1966 Corvair Corsa 4-speed, a first foray into aircooled fun

So I have always had a soft spot for second gen Corvairs. 

A few weeks ago I was driving to lunch from church and I ran across a Corvair parked on the side of the road.  Of course I stopped and looked at it.

The owner, who was visiting a friend, came out and we ended up talking for about fifteen minutes.  He has owned twenty Corvairs and is extremely knowledgeable. Suprisingly he has owned this car for the last 14 years.  

He was selling it to buy a truck.  Conveniently I had a 1999 Silverado I was trying to sell.  I got his number and told him I would let him know. 

I thought about it for several days and then called him Wednesday.  There was no answer so I sent him a text, but it went unanswered. 

The next weekend I drove by the house but the corvair was gone.  I pretty much forgot about the car until Saturday morning. 

I was walking from the car dealership to the tire shop two blocks away to pick up my wife's jeep from getting an oil change.  I stopped at the local Stihl dealership that is next to the timehop to pick up a chain for my saw they were sharpening.  

As I was walking out with my freshly sharpened chain the corvair pulls into the parking lot.  Apparently the owner was picking up a gasket to fix his blower.  What are the odds?

He agreed to look at the Silverado and we end up making a deal on the trade.  

I picked the car up this morning.

So the car is a 4 speed Corsa coupe.  It was originally a turbo.  

The guy I got it from bought it out of North Carolina.  It has been in California and Florida while in his care.

It is a highly optioned car with a telescoping wheel, a remote mirror, an am stereo with a multiplex and a tissue holder!

The car unfortunately no longer has the turbo engine.  It does have a posi rear end with 3.55 gears.  It has a Clark's baffled oil pan, an OT ten cam, an upgraded oil pick up.  The motor was rebuilt with 20 over pistons.  It has 102 heads with rebuilt stock carbs.

It has an electric fuel pump, an upgraded alternator, wildwood front discs, and a dual circuit master cylinder. It also has a fast ratio stereo box and quick steering arms.

I dropped it off this afternoon at the body shop to fix a scrape on the right rear quarter and some damage on the front driver fender.

Love these. When I was about 14, a family friend gave me a 65 Corsa 140 horse (4 carb, naturally aspirated) 4 speed with a blown engine. 

I didn't know anything, didn't have a mentor or a garage to work in, or any money.

I couldn't figure out how to even start to take it apart, so eventually it was reclaimed. I'll always regret letting that slip through my fingers.

That's a really nice looking Corvair.

Dibs when your looking to sell.  That shifter is teh sex.  So jelly.

IF they came any better, I never saw one, Beautiful. the turbo head had sodium filled exhaust valve, but was otherwise a 110 head. the mega trick was 3bbl weber's from Porsche on the 140 head. I hope you can enjoy it.

That sure is pretty!  What did they do for back up lights?

They are in the center pair of rear lights, just don't show up well in the photo angles.

Sweet! 

the bumper guards are rare and relatively expensive.  it's also got factory EZ-Eye tint.  that's a nice car.

Those rims are perfect ........great color!

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Apparently the telescoping column is rare an expensive as well, as is the mirror.

I am excited to get the car back from the body shop.

yeah, the tele column for sure, but you already mentioned it.

remote mirrors on both sides?

i can't remember if sun visor mirrors were an option on Corvairs.   for some reason i'm thinking my '68 monza ragtop 140/4sp had them, but i may have it mixed up with my '66 cutty.

great car!

I am super jelly. I will have one of these at some point, but till then I will live vicariously through you in this thread. Any plans for it at this point other than enjoy it?

Beautiful! That is a really nicely equipped Corvair - just about perfect really.

Plans...

I am getting  the minor body work issues fixed this week.   I will probably change the oil, pretty up some of the wiring and order a set of cocoa mats for it.

I am also probably going to get a different set of wheels.  Not sure what exactly but I think a bbs mesh style wheel would look awesome!

In reply to pimpm3 :

BMW Style 5 FTW!

Get some knockoffs  and drive it ..........detailing rims sucks

Nice car. 

My vote is torque thrusts.

Oh man, that looks really nice.

So is that the turbo engine with the turbo removed or a completely different engine?

Wow,  that’s clean.  Looks great!

In reply to Slippery :

It is a 102 engine that is bored 20 over with a cam.  Not really an expert on Corvairs yet so I am not familiar with all the engine options.

It runs really well and it is about as fast as I expected it to be.  To be honest I have only driven two Corvairs ever.

Sweet. Love these, and that one looks great!

Love it!