Jay Leno & Corvairs | Vintage Snowmobiles: HCCTV
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- In the latest episode of HCCTV, we make the most of winter in our vintage snowmobile ride along, then discuss Corvairs with Jay Leno. Subscribe! | bit.ly/1sddOmD
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I had a 65 180 hp corvair 4 speed with Koni shocks and Michelin X tires back when most people didn't know what radial tires were. Looking back it was one of my favorite cars ever. Drove it for 90,000 miles with no problems and normal maintenance. Wish I had kept it as a collector item!
My dad had a Corvair don't recall the year but it was a poor man's sporty car.He got rid of it because it had a gas leak in the line.End of story enter the Pony car.
Has anybody seen the 1954 corvair
And 8 yrs later..lol buy it for 500, sink 50k into it then sell it for $12,500
Somehow I can relate.
My grandfather, Frank J. Winchell, was GM’s expert witness in the defense of the Corvair. In total there were 294 cases brought against GM, totaling claims of over 100 million dollars. Of these, 10 were tried to jury convictions. Of these, 8 verdicts were in favor of GM. Of the 2 loses; "Chart v GM," where 2 of the 5 occupants testified in court that the driver had a quarrel with his girlfriend and that after a 2 1/2 hour stop at Bronco’s Beer Bar, where the driver was chug-a-luging his beer, and later they warned the him that he was driving recklessly and at an excessive speed, that he failed to make a right hand turn, locked up his brakes and struck a telephone pole. In what is know as a comparative negligence verdict, the jury found the driver 75% responsible, the girlfriend 3%, the state highway 5%, the county highway 5% and GM 12%. The other lose was "Canthos v GM," where the jury found in favor of the plaintiff, however, the judge set the jury’s verdict aside stating “There is not a scintilla of quotient evidence to support the claims against the handling characteristics of the 1960-63 Corvair.(paraphrasing)” He went on to describe the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert witness as “perhaps the most incomprehensible gibberish that this court has ever heard.” A Untied Sates Senate Committee spent 2 1/2 year investigating the safety of the Corvair, the DOT as well as many other institutions, even Nader’s own NHTSA came to the same conclusions as everyone else, that the Corvair was not defectively designed nor a defective product. In fact, it performed as good, or better than all cars on american roads at that time.
Only in America can corporations get away with being butt nasty with their customers.. and get praised by people for it! Before Cadbury's chocolate was sold (and ruined) by an American company their health and safety inspector (a friend of mine) actually did his job. From the day after they took over he was not allowed to do his job! The 1st and only question he was ever asked if he wanted to shut down some dangerous plant was " how much is the cost of compensation (if someone looses an arm or their life) against cost of lost production?" Always the compensation was less than the loss in production so he was not allowed to shut anything down in 3 years (before he had had enough and left in disgust) always the repair was put down to be done during annual maintenance. (But no re-inspection allowed for 2 years to check if it had actually been fixed) .
Ford are still fighting every single Pinto case! They knew the cars were lethal yet did not change their production (replacing a 30cent bolt) for 2 years
@@williamarmstrong7199 What does this have to do with whether the Corvair was an inherently dangerous car or was poorly designed? If someone makes a product and someone uses it in a manner not consistent with common practice that person shouldn't be held liable. Volkswagen and Porsche produced cars with the same exact rear end yet the Beetle is considered to be an icon of automotive design and the Corvair is considered to be an 'unsafe' car. The car could break its rear end loose, if you drove it in a manner in which it wasn't designed. If people didn't read the manual and didn't follow instructions on the airing of the tires then the car could be problematic. It is up to the owner to read instructions on how to use the car. And yes, when someone sues a company for something the company isn't at fault with then yes, the company should fight back. This isn't a case like Ford and the Pinto in the early 70s.
Thanks for that, it was very interesting. All I know is, my '60 Corvair out-handles THE LIVING HELL out of my '59 Ford. Curvy roads are a blast, it hugs them and remains stable. The Ford will lean over like a boat, just before the ass end gives way!
My dad had a 65. I tore it apart in 2 weeks & spent the next 5 putting it back together. All before I was 15. It would have been easier with a Mustang. It took me 3 months to figure out it didn't have a radiator or coolant. Just 1 of the many innovations put into the Corvair.
You are exactly right. It wasn't Nader that stopped Corvair production, it was more like the Camaro! The money was in the musclecars and pony cars. The Corvair was great for its time. I have a Rampside, considered the most dangerous of all models, and I have driven it in rain, wind, loaded, unloaded, and never had a safety issue. People can be very uninformed.
I own a '68 Corvair. I think that the second generation Corvair body also looks similar to a 66 Impala when you look at the fenders and the contours of the back window. Just a smaller body.
I just got a 64 Monza convertible and love it. my front plate reads "up yours Ralph Nader.
Nader had a clear agenda using safety the way Mccarthy used communism. Other swing axle cars Porsche, VW , Mercedes he had no serious concern with. The corvair suspension was changed before the book even hit the shelves. Easily correctable with a camber compensator. Many incidents caused or made worse by not following tire pressure recommendations. After production the NHTSA ran tests with gen 1 & 2 corvairs along with several other cars in the class. Not surprisingly their conclusions were at odds with his.
Had a red '65 4 speed Monza with the 140 hp engine. When I first drove it, lost the fan belt when running through the gears at redline rpms. Installed a spring kit attached to the fan belt adjustment sheave, as the belt expanded the spring took up the slack, never lost another belt. Scrapped the four single barrel carbs, installed a spider manifold with a single Carter AFB four barrel, installed trombone dual exhaust, added shorter steering arms for faster steering and chrome reversed rims with Dunlop radials. At this point, Porsches couldn't get the little red Corvair off their rear bumper. Had a lot of fun with that car.
Reversed rims I had forgoten about that. I did the same thing to my 65 Corvair. 14 inch rims. Radial tire I got free from my after school tire warehouse job (tires that dealers had rejected as being hard to balance but utimately ok) added mail ordered high speed steering arms. Heavy duty shocks. Went around corners like it was on rails. Added a junk yard 4 speed transmission. Great car to have as a high school student at the time. If Ralf Nader hadn't made the car so unpopular and thus cheap I would never have been able to afford such a great second hand car. Thinking back, due to the great handling, one day I managed to avoid getting T-boned at an intersection and completed the manouver avoiding a head on collision. Mine was shiny red also. Got a new free paint job. But that is another story.
My mother owned a white on red '64 that she liked to take to road rallies. Lucky me, because neither of my sisters wanted to be her co-pilot. She ended up getting thirty-five top five finishes and 11 were wins. I own a '65 convertible Monza today, because of those experiences. Love my Vair and the memories I relive every time I drive.! And yes, I try to find a road rally or two every year, just for fun.
You can see the Camaro lines in Jay's Corvair.(no not the truck).
You are spot on. I just did this the other day on my Facebook page.
I lined up a pic of a '67 Corvair, '67 Camaro & '67 Chevelle. All convertibles. The body lines are so similar I was amazed.
A few body panels and interior parts used for 67-69 Camaros were production Corvair parts. Corvair known as Poor Man's Porsche / Camaro known as Poor Man's Corvette.
My aunt had a 68 camaro base w/ 327 power glid & they do look like the corvair not like my 69 note GTA SA has a corvair
She is too cute! Should have let her do more!!
We had a 65 Monza with the 110 hp and three speed manual on the floor, we had that car for 12 years having purchased it used in 1968. It was my mothers daily driver and I took it on trips from Chicago to Ft Campbell KY many times while in the military. Apart from some oil leaks on the valve covers it was fast, maneuverable and excellent in the snow as well as summer. We did not have any of the problems that some people cite, we were DIY people so we maintained it in tip top condition, maybe that is why. The gasoline problem would have been careless fueling in the front fender mounted filler.
+Philip Voida i have 6 cant kill them now only drive them to shows they never made me walk
Yes, Ralph Nader is a scumbag, greasy euro-trash looking for a free ride.
ralph nader has never had a real job he is a leach on society i drove a corvan all over indepence mo working for lawn mower pickups drops lawn maint. they were great a little more refinement they would have been perfect
Too bad they played music over the engine sound of the snowmobiles. Also, why no engine shots of the Corvairs? So, to recap: NEVER play music over engine sound and ALWAYS life the hood to show the engine.
Great video I love Corvairs As a kid growing up my dad had a first generation and second generation Corvair if the Pennsylvania winters didn’t destroy those cars Maybe I would’ve got one one of his
Love the Corvairs!
I think the rear engine rear wheel drive car was superior to the front engine rear wheel drive car, but ultimatly inferior to the now commo front engine front wheel drive layout. Vans and trucks are a differnt story. I think that for a two wheel drive truck, the corvair was not only well balanced, but the lower middle deck and ramp woud have been very handy for loading. They would be easier to load an atv, appliances with a dolly, or even furnature, plus you sill had an 8' bed if you were loading something like posts, or sheeting. Even heavy pallet sized loads or skid tanks you could design it so the load was fairly balanced.
Came here for the vintage sleds!
Wrench for 3 hours, ride for 1. Repeat.
Same
Had a 63 4-speed in high school and beyond. Loved it before I knew better. Steering went out twice (think the cotter pin they said). Steering was always reeeeally loose, and I learned to pull into a service station if it seemed too loose. Rear wheels used to skip on tight cornering. Looking back I'm glad I survived it. Second gen was another story altogether.
Now what I read was what really doomed the corvair ended up being the Ford Falcon. Simply a more normal and cheap car, followed by the Mustang showed GM that they needed something like the falcon. So they made the Chevy II which became the Nova. Also by the early 60'sGM was changing, the new CEO had no patience for innovation and the new GM was money saving, component sharing and corner cutting, and there was no room for a single model line like the Corvair. Add to that tightening smog laws that did not favor air cooled engines, and the writing was on the wall for this unique car.
We were a Corvair family, with a '63 Monza 4 speed Coupe being my first car and a '61 95 Pickup being my first truck. We owned at least one of all the body styles between '60 and '64..........The Rampside is an idea who's time should come again!
Jay may own the most photographed garage in the world.
Um, Jay, you should be ashamed. The Corvair did NOT have a slant six. You're thinking Chrysler. The Corvair had a 6 cylinder BOXER engine (the same as Subaru).
Wilbur Snaffel You must be hallucinating....Jay NEVER said anything about a "slant six"....at 0:50, he says "It has a FLAT six" (which it does, comparing it to a Porsche 911)
Comparing a Corvair to a Mustang is like comparing apples to oranges. The cars are in two totally different classes. If anything, the Corvair is more of an exotic in comparison.
I agree. If anyone is ignorant, I'd say it's Ralph Nader. While he made some good points regarding car safety and car safety features of the time (or lack of), I think he was also full of shit. Blaming the car for the way it it handles rather than teaching drivers how to drive the car.
Love the wood touch on in the bed of the Rampside! Neat seeing a '66 Corvair with '65 wheel moldings! I love my Corvairs!
a large part of the problem with corvair handling was the old tires, with modern radial tires much better handling
Also not following the recommended tire pressure. My dad bought a 64 in September of 65. Our family was going to grandparents 240 miles away for Christmas. Gassed up at the local gas station, half mile from home. When Bruno heard we were going on a trip, he said " let me check your tire pressure" he did & said all the tires were low, especially the front ones,( 10 lb deferential from the rear) so he filled them to 32 lbs, customary pressure on bias ply tires of the day. Less than fifty miles down the road, dad drifted a little to the right & got into some sloppy snow & couldn't recover. We got sucked into the ditch on the freeway & took a wild ride. Down through the ditch, up the embankment, saw the fence coming, dad wheeled the steering wheel to the left, we then missed the fence & went back through the ditch & ended back on the road. When we reached out destination, dad took it to a local Chevy dealer & got the front end alignment because it was all out of alignment after going through the ditch twice.
“Poor mans Porsche” is a stretch...yes, it has a rear engine air-cooled flat six, but that is where the comparison ends...
i had a 63 corvair convertible while in the military (110 hp, 4 spd.) I was second owner; drove it from 1967 till 1974. Only had one "close call" with the car. I once took a 180 degree tight exit very fast and the car swapped ends. I found myself headed down the exit facing the direction from which I had come! In retrospect it was totally my fault. I was speeding on tires that were inflated to 30 psi! The corvairs before 1965 only had one U-joint per axle on the rear and were prone to wheel-hop if put in a tight turn (which broke traction on the rear wheels). In the 1965 model year they added an extra u-joint to each rear axle which allowed the tires to maintain better contact with the road. Corvair performance was greatly enhanced!
Looks to me like Nader had an agenda and I'm ruling out altruism. I think if GM had been allowed to develop their smaller cars back then they would have fared much better.Who knows maybe the Europeans and Japanese wouldn't have gotten quite the market share.
Then again maybe that was Ralfys
Plan all along.
In the early 80's, I had a 65 Corsa convertible 140hp with 4 speed manual and posi dif. It was fast! It ran the best a about 80 mph! It drove and handled great! Better than some Vettes that I drove.
I had one of those too.....though mine was a '66. But let's not get carried away here. It was not fast and it sure as hell couldn't make any moves on the Corvette. The Corvette had a couple of very serious advantages over the Corvair beyond just the obvious power difference. The Corvair absolutely did NOT have anything close to the Corvette's near 50/50 weight balance on it's front and back wheels. It also could be pretty scary BAD on braking with the drum brakes on all 4 corners vs the Corvette's standard issue 4 wheel discs in '65 and '66. I liked my Corvair too.......but it was no Corvette, not even remotely close.
In my early days as a mechanic in the early 70’s. I remember how awful those sleds were. Made a lot of money putting in new pistons and cylinders when the customer would screw in the main jets on the tilloson carbs to make the sled faster but on the bad side of lean. Then if they were lucky they would only seize the pistons up. Then I bought a air powered pop rivet gun after putting the first set of cleats on a track. Those pony sleds were all motor. Setting timing was a real pia. After one season I changed to cars and motorcycles
My dad. A power equipment dealer. Thought for the longest time to put tracks on a Gravely! Would have an application following.
Paul here. I'm glad a large amount of people believed Nader because we can enjoy our cars without breaking the bank.
As far as Ralf Nader is concerned, I loved my 63 corvair spider and hated George W "thanks alot Ralf"
They need to produce the 66 again as it is more modern looking than todays cars. I'd buy one in a heart beat.
I’m surprised I didn’t see Larry Enticer at that vintage snow machine meetup!
Jamie Lamont is a hottie.
I bought a '62 Monza for my wife. It's the same car she first drove.
The rear end of my Corsair went out, just like a rock on a rope. Certainly unsafe!
in November l961, my dad (who hated Fords) bought a brand new l962 Corvair Monza 2-door sedan with 2-speed Powerglide transmission and the standard 80-hp engine. at l88 miles, the car died. had it towed back to the dealer who discovered someone had left a socket wrench inside the transmission and it had chewed up the gears. we got it back 3 weeks later (they supplied us with a loaner for our trouble). the car had to run on premium gas or it would knock. the interior always smelled like raw gasoline. in hot weather we always got a burning rubber smell from the spare tire in the engine compartment. in windy weather we had to keep a concrete block in the front trunk to keep the car from blowing off the road. even a Rambler American from that era would have been a better choice.
Yeah, my VW bug had that same fuel smell problem. So, I recently ditched the motor and gas tank and am looking to convert it to electric. I didn't know that in 66 they created the Electrovair. It probably would be a great car to convert as well being rear engine rear wheel drive. My Smart ED is the same setup. I'll probably someday get one of these and convert it as well. Such a beautiful car, but I hate that old car smell.
Why didn't you throw the spare tire in the trunk??
Great sleds at the end. Man, that looks fun. Had a few old John Deere sleds. Fun as all heck when they were 🏃! Subscribed.
I'm a fan!
Jay you need to get one of the Greenbrier Vans and the station wagon to complete your set.
Beautiful cars Jay!!
My grandfather had a 61 Corvair Monza. It was absolutely mint aside from a few cracks in the original interior. It drove great and was a lot of fun. One day I'd love to own one just like it.
If I had the money I'd buy a second generation corvair convertible with an electric conversion in a heartbeat.
swing arm was fixed for 1963 j. next gen. 1965 .
My dad and I went car shopping in the 60's. We sat in a Corvair in the lot. The seats were really cheap looking and there were no armrests. There was no decent head or legroom. The front wheel wells protruded into the interior. To get out, you had to climb out, it was so low. We never bothered to test drive it. We went to the Ford dealership and saw a Falcon Futura with a V-8 and automatic trans, plenty of head and legroom. After a test drive and some haggling, dad bought it. We were never sorry! After graduating from high school, I bought my first car, a 4 year old Falcon Futura convertible. I still drive it.
30psi in the rear 18.5psi in the front got it!
I have always been a fan of corvair trucks and cars
I miss our Skiroule 🙁
Yeah, on those Corvair five speed transmissions - one or two people, who were involved in the original R&D effort, may have units installed, but I don't see that going much further due to Corvairdom frugality - aka: bunch of cheap bastards. lol Love my '65 Monza vert!
I always been a truck guy" full size sedan type person" But I had owned several
other types' went EU for the fun of it with a MG midget had a ball with that car" just loved rating around it it" ^ a couple of others later'
I road in a Corvair two or three times" I sort of recall the first time' way different then what I was used to" I couldn't get my head around some thing like that"
I seen one or two at the drags back in the day' seen a VW eat everyone for lunch
at the drags one week end in it's class: I was C Gas, I wasn't racing it, even so it was faster then my car: crazy crazy fastest ever four banger air cooled engine
I ever seen, How could it be so fast" it sounded more like a Singer Sowing machine with a hi end buzz / zip & it was gone,
Blew me away in spades when I seen it;
I wonder if the camera man could have maybe gotten closer up shots? Maybe you could have used a macro lens? Was the car smashed in one place or something? Not like we would want to see the whole car or anything...
I had a 64 Spider (turbo) convertible, a 65 140, a 65 plain automatic with shifter on dash (my wife's car). The last Corvair I owned was 180 hp Corsa turbo, when the turbo kicked in 2200 rpm it felt like a rocket. Corvairs had heater problems due to push rod tube seals leaks and the ring gear on flywheel would come loose and break the starter.
Wasn't International's anemic 4 cylinder (1/2 a V-8) Scout America's first turbocharged vehicle?
i know of some car show friends and all chevy corvair convertibles and racecar. painted like the american flag. and i have a Volkswagen bettle. and the thing about my car and my friends cars is. we always welcome others to park next to us and we dont take up to much space.
Cannot imagine why anyone back then would buy something like this, I remember them and never liked them.
I guess the snow caps didn't melt after all.
where did all this snow come from?
the world wonders!
Hours and hours in Corvair convertible, and MORE in snow on snowmobiles...FREEZING.
The Corvair was a GREAT car, too bad the general public can be so ignorant and doesn't know a good car when they see one. Great styling , a real American classic.
The Corvair was the most troublesome car I ever witnessed, friends had these turds of a car !
I've always admired the Corvairs. I've always preferred the Corvair vans and Greenbrier. It's too bad they discontinued the van and trucks. Ralph Nader my ass! Anything bad happens, you have an accident, the car is usually to blame, because of the strange way it handles.
As a boy our family friend had '66 Turbo Spyder. Already a gearhead I knew what a great car this was. Years later he was dying from Gout and I delicately asked about it. He looked at me with sad eyes and said "The car was trashed then scrapped during the riots. I guess they wanted to hurt 'crippled whitey' anyway possible". I grew up 3 miles from Wash.D.C. So fucking sad.
California governor tried to quarantine Jay when he heard that Jay had "19 Corvairs".
He looks like elvis Presley
THE MOST FUN CAR I EVER HAD WAS A 64 MONZA 4 SPEED-THEY MADE AN AFTERMARKET ADAPTER TO CHANGE FROM THE TWIN 2 BARRELS TO A SINGLE 4 BARREL CARB WITH A BEEHIVE AIR CLEANER IN THE CENTER AND I INSTALLED ONE OF THOSE WITH AN EDELBROCK CARB.BETTER ACCELERATION AND SHE WOULD GO LIKE A SCALDED CAT
My first car was a Turbo Corsa Spyder ($150.00). Took my dad and I a year to get it running, and then used it for two years. Later got a 140 ($200.00) and liked it better.
No mention of stealing VW's ideas? How about the Bertone design.
Wow Jay! Beautiful car. I love Corvairs. I want to get a 63 wagon stand shift.
True I had 3 vairs if you know how to drive they handled much better than other cars, wouldn't want a van for the reasons Jay mentioned
I'm glad someone like Jay Leno made good money so he would be in a position to save all those old cars before they were ground up and turned into econoboxes, refrigerators or toasters.
That car at the beginning was so gorgeous, I forgot to breathe for a couple minutes. Call me weird, but I didn't even notice the girl right away.
I also had a few corvairs, but never new about the Yenko, Thankyou....
A Corvair was my first fire after joining the fire department and of course never been around one before I did wonder why the fire was in the trunk but figured it out pretty fast.
I'd like to find a source for those 5 speeds they're making for the Corvair.
Looks like Jay has a bunch of cotton candy on his head. His jeans are too long and his shirt looks like it laid inside a bucket for 2 weeks. I guess when you got his money, you don't care how you look.
Jeans look ridiculous on anyone over 40.
I wish I could say that I've had the pleasure of riding in one, or driving one. But I agree with you. I've always liked Corvairs, particularly the early swing axle Corvairs.
If you're going to drive a car like the Corvair, it's usually a good idea to learn how the car drives and how it handles.
I've never ridden a snowmobile. It looks like fun! I don't live in an area that gets alot of snow, unfortunately.
Jay needs to check out Corvair prices again..
LOL! Yeah. I agree. If you crash a Corvair Greenbrier or another Corvan, into another car, or something, you probably won't survive. But If you drive carefully, you don't follow too closely, you don't drive too fast to be able to handle the car, you should be able to drive the car without problems.
Actually the cars stood up very well in frontal colision tests. Front area well re-enforced and no engine to get displaced into the passinger compartment. Not sure about the vans.
Owned 5 wrecked 1. Wish I had em back.
First generation kinda boxy oh no I have a first gen
What a contorted, hacked up video.
Never read Nader's book. Probably never will. Did vote for him in 2000, because Bush and Gore seemed like two slightly different versions of the same slick politician. BUT, if I remember critiques of the book, correctly, it was about other cars too, not just the Corvair. It was just that, at the time, the Corvair seemed the perfect example of Detroit gone bad. Wouldn't mind having a Corvair station wagon. I've always thought those were pretty cool.
SAfer cars and setbelts are all NAder's ideas. Read!
going to a Corvair meeting on the tenth Corvair rules!
why is her saying its revolutionary? because it basicly a vw beetle. thats pretty much why the made it to compet with the beetle
It was originally made to compete with the Falcon and the Rambler. Most American car producers looked at the Beetle as a niche market car. But the Rambler did show Ford and GM the value in a smaller family car which the Corvair and the Falcon filled. Ultimately the Corvair sold ok, but not as well as the Falcon so GM created the NovaII to more directly compete.
Is she related to the legendary LEMONS? someone answer please
been watching Leno's garage, Jay is the kind of guy i'd like to have a beer with.
he doesnt drink.
"Bad sound makes good video look bad."
A flat 4 or 6 cyl, air cooled.
Aren't motorcycles like that ❓
Honda Goldwing, among others.
were corvair pickups equipped with turbos?
no
Ernie Kovaks ...JAY!
What is the annoying sound?
C'mon, Jay, you're a car guy.....why can't you say Porche right?
You're one to talk. Why can't you spell Porsche right? 😊
thank brother . good to know that.
Poor man's Porsche
Oh my God! The Bolens was a HOOT! :)
Nice vintage sleds.