<VV> Corvair & Camaro

[James P. Rice]

All:  Beside giving you a really good looking car with a usable back seat,
the core reason folks make a front engine/rear drives out of a Corvair is
fairly simple.  It is also the reason folks join chapters and not CORSA,
join CORSA and not chapters and do a lot of other things.

The Reason Is:  Because they can.  I've come to realize a lot of Corvair
people, maybe more so than the general population, are compelled to do stuff
differently.  It is ingrain, part of our heredity and/or environment.
Contrariness is both a DNA and a learned method of dealing with all kinds of
situations.

Of course the Camaro looks like the Corvair.  If you also review the big
Chevy and the Chevelle and even the Corvette you will see the family DNA.
This is no accident.  So we should neither be surprised or beat our breast
about the obvious family resemblance.

Pete Estes wanted to name the car we know as the 67 Camaro "Corvair", but
the marketing folks screamed "NO!!!!" to/at him loud and long.  This little
fact, if you were paying attention to the various "back in the day" speeches
at various Corvair events by various ex-GM staff as printed in the
Communique, is one of the may small pieces of evidence the Corvair
production was scheduled to stop at the end of the 66 model year.  Or was
Chevrolet going to sell our car and the new front engine/rear drive car at
the same time with the same name?  I don't think so.....

Now then, why doesn't somebody graft a Corvair front and rear body panels
onto a Camaro?  Or...how about a front engined Corvair with a drive shaft
coupled to the Corvair transaxle and IRS?  I don't think anybody has done
that yet.  Kinda a Crown Conversion gone bad.  Or good, depending on your
contrariness.  Of course, they you would have something similar to a Pontac
Tempest (Opps), only with a real good IRS.  Oh Wait! A similar idea is what
got IRS banned by the SCCA for over 2 liter cars in club and Trans-Am
racing.

Historically Yours,
                   James Rice

******************************************************
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:56:53 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: Marc  Marcoulides <hharpo at earthlink.net>
Subject: <VV> Offensive topics
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org

When I had my corvair painted, to save on cost I removed all trim, interior
and bumpers. Someone with a 67 Camaro (the first year) had their car in the
shop in the same state. They were near twins

-----Original Message-----
>From: J R Read_HML <hmlinc at sbcglobal.net>
>Sent: Sep 22, 2008 3:46 PM
>To: ScottyGrover at aol.com, airvair at earthlink.net, JVHRoberts at aol.com,
mvjacobi at comcast.net, alan.wesson at atlas.co.uk, virtualvairs at corvair.org
>Subject: Re: <VV> Offensive topics
>
>Perhaps because the Camaro was supposed to be the 3rd generation Corvair?
>Just a thought.
>Later, JR
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <ScottyGrover at aol.com>
>To: <airvair at earthlink.net>; <JVHRoberts at aol.com>; <mvjacobi at comcast.net>;
><alan.wesson at atlas.co.uk>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 5:29 PM
>Subject: Re: <VV> Offensive topics
>>
>> In a message dated 9/22/2008 2:26:52 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
>> airvair at earthlink.net writes:
>>
>> THAT is  the very reason they invented the Camaro. If you want such a
car,
>> go buy a  Camaro.
>>
>> When the Camaro came out in the fall of '66, it looked so much like the
>> 'Vair that I called it the Corvairo.
>>
>> Scotty from Hollyweird


Message: 3
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:00:42 -0500
From: "J R Read_HML" <hmlinc at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: <VV> Offensive topics
To: "Marc Marcoulides" <hharpo at earthlink.net>,
	<virtualvairs at corvair.org>

Had it not been for Ralph, '66 (maybe 7?) would have been the last (rear
engine) Corvair.
Later, JR


Message: 4
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:06:41 -0700
From: "Charles Lee" <chaz at ProperProPer.com>
Subject: Re: <VV> Offensive topics no more ...
To: "'Marc Marcoulides'" <hharpo at earthlink.net>,
	<virtualvairs at corvair.org>

Except the Corvair had sleeker lines!

Problem was that "sleek" wasn't what sold.

The Camaro had an accentuated "Coke bottle" shape, shorter rear section,
with longer nose.

Corvair couldn't shorten the rear section though, due to the engine.

Interesting that the Camaro's emphasis was on the powerful rear of the car,
when the engine was on the other engine, connected by a big hunk of pipe.

I guess the pipe was to absorb all that power before it got to the wheels ?

Just a thought.  I had a 68 Camaro RS coupe, when I drove a friend's Corsa,
and that's was all I needed to convert to Corvair.

If you want to go in a straight line, Camaro was the car for you ...

Charlie