. GM could have used the existing 4 cylinder "Iron Duke Predessor" from the Chevy II if they wanted to.
Most people think that the Vega engine problems were due to the lack of steel liners in the block. That is only partially true. Vega engines used a new high silica based aluminum casting that was machined and honed a certain way to allow the silica to be the wear point for the pistons and rings in the cylinder bore. Most of the Vega engine problems were caused by faulty head gaskets that did not seal properly between the aluminum block and cast iron head. The Vega engine used siamesed bores and the coolant would pore into the cylinders once the head gasket failed ruining the cylinder bores via warpage and silica rupture into the cylinder......well and you know the rest of the story.
My first car was 1974 Chevy Vega GT that was ordered new by the original owner. I think it had every option except power steering, and AC.
When I bought it had 30k or so on the clock and ran really well. It had a 4 speed manual and started showing signs of oil burning around 50k. I pulled the head and did a valve job. Turns out the valve seals were bad. What shocked me the most was when I pulled the head there was virtually no wear whatsoever in the cylinder bores. Factory hone marks were still visible. After I re-assembled everything, I drove the car another 20k miles with no issues. It had the GT engine with a progressive two barrel Holley carb. What I remember most about it, is how well it handled. It could go around curves like it was on rails.
I think the lesson learned from the both the Corvair and Vega are that GM "designed in" maintenance issues to keep costs low. This in turn did not bode well for the general public who typically never follow the mfgrs. recommended maintenance items and schedules. GM has seemingly made this same mistake several times. The late model Corvairs had most all of the early problems solved and were good reliable cars in the later production years, the same with the Vega. But as we all know once a car model gets a bad reputation, it is hard to overcome with the buying public.
Another GM model that seems to have gone through the same fate was the Pontiac Fiero, but that is another story for another day. It is funny how automotive history seems to repeat itself, especially with the same manufacturer.
Thanks for listening if you have made it this far in my post. Have a great day!
Very instructive; great post! Yes I made it to the end... and enjoyed it.
That was good, I had never heard about the overheating/fan belt issues on the Corvair. GM seemed to have a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going back then-when they were good, they were really good, and when they were bad, they were JUNK!
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hey javelin - Search Videos
I took my driving lessons in a '73ish Hornet with a floor-mounted 3-speed shifter - I wanted to learn on a manual-ytrannission car, and that's what they supplied.
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