Growing up, our family had a 64 Monza convertible (110 / 4sp), later on I had a 66 Corsa convertible (140 / 4sp). My Mom worked at a tire store and was given a free set of Michelin radials, it was funny seeing mechanics shake their heads when my five foot and a bit mom tried to tell them the tires weren't flat. ;-D
I'm so happy to say as a 2000's kid i own one of these now for almost 2 years!! sadly i have not been able to work on it at all since i have been busy with school and other stuff, but i have finally been able to focused more and more on research about it and be able to drive it around one day! It came from my dad's friend who had gifted it to me 2 years ago since he found out that i loved old cars. But sadly i dont know if there was an owner before him or not, so i have no idea if im the second owner of the Covair or not. But either way im so excited to start fixing it up soon!
having 6 vairs an been driving them for 45 years ,,i see you have a dayco belt... they are the best i have ever used in a vair... just put up my 62 700 4dr for the winter ,,great vid
I recently bought a '69 two-door, 110 (95?) HP, and a powerglide from a gentleman in New Jersey. It's now gracing my driveway here in Tennessee. As luck would have it, my dream car, a Triumph TR6 that I have had my eye on for the better part of a decade became available shortly after I bought the Corvair. The price was too good to be true, so now I have a '72 TR6 as well. It's been a great couple of months. :)
Also my favorite car over the years, though I never owned one. I thought I knew a lot about Corvairs, but you gave lots of knew info (at least t0 me) In '65, Car & Driver called this car "The American Porsche".
The 1st Corvair I owned is a 1965 Corsa Turbo that I refurbished ! & she has had one respray ! & I still own the Corsa since 1987 along with a 67 Monza convertible , & a 64 Greenbrier Deluxe they are quite fun to drive & own . Thanks for the video. & they did do a good job on that exhaust cut out for the tail pipe.
That was my dream car when I was 12, going to save my nickels and dimes and get one. Probably could have if all the crap with suspension had not happened. But here is my question after all these years - I bet that turbo monza just went like a bat out of hell, am I right? I figured out later that it should have been able to out run the base model 914 Porsche
@@aldenconsolver3428 The Turbo 150 HP were in the 62 thru 64 Monza Spyders & the suspension was not as much of a issue especially on the 64 Monza Spyder ,There were so many manufactures running the same swing axle as the Corvair but did not have the HP the Corvair had ,As far as out running a 914 that would be close because of the weight of the 914 was about 100 pounds lighter & only about 50 HP less ! Now the 65 , & 66 Corsa Turbo 180 HP is a different story with its truly independent suspension could easily out perform a 914 or a early 911 , & the 914 had a 4 cylinder , But the 911 had a 6 cylinder that was about the same displacement as the Corvairs interesting fact Porsche would not offer a turbo till 1975 or 76.
Love the corvairs. Had a 60 & 62 as a kid. Then I bought a 65 corsa 140-4 spd. Now Im looking for a 65 to 69 corsa 140 or a spyder. They all were fun to drive Still have my original 65 service manual.
You’re correct that the second generation Corvair was corrected of its flaws but the damage to its reputation had already been done. The first one was pretty bad. The second one was spectacular!
It’s quite strange that a carburetor float needle valve made it into the cylinder. I would never rebuild a carburetor when it is mounted on the intake manifold. When I was 17, I traded a 250cc 1966 Harley-Davidson Spring for a 1966 Covair Corsa. That had 4 carburators but no turbo charger. I replaced the spark plugs every 2 thousand miles. Mainly because the engine would lose a lot of power after two thousand miles. I remember using regular champion spark plugs and the electrodes would be well worn after 2 thousand miles. With new spark plugs my Corvair would have a lot of power. Of all the vehicles I have owned over the years. The 1966 Corvair Corsa was by far my favorite car. It handled wonderfully. There is a 25 mph S curve where I lived at this time. My Corvair would easily navigate through this S curve at 60 mph with ease. I don't understand where this Corvair’s will flip onto its roof easily. I did some stupid things with my Corvair and never had the wheels on any side ever come close to coming off the ground. Anyway good luck with your Corvair Project.
Re: the paint....depending on what year it was repainted, at the time, it might have been a ~ $12,000-ish car, which would not justify prepping it for a $10,000 paint job. Styling on the 2nd gen cars was stunning, you can see where even BMW "borrowed" a bunch of styling cues for their early-`70s 3.0 coupe, and a few other models. It`s a real shame the Corvair was not allowed to mature to it`s full potential, it`s a car that would have helped GM compete against the Japanese onslaught of the `70s and `80s, rather than the shitboxes they introduced (Chevette, X-bodies, etc.) . I had a `65 Monza coupe (110, 4-speed) and a pair of `66 Corsas, one which I converted to mid-engine V8 using a Crown Engineering kit. With a 400+ HP L79 engine and 2500 lbs., it absolutely annihilated just about every muscle car that challenged it. I`m glad the Corvair is finally getting more recognition, it`s about time. Thanks for sharing this video, it was very informative !
Hey John,you sure are trashing the paintwork on this car. Did you ever stop to think how much the poor guy was paid for his work ? As an automotive refinisher for over 30 years,I can tell you first hand most people are looking the best deal,not the best paint job. So if you were the customer then that’s on you ! If you paid for 100% premium work ..that’s what you should have gotten,or you would not have accepted it. I hear people always saying,the paint sucks,but they don’t know the whole story ie what was paid ? Or how much was the budget and can we find someone to do it cheaper. Like most things...you usually get what you pay for. If you don’t ,maybe you didn’t vet the shop you used. Good luck
I agree and completely understand but when selling a car, I was complete transparency. I don't want any disappointments and to praise the paint or not make mention would be a mistake on my part. I just wish the painter had spent just a few more hours on the prep. Still though, an awesome car. Sometimes a perfect paint job is a curse. You worry too much about driving and enjoying it.
Ok ! Must be a east coast thing ! I have owned two 65 corvair hardtops and still have my Corsa and no one has ever called it a Corsa coupe. Only first gen had coupes so whatever! Loved the body style of the 65 since they first hit the streets.
@@DugEphresh The only difference between the 110 and the 180 heads was the use of bronze exhaust valve guides to help wick heat away from the valves. Other them that they are the exact same casting. What plagues the Corvair head is dropping valve seats.
Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why these cars had a lousy 180 hp. Chevyy had for years boasted of engines producing one or more horsepower per cubic inch. Why'd they drop the ball here? 200 hp or more would not have been a stretch.
Going to have a minor spat here, the Corvair had a minor handling problem that turned up dangerous in a weird circumstance. Chevy could have spent 25 bucks a car and patched it, but they cheaped out and turned a minor recall into something ugly. Not dissimilar (but not as bad) as ford did to themselves with the Pinto. The problems were just the kind of minor sh*t that happens when you run an assembly line. Ford figured on saving money and blew a year's profit by being cheap, Chevy decided they should spy on ralph, I guess they hoped to find out he was gay. Ended up costing them a fortune. If they had thanked Nader for his work and given him a gift of a new Corvair with a fixed suspension they would have saved 99% and had a huge jump on everybody with a good-looking good performing stylish little pseudo sports car years before anybody else. They probably could have advertised it as 'Safe as a Big Car' and made it even more popular. American industry has long had the motto of 'Save a Penny waste a Dollar'
Thanks! I try to do a little of both. It's a fine line and I agree, this one was a little long on history. Probably because I love and know Corvairs so well.
What makes you say that? I did find a '68 on Hemmings that the asking price was a 'mere' 10 grand more than the Corvair. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice car, at a great price. But the rest of them of the early 70's vintage and 60's era are going for 40-110k. I'll pass.
I grew up with a '66 Corsa. I think the '65-69 Coupe were one of the best looking cars ever made. Thanks for the look.
Couldn't agree more!
Hey John: what a beauty! Don't get too attached - you won't have this one for long. Thanks for the Syracuse shout out, too!
I bought a fire engine red 65 Corsa turbo in '71 when I got out of the USAF for $600. Beautiful car and lol of fun. Would love to have it now.
Growing up, our family had a 64 Monza convertible (110 / 4sp), later on I had a 66 Corsa convertible (140 / 4sp).
My Mom worked at a tire store and was given a free set of Michelin radials, it was funny seeing mechanics shake their heads when my five foot and a bit mom tried to tell them the tires weren't flat. ;-D
I once owned a '66 Turbo Coupe in artesian turquoise and matching interior, with headrest seats, what a blast to drive!
Headrests before 69 were extremely rare. Nobody cared about safety! Your car sounded beautiful.
@@orphancargarage5746 Yes they were rare, I flew from Washington National Airpot to Wisconsin to get it and drove it home.
I'm so happy to say as a 2000's kid i own one of these now for almost 2 years!! sadly i have not been able to work on it at all since i have been busy with school and other stuff, but i have finally been able to focused more and more on research about it and be able to drive it around one day! It came from my dad's friend who had gifted it to me 2 years ago since he found out that i loved old cars. But sadly i dont know if there was an owner before him or not, so i have no idea if im the second owner of the Covair or not. But either way im so excited to start fixing it up soon!
having 6 vairs an been driving them for 45 years ,,i see you have a dayco belt... they are the best i have ever used in a vair... just put up my 62 700 4dr for the winter ,,great vid
I recently bought a '69 two-door, 110 (95?) HP, and a powerglide from a gentleman in New Jersey. It's now gracing my driveway here in Tennessee. As luck would have it, my dream car, a Triumph TR6 that I have had my eye on for the better part of a decade became available shortly after I bought the Corvair. The price was too good to be true, so now I have a '72 TR6 as well.
It's been a great couple of months. :)
Enjoy them both!
Also my favorite car over the years, though I never owned one.
I thought I knew a lot about Corvairs, but you gave lots of knew info (at least t0 me)
In '65, Car & Driver called this car "The American Porsche".
The 1st Corvair I owned is a 1965 Corsa Turbo that I refurbished ! & she has had one respray ! & I still own the Corsa since 1987 along with a 67 Monza convertible , & a 64 Greenbrier Deluxe they are quite fun to drive & own . Thanks for the video. & they did do a good job on that exhaust cut out for the tail pipe.
Agreed. You'd swear the cutout was factory.
That was my dream car when I was 12, going to save my nickels and dimes and get one. Probably could have if all the crap with suspension had not happened. But here is my question after all these years - I bet that turbo monza just went like a bat out of hell, am I right? I figured out later that it should have been able to out run the base model 914 Porsche
@@aldenconsolver3428 The Turbo 150 HP were in the 62 thru 64 Monza Spyders & the suspension was not as much of a issue especially on the 64 Monza Spyder ,There were so many manufactures running the same swing axle as the Corvair but did not have the HP the Corvair had ,As far as out running a 914 that would be close because of the weight of the 914 was about 100 pounds lighter & only about 50 HP less ! Now the 65 , & 66 Corsa Turbo 180 HP is a different story with its truly independent suspension could easily out perform a 914 or a early 911 , & the 914 had a 4 cylinder , But the 911 had a 6 cylinder that was about the same displacement as the Corvairs interesting fact Porsche would not offer a turbo till 1975 or 76.
I had a Monza 140 4speed in the 70's , I put the spare tire in the front makes more sense !
Love the corvairs. Had a 60 & 62 as a kid. Then I bought a 65 corsa 140-4 spd. Now Im looking for a 65 to 69 corsa 140 or a spyder.
They all were fun to drive
Still have my original 65 service manual.
Can't believe we won't hear the very particular 'purring' of the Corvair's fine engine.. what a beautiful car!
My first Corvair was a Cypress green '65 turbocharged Corsa convertible. Black interior.
I have one just like it. Factory turbo. I have the window sticker. Great car. Fun to drive.
Nice 👍😊
A beautiful car, presented very well.
Many thanks!
You’re correct that the second generation Corvair was corrected of its flaws but the damage to its reputation had already been done. The first one was pretty bad. The second one was spectacular!
The Corvair looks awesome 👌 👏 👍🏿
I had one of these onlyconvertable
WOW it is very BEAUTIFUL 😍
Reminiscent of the post designed 67 NOTCH BACK Barricuda!
It’s quite strange that a carburetor float needle valve made it into the cylinder. I would never rebuild a carburetor when it is mounted on the intake manifold. When I was 17, I traded a 250cc 1966 Harley-Davidson Spring for a 1966 Covair Corsa. That had 4 carburators but no turbo charger. I replaced the spark plugs every 2 thousand miles. Mainly because the engine would lose a lot of power after two thousand miles. I remember using regular champion spark plugs and the electrodes would be well worn after 2 thousand miles. With new spark plugs my Corvair would have a lot of power. Of all the vehicles I have owned over the years. The 1966 Corvair Corsa was by far my favorite car. It handled wonderfully. There is a 25 mph S curve where I lived at this time. My Corvair would easily navigate through this S curve at 60 mph with ease. I don't understand where this Corvair’s will flip onto its roof easily. I did some stupid things with my Corvair and never had the wheels on any side ever come close to coming off the ground. Anyway good luck with your Corvair Project.
There aren’t many barn find muscle cars left. So everyone is looking for the odd ball stuf. Like station wagons,an corvars.
Re: the paint....depending on what year it was repainted, at the time, it might have been a ~ $12,000-ish car, which would not justify prepping it for a $10,000 paint job. Styling on the 2nd gen cars was stunning, you can see where even BMW "borrowed" a bunch of styling cues for their early-`70s 3.0 coupe, and a few other models. It`s a real shame the Corvair was not allowed to mature to it`s full potential, it`s a car that would have helped GM compete against the Japanese onslaught of the `70s and `80s, rather than the shitboxes they introduced (Chevette, X-bodies, etc.) . I had a `65 Monza coupe (110, 4-speed) and a pair of `66 Corsas, one which I converted to mid-engine V8 using a Crown Engineering kit. With a 400+ HP L79 engine and 2500 lbs., it absolutely annihilated just about every muscle car that challenged it. I`m glad the Corvair is finally getting more recognition, it`s about time. Thanks for sharing this video, it was very informative !
dream car!
Beautiful car, they finally got it right and then discontinued it.
Typical of GM! They did the same with the Fiero.
@@orphancargarage5746 yep
@@orphancargarage5746 , I agree
Until they bring it back as an E-Vair electric vehicle.
Nice car
It took 3.5 minutes before you FINALLY show us the car?! Keep doing that and viewers will either leave or just fast forward.
Sorry. I get a little excited about Corvairs. Point taken. I think I'm better now...
Beautiful
Jay Leno says the Corvair was the first turbo. It beat Olds.
Any other good turbos for sale?
Hey John,you sure are trashing the paintwork on this car. Did you ever stop to think how much the poor guy was paid for his work ? As an automotive refinisher for over 30 years,I can tell you first hand most people are looking the best deal,not the best paint job. So if you were the customer then that’s on you ! If you paid for 100% premium work ..that’s what you should have gotten,or you would not have accepted it. I hear people always saying,the paint sucks,but they don’t know the whole story ie what was paid ? Or how much was the budget and can we find someone to do it cheaper. Like most things...you usually get what you pay for. If you don’t ,maybe you didn’t vet the shop you used. Good luck
I agree and completely understand but when selling a car, I was complete transparency. I don't want any disappointments and to praise the paint or not make mention would be a mistake on my part. I just wish the painter had spent just a few more hours on the prep. Still though, an awesome car. Sometimes a perfect paint job is a curse. You worry too much about driving and enjoying it.
Not a coupe ! It’s a hardtop. Coupes have B pillars
In the Corvair hobby, it's customary to refer to the late model hardtops as 'coupes'. You are correct however, by textbook description.
Ok ! Must be a east coast thing ! I have owned two 65 corvair hardtops and still have my Corsa and no one has ever called it a Corsa coupe. Only first gen had coupes so whatever! Loved the body style of the 65 since they first hit the streets.
Car video starts @ 3:36.
Guilty! My enthusiasm for Corvairs gets the best of me. I've been better since! ;)
I would have kept the 140 heads on the 180 conversion
@@DugEphresh The only difference between the 110 and the 180 heads was the use of bronze exhaust valve guides to help wick heat away from the valves. Other them that they are the exact same casting. What plagues the Corvair head is dropping valve seats.
Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why these cars had a lousy 180 hp. Chevyy had for years boasted of engines producing one or more horsepower per cubic inch. Why'd they drop the ball here? 200 hp or more would not have been a stretch.
Aluminum engine and weight constraints. But the car is very light, like a MG or Miata, so 180 is quite a lot behind the wheel
Has it sold already
Indeed it has been sold.
Going to have a minor spat here, the Corvair had a minor handling problem that turned up dangerous in a weird circumstance.
Chevy could have spent 25 bucks a car and patched it, but they cheaped out and turned a minor recall into something ugly. Not dissimilar (but not as bad) as ford did to themselves with the Pinto. The problems were just the kind of minor sh*t that happens when you run an assembly line. Ford figured on saving money and blew a year's profit by being cheap, Chevy decided they should spy on ralph, I guess they hoped to find out he was gay. Ended up costing them a fortune. If they had thanked Nader for his work and given him a gift of a new Corvair with a fixed suspension they would have saved 99% and had a huge jump on everybody with a good-looking good performing stylish little pseudo sports car years before anybody else. They probably could have advertised it as 'Safe as a Big Car' and made it even more popular. American industry has long had the motto of 'Save a Penny waste a Dollar'
I can't disagree. In typical GM fashion, they fixed it then killed it..
Love your channel, but please, less on the history lessons and more on the car instead of the turbo charged badge.
Thanks! I try to do a little of both. It's a fine line and I agree, this one was a little long on history. Probably because I love and know Corvairs so well.
Still a slow car
Not worth it compared to a camaro.
What makes you say that? I did find a '68 on Hemmings that the asking price was a 'mere' 10 grand more than the Corvair. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice car, at a great price. But the rest of them of the early 70's vintage and 60's era are going for 40-110k. I'll pass.