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I normally drive a manual transmission, and generally prefer to, but I'm not blind to the charms of an automatic. Shifting your own gears — what are we, animals? Sure, I get why people want it. And I imagine everyone who's spent any amount of time in an automatic must have wondered, at least once, why PRNDL? More »
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When the Ford GT40 cruised to victory at Le Mans in 1967 it was the first all-American car with all-American drivers to win. But the car was more American than people realized — thanks to a few lightweight Chevy parts. More »
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Welcome to Found Off The Street, our look at cars found on the cape that rust liked so much it decided to summer there; Cape Cod, MA. Today we have a 1962 Buick Invicta. More »
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Welcome to Found Off The Street, our look at cars found on the cape that rust liked so much it decided to summer there; Cape Cod, MA. Today we have a 1964 Chevrolet Corvair. More »
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Welcome to Found Off The Street, our look at cars found on the cape that rust liked so much it decided to summer there; Cape Cod, MA. Today we have a 1960 Ford F100 More »
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Welcome to Found Off The Street, our look at cars found on the cape that rust liked so much it decided to summer there; Cape Cod, MA. Today we have a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair More »
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GM closed the doors of its Willow Run Plant officially last week, writing the final chapter in the story of a building with more history than you might think. More »
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There's no end to the superlatives the automotively obsessed will pursue, which is why we'll proudly feature the "fastest Corvair-powered sand dragster." Watch it traverse this dirty 300-foot track in just 2.97 seconds. Can you top it? (H/T Jaredglentz!) More »
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It was 45 years ago last week that Ralph Nader's infamous book Unsafe at Any Speed hit bookstores. In pointing out the need for industry improvements in automotive safety Nader questionably singled out the Chevrolet Corvair. Photo Credit: Storeyland More »
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The star of the Cadillac event at the GM Design Center tonight is the as-of-yet unrevealed Cadillac Urban Concept, but for us the big star's been Jay Leno, who was nice enough to talk with me about Corvairs over burgers. More »
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The Corvair Turbo is a thing of beauty. 164 cubic-inches of pancake-engine glory spitting out 150-hp in one of the first regular production turbocharged cars in America. This one's clean enough you could eat off the turbo housing. More »
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As we know, The General intended the Corvair to be a roomy compact sedan, not a performance car. BZR joined UDMan's Team Trailing Throttle Oversteer Corvair team at the LeMons New England race and lived to write about it! More »
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We remain hopeless Ate Up With Motor junkies, and AUWM pusherman Aaron Severson has just provided us with more un-stepped-on automotive history for our mainlining pleasure. More »
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As Captain Kirk and T.J. Hooker, William Shatner personified on-screen cool, but he's also awesome in real life. Want proof? Just check out this list of his ten favorite cars. More »
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GM's effort to emulate VW in the small car market created both the Corvair and Ralph Nader's career. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Greenbrier may be unsafe at any speed but it's still pretty sweet looking just standing still. More »
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I've been somewhat reluctant to post photos of this car, because I know that doing so will trigger a bunch of incoherent emails from Corvair freaks demanding that I sell them parts from "my" car. More »
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Last week, reader Curtis sent in an intriguing tip: a self-service wrecking yard in my area had a "kit car that looks kinda like a GT40 powered by what looks to be a Porsche engine." More »
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Is a vintage convertible with a rear-mounted flat six on your to-do list? Well, Nice Price or Crack Pipe says to put away your lederhosen, because this one's not a Porsche. More »
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What's left of this first-generation Chevy Corvair found in front of what's left of its garage yesterday in Tujunga, California is exactly the reason we need the Evergreen 747 Supertanker fighting the Station Fire. Save the Chevys! More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Hooray, another Alameda Corvair! More »
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When we think of NASCAR in the early 60s, we think of big cars. Impalas. Furies. Galaxies. But for two glorious years, Detroit's new compacts took to the tracks in NASCAR-sanctioned events. More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Would you believe this is only our second Alameda Challenger? More »
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It was getting close towards the end, with the Adopted From Jets Saab 99 breathing right down their necks, but the Team Trailing Throttle Oversteer Corvair came in 23rd place versus the Saab's 24th-place finish! More »
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We're just starting to get updates from the action at Stafford Motor Speedway now. Apparently the inspections went smoothly, but cars started to disintegrate as soon as they touched the track. More »
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Long before anyone thought to drop a Cadillac 4.9 V8 in a Fiero, crazed engine swappers were finding ways to shorten their life expectancy with V8-powered Corvairs. More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. This Greenbrier created quite a stir when it appeared on the island. More »
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When you saw the video of the Team Unsafe At Any Speed Corvair living up to its team's name at the Arse Freeze-a-Palooza LeMons, did you feel envious of those mighty Corvair jockeys? More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Can you believe 450 DOTS vehicles and today's is the first Corvair?
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Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Today we're going to debut a new PCH logo, courtesy of Walker Canada.
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My grandfather was quite the rally and ice-racing fanatic back in the 1950s and 1960s (running mostly Porsche 356s and Saab 93s) and now I've got a couple of his 8mm movies, shot in 1960. More »
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Some folks wonder whether the Down On The Street vehicles actually get driven, so I had them in mind when I snapped these shots while running some errands on the island yesterday. More »
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LeMons racers really need to be ready for the unpredictable to take place on the track; sometimes you'll whack into the wall, sometimes you'll blow up, and sometimes other drivers will make apparently unwise decisions.
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Is The Man really sweatin' you on the job today? Don't let salt-mine toil break your spirit; instead, spend the next couple of hours debating the merits of these extremely reliable race cars! More »
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While Team Unsafe At Any Speed will be bringing a '65 Corvair to the Arse Freeze-A-Pa-Looza 24 Hours Of LeMons next month- thus snarfing the coveted Ralph Nader theme- they'll only be tying the record for Oldest LeMons Car Ever, since Team Field Find's Mercedes-Benz 190 was also a '65. Not only that, their car is safe at some speeds, because by '65 the Corvair had a Communist-mandated IRS rear instead of the patriotic swingaxle of the early models. UDMan, however, is made of sterner stuff, and he's gearing up to race a 46-year-old Corvair at next year's LeMons New England race… and he's looking for teammates! Make the jump to see all the photos and get his story, then vote on whether you think the car should still get a Ralph Nader theme. More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Key West, Florida, gave us the excellent Trusty Justy, and now has photographed a pair of VW Transporter competitors that still work for a living. Jump away to see all the photos and read his description. More »
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As we keep saying, the team that gets the most laps at a 24 Hours Of LeMons race should feel very proud of the accomplishment, checkered flag waving, all that stuff. However, the prize you really want to shoot for is the Index Of Effluency, which goes to the team that gets the furthest with the most ridiculous possible "race car." For example, the Tunachuckers Volvo Amazon was the slam-dunk IOE winner at LeMons South. It's already becoming obvious, however, that the competition for the IOE is shaping up to be a real knock-down-drag-out for the LeMons Arse Freeze-A-Palooza race coming up in December…
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We're going to stay in Orange County a while longer, heading from Costa Mesa to neighboring Huntington Beach. We'd mention that Huntington Beach is the official Surf City USA, only we'd probably get howls of outrage from Santa Cruz; in any case, HB's climate is great for preserving old cars. ß®@ƒƒ spotted this unsafe-at-any-speed '61 '64 in very nice shape- though not so sure those are the best-looking Corvair wheels we've ever seen- parked with the top down to facilitate photography. Do that jump thing to hear what ß®@ƒƒ has to say about his experience. More »
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When commenter of the super-stars, Startlton_Heston, offered up some photos from the Lee Johnson Chevrolet 75th Anniversary Car Show we assumed there would be a dozen or so photos to throw into a gallery. Little did we know, although we probably should have assumed, Mr. Heston was insane enough (in the best way) to send us more than one hundred lovingly taken photos detailing 69 years of Chevy metal. Being Seattle, the VCCA meet was a little rainy. A report from the Omega Man as well as some more photos below the jump. More »
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Perhaps you breathed a sigh of relief after Chevy-Powered Porsche Hell was over with, figuring that (with the small-block-motivated 911 winning so decisively) you would be spared the temptation of a hacked-up Porsche sporting a non-Stuttgart engine for quite a while. However Project Car Hell doesn't work that way; just because you were able to walk past the fiery gates once doesn't mean you won't be lured right back in by the same kind of bait! That's why we're returning to Porsche Engine Swap Hell today, this time going for six cylinders instead of eight. More »
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