I just drove the badest little car I ever drove in my life.

[crafty2002]

A 1967 Chevy Corvair of all things. An old friend I hadn't seen for years just came by with a guy I had never met but the car was his. We got to talking about the way I drove when I was growing up and the guy offered to let me take it for a spin.
He had an old 307 small block sitting where the back seat use to be. He said he bought it from a lady thats husband started building it years ago and got killed in a motor cycle wreak and it had been sitting in a garage all this time.
He had bought a kit with a bell housing, motor mounts and headers years ago, and flipped the transaxle over and had the motor mounted when, I done forgot the guys name now. But that much was done when he bought the car.
That little thing will fly and it handles like an overgrown go kart.
The guy is pretty good. He had done flaired all the fenders and made front and rear spoilers from fiberglass. It is still just primed but that is going to be one sharp car when he gets it painted. Heck it is sharp now just in the grey primer.
I have drove some bad cars in my days but that thing, well I had a 69 Mach I Muctang with a 351 that was built, a 68 Firebird with a 350 Z-28 engine, also built, a 63 Falcon with a 351 Boss, and some more but that little thing is bad to the bone. I don't think I ever owned anything that would have out ran that.
That brought back some good times. What got me was the way it handled. It was like it was glued to the road.
I wonder where I can find a Corvair, LOL. I wish I had the money and time to do something like that again.
Well, I better stop dreaming about it and get back on the saw mill.

[agmantoo]

Crafty,
I have only seen one of the conversions you referenced. It had a major problem overheating in traffic. The radiator had been positioned in the front and was plumbed to get the coolant to the mid section. The car was also loud and had poor conditioning for the occupants. How was this vehicle inside?

[Windy in Kansas]

Reminds me of the mid engine Pontiac Fiero. Dennis, Ebay has Corvairs for sale on occasion.

[fordson major]

i got offered a corvair a couple of years back!! will have too see ifn its still there! wildest ride for me was a Tbucket with a bored out hemi (old style), could not get my head off the backrest! seeing as how he aint had it out in a while i will have too bug my buddy for another flight!

[Jim S.]

Guy near me has 2 Corvairs in his back yard.

Wildest drive for me was a '71 Torino Cobra with 429 CJ and 4-speed. 140 mph speedo.

From the light, I hit first, second, and just as I hit third I looked at the speedo. 130, just that quick. Felt like a big ol hand was pressing on my chest, and I sank about 2-3 inches into the seat. Wild.

Wildest ride was in a Ford Pantera, mid-engine sports car. It is strange to have that 351 hammering it out right next to you.

[fordy]

.................The Spyder was the turbo charged version of the Corvair and it ran very well . Guy at my HS in midland , tx had a red convertible spyder and it was a really nice car . I seem to remember that they had some handling problems . The guy laura bush ran into was driving a corvair I believe . , fordy

[raymilosh]

I had a 64 corvair. great car. it had a swingaxle type rear end (same as in 39 to late 60's VW's).
The swingaxle rear end behaves very differently than solid rear ends.
I'm wondering if the swingaxle was in there providing the gocart feel or it it was switched out. Do you know?

[mightybooboo]

When I was a kid neighbor had a racing corvair.He used special racing tires,we call them low profile tires today.It was quite the road racer.The can be made into some awesome road handlers.

[haypoint]

The V8 Covair setups I've seen used the Covair transaxle and after 1964 the Covair did away with the swing axle setup. The 1965 to 1969 had axles with joints at the axle and at the hub.
The Covair transaxle takes the power from the engine to the far end of the transaxle, then power is worked forward thru the gears. That long shaft is a weak point. Some V8 Covairs ran the power from the engine into the far end of the trans axle, avoiding the long shaft. Sort like bolting the engine to the back end of the transaxle.
Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed" critized the Corvair 'cause the swing axle causing roll overs, after GM had already changed it to another system.