Photo: BaT User BROWN89048
According to the fervent automotive safety activist Ralph Nader, the rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair was an unstable death trap so egregious he believed they ought to be taken off the road by force and its manufacturer given a hefty fine. Whether or not Nader was a little overzealous in his quest for automotive safety is up for debate.
That said, does moving the engine from the rear to the middle and replacing it with a 406-cubic inch small block Chevy crate engine fix the problem? If you asked Nader himself, he'd probably say heck no. But to the petrolhead's mind, of which Nader's is the polar opposite, this 1965 Corvair Monza is nothing short of spectacular.
406 cubic inches (6.6-liters) may seem pretty large for a small block motor. But hey, the lines were meant to be blurred when it comes to the old "no replacement for displacement" trope. With a Dart aluminum engine block, aluminum cylinder heads, and a forged rotating assembly, this is way more technology than anything found at the rear of a normal Corvair. A 24-gallon racing fuel cell ensures this car can do more than quarter-mile sprints.
Elsewhere on the car, the front suspension is taken care of with the same hardware found on the C4 Corvette, with adjustable coilovers at all four corners and Power Slot disk brakes to match. Inside, don't expect this interior to be lavishly equipped. The stitched vinyl on the foam impact pad on the steering wheel is perhaps the most luxurious item on this race car. Otherwise, it's just the stock dashboard, a racing center gauge and switch cluster, some bucket seats, and a roll cage. That's about it.
As a daily driver, this Corvair's pretty much useless. But after selling on Bring a Trailer for $26,000, it is at least qualified enough to race in competitions other than the 24 Hours of Lemons.
406 cubic inches (6.6-liters) may seem pretty large for a small block motor. But hey, the lines were meant to be blurred when it comes to the old "no replacement for displacement" trope. With a Dart aluminum engine block, aluminum cylinder heads, and a forged rotating assembly, this is way more technology than anything found at the rear of a normal Corvair. A 24-gallon racing fuel cell ensures this car can do more than quarter-mile sprints.
Elsewhere on the car, the front suspension is taken care of with the same hardware found on the C4 Corvette, with adjustable coilovers at all four corners and Power Slot disk brakes to match. Inside, don't expect this interior to be lavishly equipped. The stitched vinyl on the foam impact pad on the steering wheel is perhaps the most luxurious item on this race car. Otherwise, it's just the stock dashboard, a racing center gauge and switch cluster, some bucket seats, and a roll cage. That's about it.
As a daily driver, this Corvair's pretty much useless. But after selling on Bring a Trailer for $26,000, it is at least qualified enough to race in competitions other than the 24 Hours of Lemons.
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