<VV> Corvair vs Chrysler

[airvair]

That's the one car I managed to blow up. I was driving a friend's Cryco 
slant 6 when, with a big bang, it threw a rod through the side of the 
block. He had been wondering about all that noise it had been making for 
weeks before that happened. ROTFLMAO!

-Mark

Tony Underwood wrote:

> At 05:42 hours 02/13/2005, Arjay Morgan wrote:
>
>> Hello All:
>> I came across an interesting Corvair Vs Chrysler story
>> on a Mopar website http://www.allpar.com/slant6.html
>> that I hadn't heard before. Thought it might be of
>> interest to the rest of the VV mavens.
>>
>> Arjay Morgan
>> 64 Monza convert
>> ===================
>>
>> The word got out among Chrysler bigwigs that the slant
>> six was going to be very effective. When it was
>> announced that Daytona was going to have a Compact Car
>> class for their races, all three major auto companies
>> started designing variations of their eligible
>> compacts for the race. Ed Cole was head of engineering
>> and research and a bit overconfident about their
>> Corvair. He offered to bet one of the higher ups at
>> Chrysler that the Chevys would dominate the Daytona
>> Compact race. George Hubner, Director of Research at
>> Chrysler, said "I'll take that bet." All of a sudden,
>> the research department had an infusion of a couple of
>> million dollars to find ways to make the Valiant
>> faster. They developed a legal Daytona car with the
>> hyper pak engine and various other modifications, such
>> as thinner, lighter glass and sent them down. They
>> dominated the race, taking something like first
>> through fifth place with however many cars they sent
>> down, and Ed Cole lost his bet.
>
>
>
> Those early CC Stockers were a hoot and yes, the Valiants did rule the 
> circle tracks.   "Dick" Petty drove a #43 Valiant in those races.    
> And...  the leaning tower of power, the infamous Chrysler /6 engine 
> was perhaps one of the finest designs for any inline 6 cylinder engine 
> ever to land in a US built automobile.    They can do just about 
> anything from squeezing mileage to making power...  there have been 
> some which cranked out over 400 hp via exotic mods.    The /6's claim 
> to  fame was a sturdy crankshaft and a stiff block and good response 
> to modifications... and it made low rpm torque.    This was the result 
> of a 225ci engine with a 4.25" stroke.   Even the 170ci "small" low 
> deck variant still had a relatively long 3.25" stroke for its small 
> displacement and still maintained a decent rod/stroke ratio for 
> midrange torque.   It was available in three variants, 170, 198, and 
> 225 ci.
>
> It was kinda heavy for an inline 6 but it was indeed strong and 
> durable.   It was even available in the "big" C-body cars like Fury, 
> Monaco, etc and it yanked them around just fine, even if they were 
> "only 6 cylinders".
>
>
> The /6 is real class and kind of a hard act to follow (no pun) for 
> plain outstanding good service and run'ability.
>
> My first car was a '61 Valiant Signet V200, 170/3-sp.   I ran it long 
> and hard and it never let me down.
>
>
> tony..