corvair rv sighting.... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #1 10-11-2009, 08:52 PM

Yesterday the lovely Mrs. W and I went camping (friday actually) but yesterday evening as we came back into the campground after a busy day I pulled up to the camp office behind a bussy looking thing.

I noticed a finned oil pan under the back and my ears perked up....this was no ordinary motor home, it was shaped like a 1947 road bus, the kind with the aluminum bodies which slope down in the back in a mild fast back with the pusher jimmy in back....this one though was half scale though, it had an aluminum body with visible rivits.

The back said something like "trailmaster" (that's not right but it sounded vaguely like a bus mfgr, it had a diecast name plate)....I got out and walked around the front, it had a front which also looked similar to an old bus but had a three or four piece windshield which wrapped around to the side of the vehicle. It had a side entry door like a motor home.

The wheels were pretty small and next to the door was a corvair club sticker, I figured it had to be corvair powered. As it pulled away I was disappointed to hear nothing as it had a comprehensivly quiet muffler system.

The track indicated a widened drivetrain as compared to a corvair so I was wondering how that was done....today I drove around the campground hoping for another look at it but it was gone.

A very interesting oddball and neat looking vehicle.

One of a kind?

Anybody have a clue?

kerry · #2 10-11-2009, 08:58 PM

Not one of a kind. A very famous Corvair engined RV--the Ultravan. There's an internet club I've run across. I used to drive Corvairs so I've always been tempted.

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/uvmcc/

pawoSD · #3 10-11-2009, 09:04 PM

Wow! Those are neat! 15mpg is way better than most of the people with their 2500Series Gasaholic pickups + massive trailers get. My inlaws get about 7 pulling theirs...

t walgamuth · #4 10-11-2009, 09:29 PM

Wooohooo! I knew the builder had to be an aircraft engineer! I love the concept...too bad the corvair engines were so poorly developed by GM.

If I could find one with a diesel engine I would bite!

I got over fifteen mpg today on the way home from northern Indiana with my dodge diesel and the 30' award trailer.....I drove all secondary roads with a maximum speed of 65 because I had a low tire on my truck.

It was assisted by a tail wind though....

I would expect to get 14 usually driving that speed.

I bet you would have a tough time going 65 at all with a corvair motor.

(This is just three weeks after seeing seven corvairs at the autocross in Indy at the sixteenth street speedway!)

kerry · #5 10-11-2009, 09:37 PM

Hadn't thought about it until just now, but that UltraVan could have been the model for the Vixen RV which had a rear BMW diesel.

My Corvair's were one of my favorite cars to drive. I noticed that some of those UltraVan owners are fuel injecting the engines. Didn't GM turbocharge that engine in the Corsa?
The heaters were terrible once the o-rings on the pushrod tubes started leaking oil.

kerry · #6 10-11-2009, 09:43 PM

I owned one of these in the mid-70's.

t walgamuth · #7 10-11-2009, 09:45 PM

Yeah, I thought about the Vixen connection. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same fellow who designed the Vixen. I have seriously considered a Vixen too. I'd probably have to have a 617 turbo in mine though.

Yeah they made turbocharged versions of the early body style, called the Spyder I believe, and in the later body style they were called Monza's. I had a buddy in Arch school who had a Spyder which he let me drive when we went out on a double date and he wanted to do things in the back seat with his date.....

It had wonderful accelleration when the turbo came on. It was pretty scary though with the swing axles out back and the very light front end.

kerry · #8 10-11-2009, 09:56 PM

More than once, I drove mine at speed into deep snow. The flat bottom of the front trunk would pick up the light front end and the only control would be from the front wheels pushing against the snow as the steering wheel spun freely.
The convertible IIRC, had large weights in all 4 corners of the fenders.

t walgamuth · #9 10-11-2009, 10:21 PM

Yeah, Dad bought a brand new 66 VW, which shortly thereafter I managed to get hit broadside in by a lady who ran a red light. I was on my way to Clowes hall to see Simon and Garfunkel with my later to be first wife.

He replaced the totalled vw with a 65 corvair 110 hp with the three speed on the floor. What a lovely handling car that was. Dad moved the spare to the front and kept tools there too which balanced out the weight so that when driven on a local cul de sac in our neighborhood at the limit would transitiion seamlessly into a perfect four wheel drift on the 650x 13" bias ply tires it sported!

I did some things in Dad's corvair which I was lucky to have survived.

Later in about 1976 I bought a 66 corvair with the powerglide and the 110 hp engine. That was an unfortunate car from a performance standpoint, and I once ran it up on a large snow drift until the wheel closest to the pavement was at least 8" above it!

But I drove it for a while then sold it off and got about what I paid for it IIRC.

They were lovely handling cars for their day but the engine was just so poorly built that it made it all moot.

tonkovich · #10 10-12-2009, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

I owned one of these in the mid-70's.

a ragtop corvair? did it ever flex a little (early unibody)?

(for the record, i still think corvairs got a bad break. and rear engine cars are actually a great educational tool - you learn fast about correcting that fishtailing... or you don't live too long.

)

Nate Stanley · #11 10-12-2009, 02:11 AM

Including my favorite which was a 1965 Monza ragtop. It did have those funny weights in all 4 corners. Inside of them was a weight suspended between 2 springs, and the whole assembly was filled with oil. They damped road vibrations.
Looking under the car, there was additional steel reinforcement for the unibody, and extra gussets to beef up where the rear 1/4 panels met the floor.

Driving down a rough road, you could stick your fingertip between the wind wing frame and the A pillar and it would get pinched a little-maybe 1/16" when you hit a bump. All this in spite of nylon wedges on the doors that engaged bronze inserts on the rear of the door opening.

Altogether a delight to drive, but the engine / heater design left a lot to be desired...but it sure looked great with the top down!

cmac2012 · #12 10-12-2009, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Wooohooo! I knew the builder had to be an aircraft engineer! I love the concept...too bad the corvair engines were so poorly developed by GM.

If I could find one with a diesel engine I would bite!

I got over fifteen mpg today on the way home from northern Indiana with my dodge diesel and the 30' award trailer.....I drove all secondary roads with a maximum speed of 65 because I had a low tire on my truck.

It was assisted by a tail wind though....

I would expect to get 14 usually driving that speed.

I bet you would have a tough time going 65 at all with a corvair motor.

(This is just three weeks after seeing seven corvairs at the autocross in Indy at the sixteenth street speedway!)

It only weighs 4500 lbs empty but that's a lot of air to push out of the way. Very cool though, one hopes these people don't have major dramas with the engines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvair_engine

A diesel flat six. THAT would be a nifty engine. I wonder why flat engines have not been that big of an item?

An why didn't the H design engine ever catch on?

I mean the BRM H16 seemed like such a practical engine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRM_British_Racing_Motors_V16

t walgamuth · #13 10-12-2009, 05:51 AM

The flat configuration engine has mounting issues. Where to put the engine mounts on a flat motor? That's why you see them hanging out in front (Subaru) or back (Porsche).

Most cars are designed with frame rails to set the engine between.

Mounting the engine directly to the transaxle is a very effecient way to do a vehicle though.

At the autocross the Subies and Porsches are both very very quick.

I beat most of them though with my stock Miata.

t walgamuth · #14 10-12-2009, 06:01 AM

I bought my 66 'vair in about 77. Shortly after buying it I decided to do some preventative maintenance and bought a new fan belt at the local auto parts store. I installed it/

Not too long after that I headed for Indianaopolis with the vair. About twenty miles down the road the alternator light came on so I pulled over and lifted the hood to find the brand new belt had come apart.

I was at a largish farm so I walked in and asked to use the phone. The farmer looked at my car and said, "whats the problem?" I told him my brand new fan belt had grenaded and he said "hmmm, let me have a look." so he grabbed a set of vise grips and walked over to a corner of his barn where he had a corvair motor sitting and loostened the fan belt and took it off.

He then put it on my car and refused to take any money, just said "no its an old belt".

I thanked him profusely and completed my trip and bought a new belt a different place later.

That's why I often help others if I can....

I have many other examples of being saved by perfect strangers when I had car problems...

LUVMBDiesels · #15 10-12-2009, 06:32 AM

I loved my '63 Monza convertible. I never had body flexing issues due to the extra supports welded into the unit body. The car handled like a dream. I put 13 inch radials on it and ran her on a mixture of unleaded premium gas and leaded regular (yes you could still get that when I had this car

) She handled better at 75mph than at 30 due to the flat floor pan and somewhat aerodynamic shape.

I never had engine issues or oil leaks in the two years I owned her. I did go through belts like potato chips. I just took to buying belts five at a time from Clark's and keeping them and the proper tools in the trunk. I moved the spare tire and battery forward to have more room in the rear engine compartment and to shift the weight a bit.

She was Aqua with a white top and perfect aqua interior.

Unfortunately she was a terminal cancer patient from my point of view. SHe had riddled front fenders and rear quarters up near the rear hood opening from sitting partially under a carport and having rain run onto the the rear deck for a few years.

I ended up selling her to a collector fron SC who had no issues driving her from upstate NY down to SC!

As for the Ultravan I have seen a few of them at Corvair shows. They are fantastically well thought out and well built campers with almost go anywhere traction. I used to take my 'Vair off the road on some trails that were OK for low ground clearence vehicles and never got stuck.

The Ultravan used I think the truck engine and air flow system. The trucks, vans and wagon used a different angine mount and air intake system to allow for a flat floor. The Ultravan might have the 95 hp engine the trucks used.

A popular conversion is grinding off the integral intake manifold from the heads and installing three barrel webbers on each side. I always wanted to do this to my Monza.

There are nice headers for this engine as well as many performance parts.

Now I want one again. I would probably go for a late model turbocharged CORSA or a '64 Spyder convertible