DIOCCUSA: Crud Coated Corvair

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2) 10/06/2020 at 15:25 • Filed to: DIOCCUSA, Old Car City USA, Corvair

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I haven’t bombarded y’all with any photos from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!  
recently so I thought I’d fix that. Last time I just had an assortment of my favorite photos, which is still worth a look if you missed it.

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This Corvair, despite being utterly filthy, still isn’t as bad as the hopelessly and possibly dangerously moldy one I photographed a while ago.

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I just love the front end treatment on the first gens especially. It’s so timelessly elegant.

When we move in closer, you can see this one really is pretty far gone.

I find it interesting that they didn’t chose to integrate the locking frunk keyhole into the Chevy badge or the chrome bar but rather gave it a separate unit.

Poor Corvair, it has suffered plenty of abuse at the hands of the rust monster. The red paint still shows through from under the layers of grime, lending it a somewhat more cheery countenance than you might expect.

The rear end three quarters view on these early coupes is just perfect in every way. The quad round taillights add interest without being overly busy. Unfortunately, this example is missing one. The rear bumper is, however, surprisingly free of major dents.

The interior is another story. The vinyl dash pad isn’t quite as ratty as you might expect but decades of weathering has reduced the striking red interior to an unfortunate mess. The gear shift stalk poking up behind the remains of the seat is reassuring, as is the auxiliary gauges below the steering wheel and the fancy looking radio.

That’s all for today. It’s always heartbreaking to see such a beautiful car in disrepair but this example is too far gone for it to matter much.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 15:27

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I’m a Gen2 fan, but the Corvair was undeniably cool.

GM can, on occasion, really bring it.

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 15:29

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The red paint still shows through from under the layers of grime, lending it a somewhat more cheery countenance than you might expect.

You should write for wine labels.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 15:30

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It would be fun to have one and put a small Porsche badge of some kind on it.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 10/06/2020 at 15:36

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Eh, no, I’ll pass on that. Many cars copied the Corvair and I don’t know of a single Porsche that did.

The Germans in particular were fond of it though.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy 10/06/2020 at 15:38

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I bet I could do a pretty good job without ever tasting the wine too.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/06/2020 at 15:39

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Yes, it was a different approach that paid off except it still did get GM’d in the end.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 16:09

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Porsche designed the engine in the Corvair.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 10/06/2020 at 16:13

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Wait, hmmmm, I didn’t know that actually.

Though I still think it would make me look try-hard. 

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 16:17

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It is weird, Porsche has an engine department that does projects. They did the Harley V Rod too among others. 

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 16:23

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Looks like Stewart-Warner accessory gauges.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 10/06/2020 at 16:56

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Did the Corvair not have an oil pressure gauge to begin with? The other one is amperes. 

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 17:51

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From what I can tell via GIS, at least the earlier cars did not have an oil pressure gauge.

My fintail has a period aftermarker Stewart-Warner ammeter, as the car did not have an electrical system gauge from the factory.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 10/06/2020 at 18:22

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Seems like an oil pressure gauge would have been very useful. Weird o mmission.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/06/2020 at 18:35

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I think that was an era when simplicity was becoming fashionable, and many cars lacked such gauges.  The era of the “idiot light”.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 10/06/2020 at 19:10

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What are those spaces on the dash marked “engine?”

I also find it funny that they labelled the cigarette lighter.

That radio looks pretty fancy. I imagine that would have been a costly option. 

ranwhenparked > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 10/06/2020 at 19:53

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No Porsche involvement with the Corvair, it was done in-house by a team lead by Al Kolbe, under the supervision of Ed Cole, drawing inspiration from an air cooled Continental flat six GM installed in some of their military vehicles during WWII. Though they did use a Porsche 356 as a test mule for one of the early prototypes.

sonicgabe > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/10/2020 at 09:54

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These are just fantastic shots. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > sonicgabe 10/10/2020 at 12:51

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Thank you. I thought the last one turned out well enough to share here. There’s plenty more under the tag DIOCCUSA (down in Old Car City USA if you’re curious. It’s kind of hard to take a bad photo there. Here’s one of my favorites.

Agrajag > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/11/2020 at 23:53

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It is sad to see these cars in the state they are in, but I’ll be damned if rusty metal gubbins don’t make for some awesome photos. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Agrajag 10/12/2020 at 00:00

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Indeed they do. There is something quite appealing about wandering around an overgrown junkyard of  vintage cars.