It's easy to get lost in the muscle car and sportscar universe of the 60s, but what if we were to look below these performance offerings? Well, one of the models that remain fascinating to these days is the Chevrolet Corvair, with this compact appearing to have gained extra popularity points over the last couple of years. As such, the rendering we have here, which basically reinvents the Corvair, shouldn't come as a surprise.
Introduced in 1959 and heavily revamped in 1964, the Corvair remains the only mass-produced rear-engined, air-cooled car to have been engineered in America. So no, its characteristics don't remind one of the Volkswagen Beetle by accident, since the two did compete back in the day.
Then again, while the design was innovative for its era, the swing-axle rear suspension of the vehicle, which was there for budget reasons and saw the rear wheels tucked under the car during hard cornering, coupled with the rear-engined layout, brought serious oversteer into the equation.
And while a cost-free approach of adjusting the handling balance towards understeer, a behavior much better adapted to the skills of the average driver, by ensuring the front tires used a lower pressure compared to those in the back sounded good in theory, things were different in real life. And that's because owners or mechanics could overlook this aspect by mistake.
Now, American activist, author and attorney Ralph Nader released the Unsafe at Any Speed book back in 1965, criticizing the handling of the Corvair. And while his claims were subsequently contradicted by NHTSA testing, the image of the vehicle had already been affected.
Of course, enthusiasts can appreciate the tail-out nature of the Corvair, which brings us to the virtual build that now occupies the screen – ladies and gentlemen drivers, meet the Corv8.
Photo: abimelecdesign/instagram
This pixel project is to the Corvair what the Singer treatment is to air-cooled Porsche 911s, so it replaces the suspension and then some.
The engine no longer sits behind the rear axle, so we can talk about a midship configuration, just like the one of the C8 Corvette, which lends its 6.2-liter V8 and dual-clutch transaxle to the contraption - a custom cradle that uses the Porsche 550 hardware as a starting point helps with relocation the motor.
Oh, and by the way, the first-gen Corvair’s basic rear suspension was replaced with a fully independent trailing arm rear suspension resembling that of the contemporary C2 Corvette for the 1965MY facelift. Even so, the hardware we have here is on a totally different level, since we’re looking at a pushrod system inspired by that of the Koenigsegg One:1.
That LT2 engine breathes via an air intake linked to the rear side windows, much like the Singer 911 - digital artist Abimelec Arellano admits this part would probably require an engineering check before making it to the real world.
At the other end of the suck-squeeze-bang-blow cycle, we find an exhaust that loops around the cradle. Of course, the braking system has also been upgraded, while fat tires ensure all the necessary grip is here.
Photo: abimelecdesign/instagram
Interestingly, the body of this Gen II (it's a 65MY) Corvair has been left mostly stock, with the thing turning to an underbody diffuser to generate downforce at the back, not unlike the Porsche 911 R, for instance. Oh, and there's a small carbon air dam up front, as one would expect from such a ride.
For the record, the rear fenders are now beefier, so they can contain the extra goodies, while part of the rear decklid works as an air brake, with the pixel master once again mentioning this part might need further tweaking.
Now, all these will-it-work? details also come thanks to the fact that the artist sought inspiration in the work of Utah-based builder Overkill Racing & Chassis. We mentioned the name of the specialist just a few days ago, when talking about another render of the pixel master, namely a 6x6 version of the 2021 Bronco.
Who knows? Perhaps we'll see such a sophisticated Corvair build stunning the audience at SEMA someday...
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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