<VV> ultimate V8 Corvair?

[Steven J. Serenska]

Bruce:
> The engineering is thorough and impeccable.The paint and overall finish seems
> flawless.Suspension seems well engineered and excellent.The interior is nicely
> done and utilitarian..OK Then! Why does it look so UGLY overall.The late model
> design is an acclaimed beautiful design. It somehow has been morphed into
> something that barely resembles a Corvair.Just my opinion. I'd Like to hear
> from someone else? interest in overall design.?
I couldn't agree more.  It really does look "UGLY overall".

I'm biased as all get-out, but I think the various reasons why it's so 
ugly are testimony to just how strong the LM's design is.  If you tamper 
with even the smallest part of it, the vehicle's whole presentation goes 
<poof> into a cloud of dust.

Here's where I specifically think he went wrong:

- He put an over-flared (IMHO) air dam on the front.  It's all really, 
really nicely done as far as body work goes, but it makes the car look 
like one of those aging actresses who pumps a bit too much silicone into 
her lips in an attempt to look comely.  Look quickly between this image 
and the car's front: 
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/65/7b/ec/657bec06bbdfa208ee142274407a3e65.jpg 
.

- He put the spoiler at kind of an odd location and I think it 
interferes with the lovely flowing hip lines of a stock LM.  I've seen 
LM Corvairs with spoilers that look kind of cool -- when they're perched 
just above the cove -- but this guy's is so far forward on the rear 
deck, it takes on the appearance of being a second windshield frame.

- He put small flares on the wheel wells.  I think these are the least 
intrusive of the body changes he made but, when taken together with the 
others, they start to become too much.  A touch of mascara can be fine, 
but when you combine it with big false eyelashes and globs of mauve 
paint on your eyelids, you can end up looking like Amy Winehouse PDQ 
(http://a1.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,g_face,h_300,q_80,w_300/MTE1ODA0OTcxNDM0MDgzODUz.jpg). 
Any father who watched while his teenage girls were learning to put on 
makeup knows what I'm getting at...

- Finally, one of the biggest issues I can see is also the most subtle.  
The final design's removal of the back seat and top boot area and 
replacement with a massive aluminum engine shroud takes away many of 
those interesting LM curves your eye expects to see. The elongated 
appearance almost makes it look like someone started down the path of 
turning it into a stretch limo, but then gave up. For me, the long, 
uninterrupted flowing line starts to resemble the "Monkee Mobile" 
(http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/438/monkeemobile2.jpg).

In sum, I'd say this car suffers from AMC Pacer disease.  Each of the 
design ideas, when written down separately on pieces of paper, probably 
looked pretty strong in the design room.  However, when they went out to 
the shop floor and assembled all of them into the final package, BLECCH.

As a few people have said, some pretty smart guys at GM thought long and 
hard about the Corvair and they got most of it right.  Tamper with it at 
your peril.

Steven "opinionated?  me?" Serenska
Bristol, RI
1965 Monza Convertible, 110/4, bone stock
1966 Corsa Coupe, 140/4, bone stock