In 1974, in a brand new Volvo station wagon, while living in Panama, my family drove through Panama Costa Rica and Nicaragua El Salvador Guatemala Honduras and Mexico on this road and into the United States. We then drove West to California and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to British Columbia. We then drove from British Columbia to Toronto Canada and enter the United States in Buffalo New York at which time we drove down to Boston where my family was from. After visiting for a while we drove down the East Coast back to Texas, and then back down to Panama. 16000 mi in one summer. I was 8 years old at the time and I'm 54 now and I very much would like to do that trip again before I die.
My family moved from Colon, Panama to Brooklyn, New York back in 1967 and they drove the Pan American Highway in my grandfather's 1960 Corvair. Great seeing this video and seeing this as what the trip my familia took in this wonderful car must've been like.
@@danielmota1095 I wasn't born back then, but my mother most likely has photos of that trip as my family shared that story with me many times. Ive seen photos of my grandfather's Corvair before and very nice car.
The professional drivers in this film were the best of the best.. Careening round those mountain roads had me on the edge of my seat. Jam Handy Productions really outdone themselves with this effort.
Our family had a 1964 Convertible and one winter in Washington state (Yakima) we had a snow fall that ranged between three to four feet. In our neighborhood the Corvair could get around and became the grocery hauler for those who couldn't get around.
We have a modern equivalent of the Corvair today. The single motor Tesla S, X, 3 and soon to be released Y. They are low, stylish, roomy and stupid fast even in base form.
No you wouldn't those cars threw fan belts like crazy the engineers ran the the V belt from the crankshaft up and over on a 90 degree angle on to a cooling fan pulley perpendicular to the engine. V belts were never meant to operate in multiple planes..... dumb engineering to save money a GM hallmark to this very day
I had a 66 Monza that thing looked as cool coming as it did going . I went from instant peewee Herman to rockstar FONZY overnight. Was going to get FU Nader on the license plate.
The 1st generation Corvairs (1960-1964) were very solid cars. They did have their quirks. They did have a tendency to be tail happy and spin out in wet or icy conditions. But there ability to go in said conditions was awesome. They could be driven at sports car speeds in corners and not plow off the road. But you did get the rear end swing axle jacking under certain conditions. You absolutely had to maintain good tire pressure in the rear tires, you had to run 27 to 30 lbs pressure in the rear at all times, otherwise the sidewalls would roll under and you could catch the edges of the rims on the ground and then they could dig in and either snap spin the car or roll over. I spent a lot of time with Corvairs in my teenage years because they were then running 8 to 17 years old and could be obtained for almost free or for free if you hauled them off. Rear suspension camber limiting straps worked to limit tuck under and later we discovered using a wider low profile tire on the rear helped handling a lot. The 140 hp 4 carburetor engines could be tuned to be very responsive and the car was lots of fun to drive in the twisty curvy roads. And they rode very well too. It took some learning to properly work on the engines because they were made of aluminum alloy and used a lot of sheet metal ducting. They would not tolerate over tightening nuts and screws. And you needed to make sure the ducting was in good shape and sealed properly. Plus, make sure the rear flapper doors for the cooling shrouds were in proper working order. I did not experience the fan belt failures which were supposed to be such a problem. I still like Corvairs.
Unfortunately, in the hands of an inexperienced driver or someone who didn't stay on top of maintenance, those "quirks" became very dangerous. The issue with the tires was exasperated by full service gas stations, the most common type in the early 60's. The guys pumping gas, and checking the car, would adjust the pressure to be equal all around. The concept was solid. But the engineers failed to take in to account that half the drivers on the road considered remembering to get gas was the extant of their maintenance schedule. John DeLorean claims (In his autobiography, so take it with a grain of salt.) that he tried warning the board of GM about it's problems. But they kept quoting costs and refused to spend a dime more than necessary to get the car out of the door.
Mike Skidmore I generally liked to run 22 to 24 in front and 28 to 30 in the rear. That was with belted bias tires. With radials I liked 25 to 27 in the front and 30 to 32 in the rear. Both 1st gen and Second gen were more responsive with the higher pressures. But the 2nd gen really woke up when combined with shortened steering arms. The 2nd gen are really good performing cars, but I am partial to the 1960 model year.
@@americanrambler4972 The owners manual for my 1979 Z-28 CAmaro said 26 PSI front and gear 7" rims 70 series tires.. I put on bigger sway bars and ran 32 PSI all the time .. and now use 60 series tires which really should have an 8" rim like the WS-6 Trans am came with
They were trying to meet VW's reputation for toughness and watertightness. Corvair fact: Robert Lutz, auto executive extraordinaire, wrote that of all the hundreds of cars he's had, his favorite was his first generation Corvair. True fact.
i still have some , i like Corvairs , used to drive one every day to work for years . CUSTOM 62, DUEL EXTRACTOR PIPES, CUSTOM SUNROOF, 4 SPEED , QUICK STEERING , CENTER CONSOLE CUSTOM BLUEISH PURPLE PAINT CUSTOM RIMS , WIDE FRONT AND BACK TIRES CUSTOM STEERING WHEELS, PADDED DASH .DUAL CARBS, ETC.HAVE WON TROPHIES AT CAR SHOWS IN THE PAST , FUN CARS .
@@DouglasUrantia Thanks for posting this article!!: I guess it satisfies the curiosity of many of us who want to know more details about this epic trip (despite the fact the car was good or not).
All of the driving shown in this film can now be covered on smooth paved highways. The follow up film called Daring The Darien covers the rest of the trip from Panama City and across the Darien Gap.
Mike Skidmore I looked it up. This is a 1960. There were no 3/4 ton Suburbans from 1960-69. They were all called “Suburban Carryall” ‘s. There were 4WD ones. This one has some wider wheels on the back.
These were great little cars. The rear suspension if it worried you was easily tamed by a camber comensator from EMPI, they also made one for VW's with the same suspension (swing axle) and back then? it was 29.95. Some issues accoured with service techs, Many didn't want to work on air cooled. I did very well with my own shop working on VW, Porsche and Corvair's. I loved working on air coolers. Had a 64 convertible in the 80's did a full resoration on it. Great little car. I never had a 65-69 model but always wanted one. And - - you can still get lots of parts through Clark's Corvair parts. They've been doing it since 1973. As to Nader? He did get the whole "safety thing" going but has been proved incorrect on the Corvair many times over.
*EXTRA WIDE WHEELS!!!!* 😆😂😂😂😆😆 I choked!! 😆😂😜 I learned to drive in that Car. My Dad had one... Would you believe, it NEVER ROLLED OVER? F'in Nader! 😡😡😡
Nader would probably roll over in his grave If he saw what today’s cars are and how crap they are and choked to death with how cars have to meet standards
Daniel Frederick You’re being sarcastic, right? Nader is a first-order narcissistic douchebag, but he did help get the move to safety regulations on the right path. Cars today are way safer.
@@danielfrederick306 Incorrect about Nader, but right about everything else.... Today's Cars MAY be safe - but they also give a false sense of security! Because of the Safety Features, some idiots have decided that Driver's Education no longer needed to be required in School. Cars today are also more powerful than they've EVER BEEN!! We've now got two generations of People who NEVER learned the Rules of the Road, never learned proper control and handling of these powerful Cars - and MAMMOTH SUVs!!! Cars have been SUED into these high-tech, Safety laden, GROSSLY overpriced Machines, that way too many People barrel down the Road in, WITHOUT proper training, all assuming.... "The CAR will save me"... Back in the Day, and NO Millennial will know this - we HAD to KNOW how to control a Car, and respect the Rules of the Road! Even if some of us broke a few Traffic Laws!! Today, a decent New Car is between $30,000-$50,000.... UNLESS you don't mind a *3 cylinder shitbox* for about *$15,000!!!* 😳😳 My first new Car was an 82 Mustang GT, FULLY loaded... It cost me a whopping $6100! And it never ONCE tried to kill me. 😜 The original Corvair had a Rear Swing Arm type Suspension. On high speed curves, if you happen to let off the gas in the middle of the turn... The Rear Wheel COULD tuck under, causing the Car to skip or even Roll Over... The VW Beetle had the SAME type Rear Suspension - but only 30-40hp! It didn't experience this. Some People WERE concerned about this... So Chevrolet, at great expense, redesigned the Rear Suspension of the Corvair by 1966, with a Double Wishbone setup. State of the Art back then! The Cars handled beautifully - and didn't even look like SICK TURTLES anymore!!! *BUT, Ralph Nader, in all his self righteousness,* HAD to kill the Corvair anyway, and destroy its reputation! "History" today, won't reflect ALL the facts....
Ive been on a Corvair kick today, I wish the car companies woulld spool up and make simple inexpensive cars/ trucks like these again, I own 4 1960/70s/80s trucks and wagons all of them cheap and easy to fix reasonable gas milage. Screw all the chips /sensors/AC ya dont need that crap roll down and smokers wings..
The Corvairs ended up 150 pounds heavier in the rear than it was designed for. That combined with the swing axle was a death trap.. GM KNEW about this in testing and Bunkie Knudsen asked for a camber compensator to correct the tuck under and at 5 dollars a car extra, GM brass said no...
They said no because it wasn't really necessary. Don't turn corners at 90 miles per hour and it's a perfectly safe car. Ralph Nader is a propagandist, not a journalist. His book was all about turning people against a giant corporation, lying about the Corvair was just a means to an end.
You know the real history on the corvair , unlike many who think they know things and repeat falsehoods , although corvairs have steadily been growing in value and popularity , just think how much they would have been worth if Chevrolet would have just went that extra 5 dollars . You probably also know who ed Cole is to .
The sporty Corvair. It was so good it created a book : " Unsafe at any speed ". The rear tyre pressures had to be very high to overcome intrinsic sudden oversteer. The average driver was not capable of dealing with such tricky handling.
MANY PEOPLE INCLUDING MYSELF PUT ON WIDER TIRES , NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH STEERING , SAME AIR PRESSURE IN REAR AND FRONT TIRES . I have also driven with regular tires and never had wrecks or roll-overs etc. i have owned and driven more than one. Usually it's easy to know people who haven't owned and driven one.
@@62hotrodvair Agreed Ive had 2 one factory spec 65 Monza, put wider tyres in the back and just pay attention, people are too conditioned. The other was a 65Monza sitting on a CJ2 frame with a pinto mootor and the transfer case so that didnt count haha.
Unsafe at Any Speed is a book, not a car. Unsafe at Any Speed is also a book about several cars including Chryslers, Volkswagens, Cadillacs etc. Unsafe at Any Speed is NOT a book about the Corvair. Unsafe at Any Speed is a book written by a lawer, not an automotive engineer or safety expert. Unsafe at Any Speed has only one chapter regarding the 1960-63 Corvair. The claims regarding the 60-63 only Corvairs were proven false by the National Highway Traffic Administration after an extensive study completed over 2 years by phyisics experts, automotive traffic crash and safety experts. That was in 1972!! Corvair so far is the only car proven safe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unsafe at Any Speed praised the design of the 1965-69 Corvair in regards to safety! The Corvair was never, banned, discontinued, or recalled for any safety defects.
My mother had a 1963 Corvair. She loved it until Ralph Nader started squawking about it being “unsafe at any speed” and then someone crashed into her at an intersection. Lol.
@@kurtperleberf6983 I think it wasn't until 66 or'67, but motorcyclists had been running the route for a number of years before it became known as the Baja 1000. Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen had been ripping around there in the early 1960's on motorcycles. There was a similar race called the Carrera Panamericana that was longer in the 1950's. There was a Lincoln that did well in it one year, not sure if it was sponsored by Ford, but my friend's dad bought a Lincoln because of that. Was always a bucket list thing for me, but considering I'm 56 and haven't been west of the Mississippi yet, it probably won't happen. lol Oh yeah, and I'm broke. lol 2 kids in college. I am gonna get to Bonneville though, as a spectator. Cool thread, and a another neat little Periscope gem. Cheers!
Corvir was a nice car in the sixties i like when they showed the corvirs drive through the country cities town and through Mexico and South America the weather and the treacherous roads and through water
Notice the lack of road debris/grime on the sides of the vehicles and windshields? The crews must have washed those cars on a daily, or hourly, basis to keep them looking in near pristine condition for the entire drive. Ah! But I just saw @13:50 a layer of dust on a Corvair.
Now everyone thinks they have to have a 4x4....... Ralph Nader be damned! We all just need a Corvair!! And drive sensible...... Best line "Roads with rocks the size of coconuts"
Ok. I have always loved the Corvair. It got shot down by nader. One problem I have with this vid. When the bulldozer was pulling the car across the river, the entire engine was under water.. No way it started without some serious work. Generator and electric systems soaked. Engine and transmission full of water. Brake drums and wheel bearings flooded.. but guess what, I still love the corvair😎
Agreed , these corvairs would have had to have things done to them to flush out water etc. the video is showing only one side of the story to push the whole trip video . But they regardless are great little cars .
I'm sure they were sealed up and waterproofed to ford the rivers seen in the film... even when they were crossing rivers under their own power, the distributors would have to be sealed off to keep the ignition dry, but their intakes were obviously above water. They'd have to have snorkel kits installed to go through water over the back engine cover. Brakes would get swamped but that's not a problem-- just drag them a bit a few times to heat them up and dry them out. You can install an air trap (upside down "U" in the breather hose off the transmission/axle and keep water out, not great mystery there. Guys have been modifying and sealing off vehicles for decades to ford rivers and drive in deep water under their own power without water intrusion. Later! OL J R :)
They had under steer bad if you put over 22 PSI in the front tires.. Later models very vastly improved with better trailing arm suspension Geometry .. I almost bought a Caviar for my first car . Would have bought a nice clean one from a Cousin .. My Father heard the Propaganda that they were dangerous.. So I ended up with a 1970 Chevy Impala
@@mikeskidmore6754 1960 was their first attempt at this design and it most definitely had some teething issues. If it hadn't been so maligned by R. Nader, imagine where the car could've ended up in history. We could still have a version that competes against other rear engine sports cars today.
THESE are the brake lights that the whole field watched at Le Mans 1967 - Shelby used them on the GT40 Mk IV driven by Foyt & Ruby. This car also was Bob Lutz's favourite daily driver ever -Jerry Garcia's likewise - and the guy who designed the Avanti for Studebaker drove one of these to work
I had a '64 Monza with 4 on the floor and it was great. I would put the car in a powered drift around corners in snow. If you knew what you were doing you could hang the tail out very easily except on a dry surface because there wasn't much power. However I can see how an air head driving the car could easily lose control. You had to stay one step ahead of the car. If you ever were one step behind the car, the inertial movement could get away from you very quickly. You had to think several moves ahead as you gave the car inputs. I did have Michelin radials on the car when I had it in 1977 though. I don't think I would want to drive it with bias plys because if the soft sidewalls ever tucked under in a drift I can see how you could easily roll the car
Truth vs fiction.. those 3 cars at the end clearly are not the cars taken into the jungle. The truth is there were 6 vehicles on the trip.. and only 2 Corvairs actually made it out of the whole 6 vehicle convoy. One of the corvairs still rots down there. Great video though however a little embellished for advertising reasons ;)
You notice that the sheet metal sides of the cars are kept clean in the film; yet, in reality, a few miles of driving on those wet roads should have coated the sheet metal with a layer of crud,
i put lots of miles on a Corsair and never had a motor fallout whin i found out about this possible problem there were some simple fixes for this although the lee-key oil switch drove me crazy the stock one could not take the Heat
The early Pontiac tempest also had the same rear transaxel & they had the same tuck & roll issue but Ralph didn't go after them because GM took it out of the tempest by 1965. The early tempest came in a 4 or 6 cylinder model. Engine up front , transaxel in the rear for balance. In 1964 they put a 389 cid under the hood 4 speed posi track & called it the GTO. I own a 1966 tubo charged corvair Corsa. Many people didn't know that there had to be a 10 pound air difference between the front & rear wheels, it says so right in the owners manual but who reads those thing, that is what accounted for the poor handling for many people. When I was a kid, dad bought a 1964 Monza 110 4 speed used in September of 1965. Heading out for or grand parents for Thanksgiving, Bruno the owner of the local gas station said let me check your tires. He told my dad that all your tires are low on air, especially the front ones. He filled them all to 32 pounds, standard for that time. Less than 50 miles down the freeway & it was uncontrollable in wet sloppy snow. Ended up going down in the ditch on the right, up an embankment & then back through the ditch & back up onto the road. Monday after Thanksgiving dad had to take it in for a front end alignment. I've never driven mine in the snow, nor ever will , third owner with 57 thousand miles all original seats, carpets & headliner, looks like it 4--5 yrs old.
I love these old films but they’re definitely propaganda. What the video doesn’t tell you is that the original plan was to do the *entire* Pan American Highway, not to end in Panama. The 66 mile Darién Gap in the highway that is usually too treacherous for most vehicles actually claimed one of the Corvairs and only two made it out-still impressive but not great for marketing. The other one is still in the jungle and can be hiked to today.
himinn The picture I’ve seen was from a group of 5 who crossed the gap on foot in 1996. The pic of them posing with the Corvair is about 1/3 of the way down the Wikipedia page for “Darién Gap.” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darién_Gap
✝️🇺🇸👍 lol had one in the junkyard yard growing up that had such great heaters 🤦♂️ just as good as the vw bug so yes a metal 5 gallon bucket with wood fire just for safety. Man I miss them days
Standard rims were 5 inches, the "extra" wide rims were a whopping 5.5 inches. That's a 1/4 inch on each side! What's really funny is that the tread width of the tires was only about 3 inches regardless of how wide the rims were.
Can you imagine trying to make this Drive in 2020? Too many Banditos .. I wanted to make this Trip on an Adventure Motorcycle .. I have been told you still can't drive to South American even today .. You have to get on a ship or a Ferry .. Too much Red Tape Passports Visa's Insurance ect.. import tariffs..
One interesting thing I learned from a Guatemalan who lived in New Jersey...15 or 20 years ago she and her brother drove from New Jersey to Guatemala, and, while driving through Mexico, they were robbed by banditos dressed as police officers (for some reason she thinks they were not real police officers, but, from what I've seen and read about Mexico, that certainly could have been a possibility). Anyway, a few years ago, she and her brother took another drive to Guatemala. This time, though, they paid a fee and became part of a caravan of vehicles, arranged by the Mexican government, for people driving across the country. The caravan is led by a Mexican federal officer. So, basically, pay a fee and you get the safety of a federal escort and people in other vehicles accompanying you.
@@thehighllama8101 I have dated two women from Guatemala .. One still owns a beauty Parlor in Guatemala and she was telling me how the Mafia was trying to shake her down .. I had a friend who had a Ford Econoline Van He and a friend were going to drive around in MX.. he was theft Proofing it from the Police or fake Police there are both .. Like taking all the knobs off from the manually locking door locks.. It's a serious problem in MX getting a shake down from the Police. The other Gal I dated came to Chicago as a Teenager when her Father Got Political asylum... The Military was killing and running the Natives off from the Banana growing Land.. He tried to warn the Natives they would be killed.. Yet the Natives wanted to kill him because he was in the Military .. but his biggest threat was from the Military for warning the Natives.. He left his daughter with strangers to raise her.. She always resented that and would not speak to her Father even on his death bed. I pointed out to her that she got a College Education and made enough money as a Dental Hygienist to invest first in a excavating business with her Brother and to later own her own trucking business.. She did very little on Social Media .. because say you had a Face Book page and you posted photos of your trucks or excavators they would try to rob you or kidnap you for ransom.. In Colombia and Brazil a Gringo should never go with a unknown taxi driver only a trusted one from say a Hotel you are staying at or you could be robbed .. kidnapped or even murdered ..
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I had a 66 Monza ....that made me look way cooler..... than what I actually am.(and I'm pretty damn cool) 👊🏻🤣👍 If I didn't lose it for being a jack ass , I would've died in it from (coolness overload)
I thought one of the Corvairs didn't make the full trip, because one of them had a miscalculated amount a fuel. Some of the crew members left to get more fuel but the car ended up being stranded and left to junk for over 60 years
I do not think that this car has supported everything I saw here, especially that it sank through a river and came out thanks to a Caterpiller and continued its journey calmly. In the 60's they also lied in advertisements...
There is no way after being submerged in water they just turned the key and drove off. At the very least they had to remove the plugs and crank water out of the cylinders. I'm sure the oil would need changed too. The transaxle probably got water in it as well and would need fluid changed or it would also fail. Everything else was impressive.
If the engines were off and the vents/inlets sealed up to prevent water intrusion, and the distributors sealed off to keep water out, and they were towed across by the dozer, then yeah. They build snorkel kits and guys have been sealing off the distributors and stuff for decades in order to ford rivers up to the windshield and door windows for decades. Later! OL J R :)
The Corvair didn't deserve the bad reputation that was dropped on it, but this film is mostly Chevrolet propaganda once they hit the real offroad parts. There's still Corvairs rusting away in the jungle from the making of this film.
@@jacksons1010 it's been my dream to go there and drive back but I bring it up to my elders and they say "Oh you don't want to do that in these dark times due to the cartels and banditos government police corruption" I obviously don't know but would like to try so to answer your question I suppose that I've been brainwashed into believing in those things
They were played in movie theaters before the featured shows. The local dealerships would pay movie theater owners to play them. Also they were shown at the dealerships themselves sometimes,
Overly complex engineering for basically a grocery-getting, errand-running, second car. Expensive for class air-cooled engine dictates sub par interior detailing in lower trim models, inefficient gasoline heater, and initial elimination of a necessary anti-roll bar. Marketing later changed and promoted the Corvair 900 Monza Coupe and Convertible as a low-price sports car. A better solution for this small family car would have been front wheel drive with water cooled transverse mounted engine perhaps sourced from Opel. GM also let Ed Cole screw up the Vega with expensive aluminum engine dictating quality cuts in that car. Even though the Vega was a gift to the Japanese car companies, Cole was revered at GM and allowed to retire at the usual age.
It was built for two basic reasons. One was to compete directly with the VW Beetles, and the second was to test transaxle and rear engine design engineering which the Corvette engineers wanted but GM brass wouldn't approve. After the early success of the Corvair, the executives finally allowed Duntov (the lead engineer for the Corvette) to build rear engine and mid engine Corvette prototypes, but in the end it was still considered too expensive at the time.
@@livewire2759 The Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant were also new for 1960 to compete with the Beetle and all the other cheap imports and they sold better. The mistake Cole made was that he believed his small sedan should have a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine like the successful Beetle and Fiat 500. In contrast, most American car buyers of that era thought a small American sedan should be a scaled down big car...front water-cooled engine and rear wheel drive. The Corvair also had other disadvantages ...storage compartment in the front that was poorly shaped for hauling luggage and groceries, very low driving position requiring awkward entering and exiting, front tire pressures much lower than in the rear which casual drivers were ignorant of or ignored, and dramatic oversteer if driven aggressively. In fact, sales were so weak upon introduction that a short 18-month development time brought out the more competitive Chevy II for 1962. Sorry, I am unaware of any rear engine Corvette development.
@@SpockvsMcCoy I agree with you for the most part. My comment was just to clarify WHY they tried the Corvair rather than just a scaled down sedan like Ford and Plymouth did. You're right, the Corvair didn't sell well enough, so they had to make the Chevy II to compete with the Ford and Plymouth cars, but the Corvair was never really meant to compete in the sub compact market, it was actually intended to be more of a sport compact at first. It was really a cheap way of doing R&D for the Corvette, but GM executives didn't want another Chevy sports car, so they compromised and made the sport compact Corvair with the option of a sedan model. In hindsight, the Corvair sedan (and the pickups and vans) turned out to be a bit of a flop, but after the Chevy II filled the slot for a sub compact sedan, Corvair engineers were able to focus on it being sporty again. The real trick was how the engineers convinced the top brass that they should build a car to compete directly with the very popular VW Beetle. The Corvair was basically a smaller version of the standard Chevy frame with VW suspension and drivetrain, and a Chevy body. Therefore, I consider it UNDER engineered. Had they taken the time to design a unique suspension system, they wouldn't have had the problems that ended up condemning the car. Anyway, as for the connection to the Corvette, the Beetle is sort of a poor man's Porsche, so Chevy engineers wanted to make a poor man's Corvette, and the Corvair was the result. Zora Arkus Duntov, a Swiss race car driver and engineer, was hired in 1954 as the lead engineer for the Corvette. His hope from the beginning was to build a rear, or even mid, engine Corvette to defeat even the top tier European sports cars, of which many were rear engine and mid engine cars. The problem was that the Corvette wasn't selling very well in the mid 50s, so the executives didn't want to sink a bunch of money into the car, in case they decided to scrap it. So when the engineers proposed an entirely new car to compete in the sport compact market, a compromise was made to build the car as a 2 door coupe, 4 door sedan, as well as a pickup and van to compete with the entire VW lineup. Duntov got his rear engine experiment, and GM got a whole new line of cars. So, with a new rear engine car ready to go in '59 for the 1960 model year, Duntov got to work adapting some ideas to the Corvette, which resulted in a prototype built in '63 which looked like the Mako Shark concept car, but with a shorter hood and longer deck to accomodate an engine in the rear. They used a marine 327 mounted backwards to a Corvair transaxle to create the only rear engine Corvette ever made. the prototype still exists, there are videos here on TH-cam about it.
@@livewire2759 I have never read anything about the Corvair's development indicating it was intended as a sport compact. Look at the numerous early ads at introduction from the 1960 model year...most of the ads show young females in groups, young females with young children, or young families with children... all similar in tone to the contemporary ads for the Falcon and Valiant. These are ads emphasizing thriftiness, functionality and family friendliness...not sportiness. Also an American sport compact, with sufficient power train and suspension, would not have been possible at the price point necessary to compete. Full-sized cars ruled in that day and most Americans equated size with price. All the American compacts sold far fewer units so American compacts had to be cheap to build. There is a great 1960 Falcon vs Corvair comparison filmstrip on TH-cam that Ford used for sales training to show how the Falcon was more practical and better trimmed at its price point. GM designed a smaller companion Chevrolet sedan using conventional engineering during WWII but decided against selling it in North American. That car became the 1948 Holden sold in Australia. Also Ford did the same thing during the War but that car was only sold in Europe as the Ford Vedette. But by 1960 more women had careers outside the home and didn't want a large American car but didn't want a cramped foreign car with manual transmission either. Also the standard of living was rising and more families could afford a second new car for Mom and the kids. I don't think GM was trying to sell them a performance orientated sport compact. Unsure why you believe the Corvair used a smaller version of the standard Chevy frame...the Corvair was unit body and the standard Chevrolet was body on frame. The two cars were night and day different. In addition the Beetle was never the poor man's Porsche...that was the Karmann Ghia which had expensive bodywork.
@@stainedred5463 fred rogers just called... he asked me to politely request you to stop being yourself... he doesn't think it's such a good idea this time
Uh oh... Looks like one broke down. Started out with 3 then there's only 2. Maybe it was stolen by 🇲🇽 or in shop for Tuck and roll...New engine & back to 3
I call that one picture at the end the extreme car wash what a way to get your car clean inside and out outside mostly they were pretty waterproof heater vents must have been closed
My father had one in the mid-60s in Nicaragua and we had problems with overheating. This Vehicles were not designed for the Tropic, engine overheating was a constant issue.
It's 1960. They dumped the old oil on the ground, tossed the dirty filter in the ditch, poured new oil in and tossed the empty cans in after the filter.
That's what the suburban was for. They probably brought a bunch of spare parts as well as new oil and filters for the cars, and likely had a top notch mechanic driving it.
If you attempted to make this drive today you would need something bullet proof. Like maybe a Tesla Cybertruck. Am not sure where you would charge it up. If you found a charging station you would probably get robbed.
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
In 1974, in a brand new Volvo station wagon, while living in Panama, my family drove through Panama Costa Rica and Nicaragua El Salvador Guatemala Honduras and Mexico on this road and into the United States. We then drove West to California and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to British Columbia. We then drove from British Columbia to Toronto Canada and enter the United States in Buffalo New York at which time we drove down to Boston where my family was from. After visiting for a while we drove down the East Coast back to Texas, and then back down to Panama. 16000 mi in one summer. I was 8 years old at the time and I'm 54 now and I very much would like to do that trip again before I die.
panama is very small
I hope you get to, it sounds like quite an adventure!
My family moved from Colon, Panama to Brooklyn, New York back in 1967 and they drove the Pan American Highway in my grandfather's 1960 Corvair. Great seeing this video and seeing this as what the trip my familia took in this wonderful car must've been like.
Sounds like GREAT memories, did they recorded any of it in 8mm or pictures?
You moved from one shit-hole city to another. WTF...???!!!
@@danielmota1095 I wasn't born back then, but my mother most likely has photos of that trip as my family shared that story with me many times. Ive seen photos of my grandfather's Corvair before and very nice car.
The professional drivers in this film were the best of the best.. Careening round those mountain roads had me on the edge of my seat. Jam Handy Productions really outdone themselves with this effort.
Our family had a 1964 Convertible and one winter in Washington state (Yakima) we had a snow fall that ranged between three to four feet.
In our neighborhood the Corvair could get around and became the grocery hauler for those who couldn't get around.
Those cars never would have made it without the orchestra music.
I really liked the look and driving of the Corvair. I would buy one today
I like the looks of the later model much better
We have a modern equivalent of the Corvair today. The single motor Tesla S, X, 3 and soon to be released Y. They are low, stylish, roomy and stupid fast even in base form.
No you wouldn't those cars threw fan belts like crazy the engineers ran the the V belt from the crankshaft up and over on a 90 degree angle on to a cooling fan pulley perpendicular to the engine. V belts were never meant to operate in multiple planes..... dumb engineering to save money a GM hallmark to this very day
Shame - Ralph Nadire killed it with his book Unsafe at any Speed! In the 1960’s
I had a 66 Monza that thing looked as cool coming as it did going . I went from instant peewee Herman to rockstar FONZY overnight. Was going to get FU Nader on the license plate.
Beautiful Corvairs Love Them
The 1st generation Corvairs (1960-1964) were very solid cars. They did have their quirks. They did have a tendency to be tail happy and spin out in wet or icy conditions. But there ability to go in said conditions was awesome. They could be driven at sports car speeds in corners and not plow off the road. But you did get the rear end swing axle jacking under certain conditions. You absolutely had to maintain good tire pressure in the rear tires, you had to run 27 to 30 lbs pressure in the rear at all times, otherwise the sidewalls would roll under and you could catch the edges of the rims on the ground and then they could dig in and either snap spin the car or roll over. I spent a lot of time with Corvairs in my teenage years because they were then running 8 to 17 years old and could be obtained for almost free or for free if you hauled them off. Rear suspension camber limiting straps worked to limit tuck under and later we discovered using a wider low profile tire on the rear helped handling a lot. The 140 hp 4 carburetor engines could be tuned to be very responsive and the car was lots of fun to drive in the twisty curvy roads. And they rode very well too. It took some learning to properly work on the engines because they were made of aluminum alloy and used a lot of sheet metal ducting. They would not tolerate over tightening nuts and screws. And you needed to make sure the ducting was in good shape and sealed properly. Plus, make sure the rear flapper doors for the cooling shrouds were in proper working order. I did not experience the fan belt failures which were supposed to be such a problem. I still like Corvairs.
Unfortunately, in the hands of an inexperienced driver or someone who didn't stay on top of maintenance, those "quirks" became very dangerous.
The issue with the tires was exasperated by full service gas stations, the most common type in the early 60's. The guys pumping gas, and checking the car, would adjust the pressure to be equal all around.
The concept was solid. But the engineers failed to take in to account that half the drivers on the road considered remembering to get gas was the extant of their maintenance schedule. John DeLorean claims (In his autobiography, so take it with a grain of salt.) that he tried warning the board of GM about it's problems. But they kept quoting costs and refused to spend a dime more than necessary to get the car out of the door.
Also don't run more than 20 psi or 22 psi in the front tires ..
here is one that handles very well .
th-cam.com/video/3hKn8idEaZE/w-d-xo.html
Mike Skidmore I generally liked to run 22 to 24 in front and 28 to 30 in the rear. That was with belted bias tires. With radials I liked 25 to 27 in the front and 30 to 32 in the rear. Both 1st gen and Second gen were more responsive with the higher pressures. But the 2nd gen really woke up when combined with shortened steering arms. The 2nd gen are really good performing cars, but I am partial to the 1960 model year.
@@americanrambler4972 The owners manual for my 1979 Z-28 CAmaro said 26 PSI front and gear 7" rims 70 series tires.. I put on bigger sway bars and ran 32 PSI all the time .. and now use 60 series tires which really should have an 8" rim like the WS-6 Trans am came with
They were trying to meet VW's reputation for toughness and watertightness.
Corvair fact: Robert Lutz, auto executive extraordinaire, wrote that of all the hundreds of cars he's had, his favorite was his first generation Corvair. True fact.
i still have some , i like Corvairs , used to drive one every day to work for years . CUSTOM 62, DUEL EXTRACTOR PIPES, CUSTOM SUNROOF, 4 SPEED , QUICK STEERING , CENTER CONSOLE CUSTOM BLUEISH PURPLE PAINT CUSTOM RIMS , WIDE FRONT AND BACK TIRES CUSTOM STEERING WHEELS, PADDED DASH .DUAL CARBS, ETC.HAVE WON TROPHIES AT CAR SHOWS IN THE PAST , FUN CARS .
OMG- this Made my day I owned one of these!!!! I am Going to be Laughing all day >> Thanks
The Corvairs were later sold as "Program Cars"!!! Very fun movie!
yes but one car was lost but recently found in the Darién Gap
@@microbusss thecitypaperbogota.com/travel/pacific-travel-guide/the-lost-corvair/1429
@@DouglasUrantia Thanks for posting this article!!: I guess it satisfies the curiosity of many of us who want to know more details about this epic trip (despite the fact the car was good or not).
All of the driving shown in this film can now be covered on smooth paved highways.
The follow up film called Daring The Darien covers the rest of the trip from Panama City and across the Darien Gap.
When civility was still in abundance.
i see you're enjoying those rose coloured spectacles
Bill Myers I knew it. Someone always has to bring race into it. What a racists.
@@ajones3038 He's not wearing clown world glasses like you are. It WAS BETTER back then.
That’s a badass Suburban 4WD.
Here is a nice 55 Suburban Carry all .. as I understood it Suburban was 1/2 ton Carry all was 3/4 ton in the late 1970's
Mike Skidmore I looked it up. This is a 1960. There were no 3/4 ton Suburbans from 1960-69. They were all called “Suburban Carryall” ‘s. There were 4WD ones. This one has some wider wheels on the back.
These were great little cars. The rear suspension if it worried you was easily tamed by a camber comensator from EMPI, they also made one for VW's with the same suspension (swing axle) and back then? it was 29.95. Some issues accoured with service techs, Many didn't want to work on air cooled. I did very well with my own shop working on VW, Porsche and Corvair's. I loved working on air coolers. Had a 64 convertible in the 80's did a full resoration on it. Great little car. I never had a 65-69 model but always wanted one. And - - you can still get lots of parts through Clark's Corvair parts. They've been doing it since 1973. As to Nader? He did get the whole "safety thing" going but has been proved incorrect on the Corvair many times over.
We got one in 1960 and loved it, I got one in 1968 lover it, wish I still had the 1968 loved it.
Where can I buy one? When are they being launched?
Ralph Nader has one
Corvairs were fun.
*EXTRA WIDE WHEELS!!!!* 😆😂😂😂😆😆 I choked!! 😆😂😜
I learned to drive in that Car. My Dad had one...
Would you believe, it NEVER ROLLED OVER?
F'in Nader! 😡😡😡
Nader would probably roll over in his grave If he saw what today’s cars are and how crap they are and choked to death with how cars have to meet standards
Daniel Frederick You’re being sarcastic, right? Nader is a first-order narcissistic douchebag, but he did help get the move to safety regulations on the right path. Cars today are way safer.
Daniel Frederick It’d be a bit difficult for Nader to roll over in his grave, since he’s still alive at the time that we’re writing these comments. 😉
@@danielfrederick306 Incorrect about Nader, but right about everything else....
Today's Cars MAY be safe - but they also give a false sense of security!
Because of the Safety Features, some idiots have decided that Driver's Education no longer needed to be required in School.
Cars today are also more powerful than they've EVER BEEN!! We've now got two generations of People who NEVER learned the Rules of the Road, never learned proper control and handling of these powerful Cars - and MAMMOTH SUVs!!!
Cars have been SUED into these high-tech, Safety laden, GROSSLY overpriced Machines, that way too many People barrel down the Road in, WITHOUT proper training, all assuming....
"The CAR will save me"...
Back in the Day, and NO Millennial will know this - we HAD to KNOW how to control a Car, and respect the Rules of the Road! Even if some of us broke a few Traffic Laws!!
Today, a decent New Car is between $30,000-$50,000.... UNLESS you don't mind a *3 cylinder shitbox* for about *$15,000!!!* 😳😳
My first new Car was an 82 Mustang GT, FULLY loaded... It cost me a whopping $6100! And it never ONCE tried to kill me. 😜
The original Corvair had a Rear Swing Arm type Suspension. On high speed curves, if you happen to let off the gas in the middle of the turn... The Rear Wheel COULD tuck under, causing the Car to skip or even Roll Over...
The VW Beetle had the SAME type Rear Suspension - but only 30-40hp! It didn't experience this.
Some People WERE concerned about this... So Chevrolet, at great expense, redesigned the Rear Suspension of the Corvair by 1966, with a Double Wishbone setup. State of the Art back then! The Cars handled beautifully - and didn't even look like SICK TURTLES anymore!!!
*BUT, Ralph Nader, in all his self righteousness,* HAD to kill the Corvair anyway, and destroy its reputation!
"History" today, won't reflect ALL the facts....
My friend had one and the way he drove it I would say it's impossible to roll them over Hew had a late model much improved one
DRIVERS #1,2,&3.
WHAT!! WE HAVE TO DRIVE THEM BACK TO CHICAGO????
SHIIIITTTT!!!
Ive been on a Corvair kick today, I wish the car companies woulld spool up and make simple inexpensive cars/ trucks like these again, I own 4 1960/70s/80s trucks and wagons all of them cheap and easy to fix reasonable gas milage. Screw all the chips /sensors/AC ya dont need that crap roll down and smokers wings..
One Corvair had quite a collection of trinkets in the rear window! Most have been doing some shopping for the kids back home!
I had a Cor-van in college. Fun to drive but the engine was problematic .....had it four years. Bought it for 200 and sold it for 200...
How many fan belts did you replace on that car?
The Corvairs ended up 150 pounds heavier in the rear than it was designed for. That combined with the swing axle was a death trap.. GM KNEW about this in testing and Bunkie Knudsen asked for a camber compensator to correct the tuck under and at 5 dollars a car extra, GM brass said no...
They said no because it wasn't really necessary. Don't turn corners at 90 miles per hour and it's a perfectly safe car. Ralph Nader is a propagandist, not a journalist. His book was all about turning people against a giant corporation, lying about the Corvair was just a means to an end.
You know the real history on the corvair , unlike many who think they know things and repeat falsehoods , although corvairs have steadily been growing in value and popularity , just think how much they would have been worth if Chevrolet would have just went that extra 5 dollars . You probably also know who ed Cole is to .
The sporty Corvair. It was so good it created a book : " Unsafe at any speed ".
The rear tyre pressures had to be very high to overcome intrinsic sudden oversteer. The average driver was not capable of dealing with such tricky handling.
MANY PEOPLE INCLUDING MYSELF PUT ON WIDER TIRES , NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH STEERING , SAME AIR PRESSURE IN REAR AND FRONT TIRES . I have also driven with regular tires and never had wrecks or roll-overs etc. i have owned and driven more than one. Usually it's easy to know people who haven't owned and driven one.
@@62hotrodvair Agreed Ive had 2 one factory spec 65 Monza, put wider tyres in the back and just pay attention, people are too conditioned. The other was a 65Monza sitting on a CJ2 frame with a pinto mootor and the transfer case so that didnt count haha.
Unsafe at Any Speed is a book, not a car. Unsafe at Any Speed is also a book about several cars including Chryslers, Volkswagens, Cadillacs etc. Unsafe at Any Speed is NOT a book about the Corvair. Unsafe at Any Speed is a book written by a lawer, not an automotive engineer or safety expert. Unsafe at Any Speed has only one chapter regarding the 1960-63 Corvair. The claims regarding the 60-63 only Corvairs were proven false by the National Highway Traffic Administration after an extensive study completed over 2 years by phyisics experts, automotive traffic crash and safety experts. That was in 1972!! Corvair so far is the only car proven safe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unsafe at Any Speed praised the design of the 1965-69 Corvair in regards to safety! The Corvair was never, banned, discontinued, or recalled for any safety defects.
So every Corvair came complete with a bulldozer as a standard feature or was the dozer optional ?
LincolnTek 😂😆🤣😝
Only if you paid for the highest level of OnStar
Sha . . . came with a bulldozer! You know they didn’t come with a bulldozer.
..and those cars didn't get stuck in that mud and muck...yeah right.
The ones that were moving didn't get stuck, the other 2000 red cars did and were thrown off the cliffs out of camera view.
Wonder how many tires they went through speeding down those jagged rock trails. Notice they had 4 wheel drive Suburbans as well.
Those bias-plied tires of that era were a lot more susceptible to flats/blowouts than the steel-belted radials of nowadays.
Mr. Toyoda was taking notes. :O
My mother had a 1963 Corvair. She loved it until Ralph Nader started squawking about it being “unsafe at any speed” and then someone crashed into her at an intersection. Lol.
I want to buy a Corvair now! It’s a shame that they were canned because of one author. 😒
It wasn't just Nader. The Mustang did more to kill the Corvair than Nader did.
You can still buy one, they're out there!
GM should have entered the Covairs in the Baja 1,000
That would be great for GM! But wait.when was the first Baja 1000!
@@kurtperleberf6983 I think it wasn't until 66 or'67, but motorcyclists had been running the route for a number of years before it became known as the Baja 1000. Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen had been ripping around there in the early 1960's on motorcycles. There was a similar race called the Carrera Panamericana that was longer in the 1950's. There was a Lincoln that did well in it one year, not sure if it was sponsored by Ford, but my friend's dad bought a Lincoln because of that. Was always a bucket list thing for me, but considering I'm 56 and haven't been west of the Mississippi yet, it probably won't happen. lol Oh yeah, and I'm broke. lol 2 kids in college. I am gonna get to Bonneville though, as a spectator. Cool thread, and a another neat little Periscope gem. Cheers!
Nader was a greedy jerk. I wanted a Corvair as the next car after my Beetle. Alas it never happened. I still like both cars.
Corvir was a nice car in the sixties i like when they showed the corvirs drive through the country cities town and through Mexico and South America the weather and the treacherous roads and through water
Yes, this was when the most treacherous thing about driving in Mexico was the roads was the roads, not the people.
Notice the lack of road debris/grime on the sides of the vehicles and windshields? The crews must have washed those cars on a daily, or hourly, basis to keep them looking in near pristine condition for the entire drive.
Ah! But I just saw @13:50 a layer of dust on a Corvair.
Drove through all that crap, then got a free car wash, near the end! :D
Now everyone thinks they have to have a 4x4....... Ralph Nader be damned! We all just need a Corvair!! And drive sensible...... Best line "Roads with rocks the size of coconuts"
Ok. I have always loved the Corvair. It got shot down by nader. One problem I have with this vid. When the bulldozer was pulling the car across the river, the entire engine was under water.. No way it started without some serious work. Generator and electric systems soaked. Engine and transmission full of water. Brake drums and wheel bearings flooded.. but guess what, I still love the corvair😎
Agreed , these corvairs would have had to have things done to them to flush out water etc. the video is showing only one side of the story to push the whole trip video . But they regardless are great little cars .
I'm sure they were sealed up and waterproofed to ford the rivers seen in the film... even when they were crossing rivers under their own power, the distributors would have to be sealed off to keep the ignition dry, but their intakes were obviously above water. They'd have to have snorkel kits installed to go through water over the back engine cover. Brakes would get swamped but that's not a problem-- just drag them a bit a few times to heat them up and dry them out. You can install an air trap (upside down "U" in the breather hose off the transmission/axle and keep water out, not great mystery there. Guys have been modifying and sealing off vehicles for decades to ford rivers and drive in deep water under their own power without water intrusion. Later! OL J R :)
Sad that this car was targeted as unsafe. Just because some woman tried to do a U-turn at 35 mph...
They had under steer bad if you put over 22 PSI in the front tires.. Later models very vastly improved with better trailing arm suspension Geometry .. I almost bought a Caviar for my first car . Would have bought a nice clean one from a Cousin .. My Father heard the Propaganda that they were dangerous.. So I ended up with a 1970 Chevy Impala
@@mikeskidmore6754 1960 was their first attempt at this design and it most definitely had some teething issues. If it hadn't been so maligned by R. Nader, imagine where the car could've ended up in history.
We could still have a version that competes against other rear engine sports cars today.
Pha Q that’s optimistic
@@Clipper1094 I know, optimism is a rare attitude these days. But I refuse to change, just because nobody else is doing it... 😂🤣👍
Ralph Nader said it was Unsafe At Any Speed.
THESE are the brake lights that the whole field watched at Le Mans 1967 - Shelby used them on the GT40 Mk IV driven by Foyt & Ruby.
This car also was Bob Lutz's favourite daily driver ever -Jerry Garcia's likewise - and the guy who designed the Avanti for Studebaker drove one of these to work
In 2020 Gerneral Motors is a Pension Company that makes a few cars..
more like a few crappy cars
I wish periscope would put the video counter AT THE TOP of the screen.............
The corvair sure does not look unsafe to me.
I had a '64 Monza with 4 on the floor and it was great. I would put the car in a powered drift around corners in snow. If you knew what you were doing you could hang the tail out very easily except on a dry surface because there wasn't much power. However I can see how an air head driving the car could easily lose control. You had to stay one step ahead of the car. If you ever were one step behind the car, the inertial movement could get away from you very quickly. You had to think several moves ahead as you gave the car inputs. I did have Michelin radials on the car when I had it in 1977 though. I don't think I would want to drive it with bias plys because if the soft sidewalls ever tucked under in a drift I can see how you could easily roll the car
Truth vs fiction.. those 3 cars at the end clearly are not the cars taken into the jungle. The truth is there were 6 vehicles on the trip.. and only 2 Corvairs actually made it out of the whole 6 vehicle convoy. One of the corvairs still rots down there. Great video though however a little embellished for advertising reasons ;)
You notice that the sheet metal sides of the cars are kept clean in the film; yet, in reality, a few miles of driving on those wet roads should have coated the sheet metal with a layer of crud,
I’m shocked none of the engines fell out
Me too 😱
@@cowboyspawn no truth in a commercial movie!
i put lots of miles on a Corsair and never had a motor fallout whin i found out about this possible problem there were some simple fixes for this although the lee-key oil switch drove me crazy the stock one could not take the Heat
The early Pontiac tempest also had the same rear transaxel & they had the same tuck & roll issue but Ralph didn't go after them because GM took it out of the tempest by 1965. The early tempest came in a 4 or 6 cylinder model. Engine up front , transaxel in the rear for balance. In 1964 they put a 389 cid under the hood 4 speed posi track & called it the GTO. I own a 1966 tubo charged corvair Corsa. Many people didn't know that there had to be a 10 pound air difference between the front & rear wheels, it says so right in the owners manual but who reads those thing, that is what accounted for the poor handling for many people. When I was a kid, dad bought a 1964 Monza 110 4 speed used in September of 1965. Heading out for or grand parents for Thanksgiving, Bruno the owner of the local gas station said let me check your tires. He told my dad that all your tires are low on air, especially the front ones. He filled them all to 32 pounds, standard for that time. Less than 50 miles down the freeway & it was uncontrollable in wet sloppy snow. Ended up going down in the ditch on the right, up an embankment & then back through the ditch & back up onto the road. Monday after Thanksgiving dad had to take it in for a front end alignment. I've never driven mine in the snow, nor ever will , third owner with 57 thousand miles all original seats, carpets & headliner, looks like it 4--5 yrs old.
I love these old films but they’re definitely propaganda. What the video doesn’t tell you is that the original plan was to do the *entire* Pan American Highway, not to end in Panama. The 66 mile Darién Gap in the highway that is usually too treacherous for most vehicles actually claimed one of the Corvairs and only two made it out-still impressive but not great for marketing. The other one is still in the jungle and can be hiked to today.
do you have a source to this? i'd love to know if there's like pictures of it somewhere on the internet.
@@theunknown1685 thecitypaperbogota.com/travel/pacific-travel-guide/the-lost-corvair/1429
himinn
Search “The lost Corvair of the Darien”
thecitypaperbogota.com/travel/pacific-travel-guide/the-lost-corvair/1429
himinn The picture I’ve seen was from a group of 5 who crossed the gap on foot in 1996. The pic of them posing with the Corvair is about 1/3 of the way down the Wikipedia page for “Darién Gap.” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darién_Gap
..yep..I hiked to it one day...had a ham sandwich while sitting on the hood..
Wow, that map is freakishly disproportionate
Unsafe at any speed??? well, even here a 'balance weight' was mentioned.
had to watch the psi, too..
Great vid.saw one where I grew up.. New in '62.
My older sister had one....You'd know where she had been due to the quart of oil her Monza left everywhere she would park!
No air conditioning in those models, wow, idk how they did it lol..
Rock, loosened by early rains, looms as an additional hazard, a delaying hazard, working with the rains, which begin earlier each day.
Those Corvairs should have been three different colors..
I agree (red white and blue?) ;-)
Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.
My first thought as well.
Red makes them easier to see in the jungle and in the mud. Stands out better.
What the hell are you talking about? They were!!
That mud!!!!!
Chocolate mousse! Wouldn't want to lose a boot in there.
I wonder what the engine and inyerior of the little Chevy looks like
✝️🇺🇸👍 lol had one in the junkyard yard growing up that had such great heaters 🤦♂️ just as good as the vw bug so yes a metal 5 gallon bucket with wood fire just for safety. Man I miss them days
12:54 - 22 mpg!!!
The CHEVROLET Cars had Changed Their New Design Finale 50s and Early The 1960s " FROM HERE TO THERE "
Try to drive a car from today through a river.
Jeep Wrangler can do it no problem.
@@robc8468 Not if you get the computers wet.... They don't weatherproof the connectors inside the cab.
Extra wide rims? I'd hate to see normal width ones!
Standard ones resembled a modern day mini soare 😆
A friend had a Chevy II. The spec tires on it are very narrow. Normal for the time, but I've seen modern motorcycles with wider treads today.
Gary McPherson 😝😁😆
Standard rims were 5 inches, the "extra" wide rims were a whopping 5.5 inches. That's a 1/4 inch on each side!
What's really funny is that the tread width of the tires was only about 3 inches regardless of how wide the rims were.
Awesome right? Back in 60s When people used to travel safety across countries without cartels
Yes. I wish that trip was feasible.
Drugs and guns were legal in those years so again, how did prohibition works?
Thanks war on drugs. Epic fail.
Can you imagine trying to make this Drive in 2020? Too many Banditos .. I wanted to make this Trip on an Adventure Motorcycle .. I have been told you still can't drive to South American even today .. You have to get on a ship or a Ferry .. Too much Red Tape Passports Visa's Insurance ect.. import tariffs..
One interesting thing I learned from a Guatemalan who lived in New Jersey...15 or 20 years ago she and her brother drove from New Jersey to Guatemala, and, while driving through Mexico, they were robbed by banditos dressed as police officers (for some reason she thinks they were not real police officers, but, from what I've seen and read about Mexico, that certainly could have been a possibility). Anyway, a few years ago, she and her brother took another drive to Guatemala. This time, though, they paid a fee and became part of a caravan of vehicles, arranged by the Mexican government, for people driving across the country. The caravan is led by a Mexican federal officer. So, basically, pay a fee and you get the safety of a federal escort and people in other vehicles accompanying you.
@@thehighllama8101 I have dated two women from Guatemala .. One still owns a beauty Parlor in Guatemala and she was telling me how the Mafia was trying to shake her down ..
I had a friend who had a Ford Econoline Van He and a friend were going to drive around in MX.. he was theft Proofing it from the Police or fake Police there are both ..
Like taking all the knobs off from the manually locking door locks.. It's a serious problem in MX getting a shake down from the Police.
The other Gal I dated came to Chicago as a Teenager when her Father Got Political asylum... The Military was killing and running the Natives off from the Banana growing Land.. He tried to warn the Natives they would be killed.. Yet the Natives wanted to kill him because he was in the Military .. but his biggest threat was from the Military for warning the Natives.. He left his daughter with strangers to raise her.. She always resented that and would not speak to her Father even on his death bed. I pointed out to her that she got a College Education and made enough money as a Dental Hygienist to invest first in a excavating business with her Brother and to later own her own trucking business..
She did very little on Social Media .. because say you had a Face Book page and you posted photos of your trucks or excavators they would try to rob you or kidnap you for ransom..
In Colombia and Brazil a Gringo should never go with a unknown taxi driver only a trusted one from say a Hotel you are staying at or you could be robbed .. kidnapped or even murdered ..
even the new suburban can`t do those stunts in stock form.
The most amazing fact I have taken from this film is that the Chevrolet Corvair is no longer in production.
They floated the Corvairs over that river, wonder how they got those Ford trucks onto the opposite bank...? 🤔
@1:21 UFO shadow fer sure.
Do these videos have to have the timer clock?
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Then Ralph Nader killed it.
I had a 66 Monza ....that made me look way cooler..... than what I actually am.(and I'm pretty damn cool)
👊🏻🤣👍 If I didn't lose it for being a jack ass , I would've died in it from (coolness overload)
I thought one of the Corvairs didn't make the full trip, because one of them had a miscalculated amount a fuel. Some of the crew members left to get more fuel but the car ended up being stranded and left to junk for over 60 years
you see them starting to swerve and slide helplessly around corners when suddenly the director dedided to cut to the next scene.
I do not think that this car has supported everything I saw here, especially that it sank through a river and came out thanks to a Caterpiller and continued its journey calmly. In the 60's they also lied in advertisements...
In 1963 a bone stock Corvair from the dealership dominated and won the CANADIAN winter rally. You can look it up online. Just saying'
There is no way after being submerged in water they just turned the key and drove off. At the very least they had to remove the plugs and crank water out of the cylinders. I'm sure the oil would need changed too. The transaxle probably got water in it as well and would need fluid changed or it would also fail. Everything else was impressive.
If the engines were off and the vents/inlets sealed up to prevent water intrusion, and the distributors sealed off to keep water out, and they were towed across by the dozer, then yeah. They build snorkel kits and guys have been sealing off the distributors and stuff for decades in order to ford rivers up to the windshield and door windows for decades. Later! OL J R :)
I kept waiting for Bugs Bunny to appear. The music was right and the announcer was right. Come out Bugs….
The Corvair didn't deserve the bad reputation that was dropped on it, but this film is mostly Chevrolet propaganda once they hit the real offroad parts. There's still Corvairs rusting away in the jungle from the making of this film.
I came.
I saw.
I actually left one car behind in the jungle and faked the ending, but close enough.
True
And we still can't get cars with average 22 mpg
Seriously doubt they didn't have multiple break downs
You sure as snot ain't about to do this drive now a days
Why not? I know people who’ve done the drive to Guatemala multiple times.
@@jacksons1010 it's been my dream to go there and drive back but I bring it up to my elders and they say "Oh you don't want to do that in these dark times due to the cartels and banditos government police corruption" I obviously don't know but would like to try so to answer your question I suppose that I've been brainwashed into believing in those things
Not true. I made the passage via multiple buses in 2018 from LA to Panama. Experienced a wonderful journey.
@@johna.4334 I'd love to try it someday
It would be tough to do that in a jeep
A Wrangler Rubicon with 2 spare tires several "Jerry Cans" for spare gas a 9mm and an AR-15 would be the best way to drive from the US to El Salvador.
These cars wound up on a used car lot, only driven to church by a little old lady
I'm calling horse crap on this one.
Where were these films seen, mostly?
They were played in movie theaters before the featured shows. The local dealerships would pay movie theater owners to play them. Also they were shown at the dealerships themselves sometimes,
12:22 You have got to be shitting me!
Overly complex engineering for basically a grocery-getting, errand-running, second car. Expensive for class air-cooled engine dictates sub par interior detailing in lower trim models, inefficient gasoline heater, and initial elimination of a necessary anti-roll bar. Marketing later changed and promoted the Corvair 900 Monza Coupe and Convertible as a low-price sports car. A better solution for this small family car would have been front wheel drive with water cooled transverse mounted engine perhaps sourced from Opel. GM also let Ed Cole screw up the Vega with expensive aluminum engine dictating quality cuts in that car. Even though the Vega was a gift to the Japanese car companies, Cole was revered at GM and allowed to retire at the usual age.
It was built for two basic reasons. One was to compete directly with the VW Beetles, and the second was to test transaxle and rear engine design engineering which the Corvette engineers wanted but GM brass wouldn't approve. After the early success of the Corvair, the executives finally allowed Duntov (the lead engineer for the Corvette) to build rear engine and mid engine Corvette prototypes, but in the end it was still considered too expensive at the time.
@@livewire2759 The Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant were also new for 1960 to compete with the Beetle and all the other cheap imports and they sold better. The mistake Cole made was that he believed his small sedan should have a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine like the successful Beetle and Fiat 500. In contrast, most American car buyers of that era thought a small American sedan should be a scaled down big car...front water-cooled engine and rear wheel drive. The Corvair also had other disadvantages ...storage compartment in the front that was poorly shaped for hauling luggage and groceries, very low driving position requiring awkward entering and exiting, front tire pressures much lower than in the rear which casual drivers were ignorant of or ignored, and dramatic oversteer if driven aggressively. In fact, sales were so weak upon introduction that a short 18-month development time brought out the more competitive Chevy II for 1962.
Sorry, I am unaware of any rear engine Corvette development.
@@SpockvsMcCoy I agree with you for the most part. My comment was just to clarify WHY they tried the Corvair rather than just a scaled down sedan like Ford and Plymouth did. You're right, the Corvair didn't sell well enough, so they had to make the Chevy II to compete with the Ford and Plymouth cars, but the Corvair was never really meant to compete in the sub compact market, it was actually intended to be more of a sport compact at first. It was really a cheap way of doing R&D for the Corvette, but GM executives didn't want another Chevy sports car, so they compromised and made the sport compact Corvair with the option of a sedan model. In hindsight, the Corvair sedan (and the pickups and vans) turned out to be a bit of a flop, but after the Chevy II filled the slot for a sub compact sedan, Corvair engineers were able to focus on it being sporty again.
The real trick was how the engineers convinced the top brass that they should build a car to compete directly with the very popular VW Beetle. The Corvair was basically a smaller version of the standard Chevy frame with VW suspension and drivetrain, and a Chevy body. Therefore, I consider it UNDER engineered. Had they taken the time to design a unique suspension system, they wouldn't have had the problems that ended up condemning the car.
Anyway, as for the connection to the Corvette, the Beetle is sort of a poor man's Porsche, so Chevy engineers wanted to make a poor man's Corvette, and the Corvair was the result. Zora Arkus Duntov, a Swiss race car driver and engineer, was hired in 1954 as the lead engineer for the Corvette. His hope from the beginning was to build a rear, or even mid, engine Corvette to defeat even the top tier European sports cars, of which many were rear engine and mid engine cars. The problem was that the Corvette wasn't selling very well in the mid 50s, so the executives didn't want to sink a bunch of money into the car, in case they decided to scrap it. So when the engineers proposed an entirely new car to compete in the sport compact market, a compromise was made to build the car as a 2 door coupe, 4 door sedan, as well as a pickup and van to compete with the entire VW lineup. Duntov got his rear engine experiment, and GM got a whole new line of cars.
So, with a new rear engine car ready to go in '59 for the 1960 model year, Duntov got to work adapting some ideas to the Corvette, which resulted in a prototype built in '63 which looked like the Mako Shark concept car, but with a shorter hood and longer deck to accomodate an engine in the rear. They used a marine 327 mounted backwards to a Corvair transaxle to create the only rear engine Corvette ever made. the prototype still exists, there are videos here on TH-cam about it.
@@livewire2759 I have never read anything about the Corvair's development indicating it was intended as a sport compact. Look at the numerous early ads at introduction from the 1960 model year...most of the ads show young females in groups, young females with young children, or young families with children... all similar in tone to the contemporary ads for the Falcon and Valiant. These are ads emphasizing thriftiness, functionality and family friendliness...not sportiness.
Also an American sport compact, with sufficient power train and suspension, would not have been possible at the price point necessary to compete. Full-sized cars ruled in that day and most Americans equated size with price. All the American compacts sold far fewer units so American compacts had to be cheap to build. There is a great 1960 Falcon vs Corvair comparison filmstrip on TH-cam that Ford used for sales training to show how the Falcon was more practical and better trimmed at its price point.
GM designed a smaller companion Chevrolet sedan using conventional engineering during WWII but decided against selling it in North American. That car became the 1948 Holden sold in Australia. Also Ford did the same thing during the War but that car was only sold in Europe as the Ford Vedette. But by 1960 more women had careers outside the home and didn't want a large American car but didn't want a cramped foreign car with manual transmission either. Also the standard of living was rising and more families could afford a second new car for Mom and the kids. I don't think GM was trying to sell them a performance orientated sport compact.
Unsure why you believe the Corvair used a smaller version of the standard Chevy frame...the Corvair was unit body and the standard Chevrolet was body on frame. The two cars were night and day different.
In addition the Beetle was never the poor man's Porsche...that was the Karmann Ghia which had expensive bodywork.
I own a '66 Corsa
Wen all American's had the same enemy commies and socialist.
i was about to call you a wingtard, but i see you beat me to it with a synonymous screen name
@@ajones3038 Did I trigger you snowflake 🤣🤣🤣
@@stainedred5463 not at all, i was just congratulating you on owning your own stupidity via your screen name
@@ajones3038 My screen is not A Jones 4 a Rock btw 🤣🤣🤣
@@stainedred5463 fred rogers just called... he asked me to politely request you to stop being yourself... he doesn't think it's such a good idea this time
...and then came Nader.
Uh oh... Looks like one broke down. Started out with 3 then there's only 2. Maybe it was stolen by 🇲🇽 or in shop for Tuck and roll...New engine & back to 3
I call that one picture at the end the extreme car wash what a way to get your car clean inside and out outside mostly they were pretty waterproof heater vents must have been closed
My father had one in the mid-60s in Nicaragua and we had problems with overheating. This Vehicles were not designed for the Tropic, engine overheating was a constant issue.
I wonder where did they stop for an oil change 🤔🤔
It's 1960. They dumped the old oil on the ground, tossed the dirty filter in the ditch, poured new oil in and tossed the empty cans in after the filter.
That's what the suburban was for. They probably brought a bunch of spare parts as well as new oil and filters for the cars, and likely had a top notch mechanic driving it.
Probably Jiffy Lube
Cheeky advertising.
My dads corviar would catch on fire if he drove it for about a mile
They sure did leak oil
They left at least one in the jungle in the Darien Gap.
There are no roads through the Darien Gap
If you attempted to make this drive today you would need something bullet proof. Like maybe a Tesla Cybertruck. Am not sure where you would charge it up. If you found a charging station you would probably get robbed.
I made a comment about Banditos too .. Solar panels drive for 5 hours then charge for two days ..