I took my 1966 Corvair Corsa Turbo convertibe to a car show. Over 575 car turn out. Had a nice time. when I got home it was late so I just pulled her into the garage. Next day I went out to gather up all the flyers people throw into your car for upcomming events and shows. In all this clutter I find a hand written note on the back of one. Note read: Really impressed with the condition you keep this Corsa. In my garage I have a 1966 Corsa turbo coupe with under 10,000 original miles. If you are interested call me at. Well I called and talked with him for about a half hour. Turns out the car was purchased by his brother new in 66. It was special ordered from Union Chevrolet here in Memphis with the F40 heavy duty suspension package. Quick ratio 4-speed transmisson,3:27 posi rear end & quick steering. Heavy duty metalic brakes as were used on the chevelle. This car was taken to the garage where the original wheels,tires, and hubcaps were removed and stored. Wide wheels and tires were put on. Next the car was taken to the race track and racing fuel was put into it. No other modifications. The car was raced in SCCA racing events. It ran in a DP class and was featured in a few magazine articles. Won several class throphies. Best speed was 132 MPH down the striaght aways (not bad for bone factory stock). The car was retired in 1975 and parked in the garage. This man told me it has never been driven on the street. All the miles (9880) are from the race track. He also told me the car is in beautiful condition. Interior looks like it has never been sat in (blue). Outside of the car is very nice (blue also) and has never been wrecked even though it raced all it's life. I'am to meet with him and have coffee later in the week and see where this goes. He is now 73 years old and wants to see the car go to someone who will bring her back to life.. Maybe I'am the lucky guy.

 

if its such a great deal (or a great car) why wouldnt he sell it on ebay or some other venue rather than a hand written note tossed into your car and some meet?
sounds fishy too me...

 

If the seller is 73, do you really think he has the computer moxie to be selling stuff on eBay? Probably not. Either that, or he just wants to get rid of it but to someone who knows not to use it as an everyday beater. At that age, a person starts thinking about shedding possessions, but you want whoever gets the item to appreciate it (I speak from experience).

I'd sure talk with the guy.

BTW, vaporloc, I'd gamble that the "blue" colors inside and out are what were sold as "Glacier Grey with a Slate interior". They almost look the same, unless you get them in bright sunlight. I had a 1965 Monza, and those were the colors. I don't think they changed them in 1996.

 

"I don't think they changed them in 1996."

Make that 1966 ...

 

After talking with him on the phone, I got the feeling he is really not in touch with computers or ebay. He talked Corvairs. Kinda tested your knowledge to see if you were someone who would bring this car out of retirement or someone who would butcher it. He did mention his grandkids who in his opinion destroyed a nice Camaro. Maybe that is why when he seen my 66 turbocharged convertible has not been altered and is well maintained, I would be the one he's been looking for to preserve this piece of history. I figure it will be worth my time to sit down with him over coffee and if nothing else see the car and take some pictures. I have more to gain then I do to lose.

 

Sometimes a guy just wants to make sure something good is passed on to someone else who will appreciate it and take care of it. Seeing a well taken care of car at a car show might be an indicator that the person would take care of someone else's baby.

Sometimes your own kids are not the kind who would appreciate something, destroying a camaro is one indication.

This guy is old and probably doesn't care so much about how much money he gets versus passing on something special to him in the hopes that it will be taken care of.

I feel the same way about some of my toys. They have been here far longer than I have and if taken care of will out live me and my great great... grandchildren. So I need to make sure the person who gets them will appreciate them.

Just my opinion,

Jim Henderson

 

From a mechanics point of view, my memories of the Corvair are not so fond. Leaked oil worse than Harley's, 20 tons of sheetmetal to get to the engine, burned valves on a regular schedule, shift linkages sloppy and would lock up. Chevys "Edsel" in my opinion. Talk of the time was that Chevy was trying to imitate Porche, and failed miserably.

Having said all that, it was a fun car to drive, and was a cool concept. jd

 

I put over 120,000 miles on my '65 Monza w/manual tranny and the optional 115hp engine. I never had any engine repair problem or oil leaks, and never had to touch the engine. The only re-occurring problem I had was the ball joints kept doing out on me. Oh, yeah, and salty snow slush would pack up around the starter solenoid terminals in the winter time and cause the battery to run down for no apparent reason (until I figured that one out, because salt water is a conductor).

Being an air-cooled engine, you had to keep the revs pretty high otherwise you'd overheat pretty fast. And you sure couldn't lug the engine. Basically, you had to 'rod it around at any speed below about 60 mph, and that's what made it fun to drive!

 

I've gotta agree with you there. My grandpa was given a 1972 Pontiac Ventura II by the original owner. When I saw it, I wanted it right away. My cousin wanted it as well and offered to buy it but my grandpa knew that my cousin would butcher it up or leave it on the side of the road one day.

When he passed away 3 years later, my grandpa left me the car because he knew I'd do just about anything to keep it and restore it. He knew who would appreciate it and who wanted to abuse it. 5 years later, I'm in the process of restoring it and I even have my wife's permission and help!

 

Many mechanics of the era felt the way you do because they didn't understand them. I got to fix most of them in the county and was able to buy some really good deals on them. I had 7 personally and found them to be a great car. The oil leaks were caused by hardened push rod seals because people lugged them around so the insufficient air flow didn't keep them cool enough. 2 hours and under $20 solved the problem. There was quite a bit of sheet metal but once you knew the order to remove and install the sheet metal, it was no problem at all. Burned valves were infrequent but blown head gaskets were fairly common. The head gaskets were brass rings (like a very large oil plug washer) and they were also caused by lugging the engine that caused insufficient air flow. Never had any problem with the shift linkage locking up.

Most of the problems were because people didn't know how to drive them (keep the revs up and air flowing) and mechanics who did not like to work on them and didn't want to learn.

 

If I had to bet on this situation, I think Jim has hit the nail on the head.

Have you ever had to move and this caused you to give up an old family pet. This older gentleman may the same mentality. Even it was an expensive thoroughbred animal, money might not be the issue here. What might be important is that you see it go to a good home.

Over the years, I’m sure many of us have seen situations such as these.


Keep us posted Vapor! We hope it is good as the man says!

Photos would be great too!

 

Well, the kicker maybe the price, he may want the price of a new house. That will tell the the tale if it's an awesome find or not. I'm not a chevy guy, so it don't do much for me, however, if it was a 66 or 67 shelby mustang I would also be excited like you are. I hope it all works out and you can give it a good home and the old guy can sleep better at night, "good luck"!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I know I sometimes sell things just to the person that didn't tick me off, even for a lower price. Seeing it go to someone that will take care of it is sometimes worth more then the money.

 

I agree with most of what I have read from your post. Most Corvairs did leak oil years ago. This was a fact. With todays technology of making gaskets and seals with viton, that is a thing of the past. I have two now. My 66 turbochared convertible and a 65 turbocharged coupe. Both cars can sit in the garage and when I back them out, there is not a drop of oil on the floor or on the engines. Thousands and thousands of corvair engines were torn apart because someone who knew very little about these little engines thought a valve was burnt. Needless to say most were a vacuum leak,ignition or carb. problem. Sometimes as stated head gasket. Average engine temperture of my turbo engines are 375 degrees to 450 degrees. That is normal. Temperture light and a buzzer will come on at 575 degrees what chevrolet thought to be hot..
Sometimes you can tell alot about a person from talking to them on the phone. I got the impression this gentlemen wants to live to see this car back running agian. He seems like he is back at that point in his life. He knows he will never do it because he's been there, done that. He is quick on corvairs. He knows it will not be a matter of just dumping gas in and turning the key. This car will need more work then one might imagine. You can bet if it was made of rubber, it's dry rotted. Even if like he says the interior still looks new, you know it will tear at the seams when you start using it agian. The car I'm sure does have potential just from the way he described it and the pride in his voice when we talked. Here are some photos of my ultra rare (68 known to exist of the 585 built.) 66 turbocharged convertible. And a few of my 64 chevyII 2dr. post.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/2152...ArhvM?start=12

 

Back in 72, I bought a 66 Corsa 140 (4 carb) with 1,600 miles on it that had sat under in a man's yard under a tree. The entire bottom pan was covered with surfact rust and every rubber grommet, rubber bushing and gasket was dry rotted and cracked.