Lawrence, you just became my # 4 hero (trailing Mahatma Gandhi, Mike Hailwood and Susan Anthony). I’m a motorcycle guy with 35+ bikes and 5 cars in my dream garage. This Corvair Monza is one of the latter, and seeing you resurrecting a Corsa this way made my day. Particularly like the idea of a fake story, from a…
Yeah. Our area Corvair club had some pretty great racing stories, too. Here’s the podcast with Reggie if you want to hear about his: http://reelsandwheels.libsyn.com/phantasm-with-reggie-and-gigi-bannister-reels-and-wheels
Incidentally, that ‘Peoples’ Grocery’ incident isn’t fiction.
Great Read!!!! I look forward to your further exploits and adventures. My ‘63 was never, ever, ever going to win races. But, it taught me much about cars, engines, brakes, car repair, finances, breakdowns, and to always carry a spare fan belt. Most places don’t carry those giant things anymore. Have fun, keep writing…
Okay, this is a cool project, and an even cooler writing project to go along with it. But what is even cooler for me is that Lawrence Ross is writing it? That might be the first time I’ve ever typed that name outside of APA format, because I’ve quoted books the guy has written in papers and in my dissertation, and…
You know what I hate about YouTube videos? You go on to try and learn about something, and so many of them utterly…
You may think all the best forms of racing have already been invented. I am here to tell you you’re wrong. I have…
Man, I’ve been thinking about doing the EXACT same thing for the past few years: get an old Corvair and dress it up! Why? They can be had cheap and no one else does it. No, it’s not going to become a high-horsepower hot rod. Nah, just add big-flake paint, chrome rims, and make a low-speed,…
Beauty! I grew up in Berkeley too, about the same time, and remember seing Jaguar E type project cars stowed in people’s garages. But this Corvair project looks wonderful- nice bones, epic plan, and doable.
My Dad saw a commercial where they parked a Corvair in the Artic. 6 months later came back and it started. He went out and bought one the next day.
I think this must be the car that Ol’ Shel used to tell us about. When the moon was low and bloody and the chickens were restless, we would build a mighty fire and sit around it to let them know the world was okay. Shel would stare into the fire and his eyes would glint like the knock off spinners on a set of…
I love this project!!
I love it. I have a soft spot for Corvairs, probably because I have a soft spot for weird things and especially weird GM things. I have a Fiero that’s the same year as I am, but not the same month. That’s pretty cool. I would love to have a Corvair to share space with my Fiero, and confuse the heck out of everyone as…
What a great, well-written article! As a fellow former Beetle owner, I can understand why you’d come back to a Corvair. Best of luck and godspeed in your restoration quest!
Tom McEwen may be of some help to you in your endeavors with your Mongoose:
Not to nitpick Lawrence but you said something about wacking the alternator with a big wrench to get the car started, um, don’t you mean wacking the starter, alternator doesn’t do anything till the engine is running :)
Bastard’s the name. You can call him Lucky.
Say! I’ve got some hop-up parts to sell you!
Glad to see the recognition for those that will be assisting your project in both work and supply!
