Fitch Corvair

[ptech]

Saw one of these last night, in Murphy of all places...
http://www.corvaircorsa.com/fitch.html

[black roadster]

What I always found fascinating about the Corvair was how many different body styles it came in.

From what I've seen, they had a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan, 2-door convertible, 4-door wagon, van and side loading pickup. They also had a wide range of trim and performance options. It was GM's answer to the air-cooled VWs. Sure they had safety issues but they were still pretty cool. My only issue was the lack of practicality of the rear-engine format. Especially in regards to the service vehicles like the wagon, van and pickup which required a high load floor. Very impractical. The side load pickup was pretty cool though and had its own advantages like curb side loading.

[ptech]

John Fitch who developed the mods on the Corvair also developed a whole new car based on Corvair mechanicals called the Fitch Phoenix. The coachwork was to be built in Italy then shipped to the US for install of the mechanicals. The prototype was displayed at Abercrombie and Fitch's main store in NYC, a sporting goods retailer at that time, and you could walk in and put down a deposit on one. But new federal safety regs put an end to all that.

Too bad cuz except for a few details, its a good looking car. Would look awesome in convertible form.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...imate-corvair/

[ptech]

Here's a couple of super minty Corvair vans I've come across lately, a panel and a Greenbriar...

[JDSM]

What I always found fascinating about the Corvair was how many different body styles it came in.

From what I've seen, they had a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan, 2-door convertible, 4-door wagon, van and side loading pickup. They also had a wide range of trim and performance options. It was GM's answer to the air-cooled VWs. Sure they had safety issues but they were still pretty cool. My only issue was the lack of practicality of the rear-engine format. Especially in regards to the service vehicles like the wagon, van and pickup which required a high load floor. Very impractical. The side load pickup was pretty cool though and had its own advantages like curb side loading.

If you think about European needs at the time, the lil' vans were perfect... VW's had right and left sliding doors, for delivery drivers... the adaptability of the VW chassis and motors was perfectly timed for the needs of Europe, the states, not so much....

in the US, really only the camper VW's and the "station wagon" models sold in numbers...

I think the Corvair was one of GM's worst debacles...

my 2c.

[mildensteve]

If someone REALLY wants to learn about Corvairs, drop me a PM. I have a disassembled 1963 convertible in my garage I will let go for TCB pricing. No learning like OJT.

[modernbeat]

What I always found fascinating about the Corvair was how many different body styles it came in.

From what I've seen, they had a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan, 2-door convertible, 4-door wagon, van and side loading pickup...

There was also a woefully underpowered RV called the Ultravan.

[ptech]

There was also a woefully underpowered RV called the Ultravan.

Wow...looks woefully undertired too. I can see how the basic Corvair layout would be optimum for an RV with a completely flat and low floor and the rear bed over the engine compartment, although accommodating such a large vehicle onto a 60's era economy car unibody chassis would leave me a bit leery.

[trickyrix]

I think the Corvair was one of GM's worst debacles...

my 2c.

I'll beg to differ on this one. The first-gen "bathtub" Corvair was unfairly fucked over by Ralph Nader and Safety Nazis. That, and it was butt-ugly. However, the second-gen cars, especially the coupes and convertibles, are the best-looking American cars of the era. Plus, with the revised rear suspension, they were sharp handlers as well. Unfortunately, once the Camaro hit the showroom floor to compete with the Mustang, the Corvair was doomed. The marketing folks didn't know what to do with it, so they just let it die on the vine in spite of the fact that it had true potential to be a legit badass car. I knew a guy in college that autocrossed a stock second-gen convertible and took TTOD a few times.

So, it might have been a debacle in terms of timing and lack of marketing, but it certainly didn't lack for looks or engineering, IMO.

[VFR750]

^ What Rick said..........second gen Corvairs were much further advanced than their domestic competition like the Falcon and Valiant. GM stepped out on a limb to build it. Some people would say the limb snapped off but they came back and built the Vega, now that was a turd!