As primitive and shoddy as the 'Trabby' was, at least it was a fairly contemporary FWD design. Anyone remember the rear-engine 1969 Subaru 360? One of the few new cars ever rated 'Not Acceptable' by Consumer Reports, who said "If you can afford no more than $1400, it's hard to imagine any used US car for that price that wouldn't be a better value (and we can imagine some pretty hairy used-car deals)"
Some years later, another critic in Autoweek called it "....a car designed to get you up to 50 miles per hour, then pitch you into oncoming traffic!"

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Ever sit in a 1995 Ford Aspire Hatchback? Changes everything

Never sat in one, but I just saw one smashed & burned by a cement-truck in the 2004 movie 'Cellular'!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

The fanbelt trick was to find the pulley guides some of the cars had. these kept the belt from popping off the two idler pulleys. Second trick was to use a certain type of belt, don't remember, sold our last Corvair 20 plus years ago. Lastly, don't overtension the belt. More was not better.....

I've still got my special Corvair fanbelt wrench. Open 9/16 on one end and a swivel 9/16 socket on the other.

I do remember stop light drag racing in the 66 Corsa with the 180 turbo and 4 speed. When that belt popped off, it felt like you got another 20 horsepower. For a short time.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

That's funny. I still have that same wrench. I had to shorten the swivel socket to fit behind the oil filler or fuel pump or something to get to the tensioner pulley.

A Corvair easily could have killed me and didn't. It is certainly not one of the worst cars ever as evidenced by the fact that I am still here.

Had what amounted to a sideways 2 stroke motor didn't it? I remember laughing at one in high school. It would be about another 10 years before I'd buy my first 4wd Subie...

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

It would've been better had that sideways 2-stroke been mated to FWD, like the Trabby. A year later, Subaru got it right with the Star/FF-1, their first 'normal' FWD design, which set the pattern for nearly all 'Subies' since then.
Rear engines have been kind-of an evolutionary 'dead-end', though the gen II Corvair mostly tamed the quirks. As one writer summed it up, the Corvair was "the kinds of cars we should have had in the '70s, but didn't!" -
IMHO, maybe not with rear engines, but with the size, style & innovation of the Corvair, instead of the overweight, underpowered, thirsty behemoths American manufacturers were cranking out.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

My brother had a 1969 and 1970 FF-1 Subaru wagons; it was strange at the time to see the spare tire mounted over the engine. Oddly, There was no radiator fan; the carburetor air intake flow went through the radiator to cool the motor...... It had the distictive sound of a sewing machine.
We tried to blow up the subie motor by flooring it; either valve float or the tiny carburetor wouldn't allow it to over rev.
Those dang FF/1 Subies; would not die. The paint disintegrated; they got all beat up; they looked so bad, even parking for a few minutes would get an "abandoned car" citation. Some of the windows were plywood....
My brother finally sold them as junk, and we kept seeing them running around Ventura for years after that. Plywood windows and all. 40mpg!
(Edited Photo)

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

My best friend from high-school moved to Oklahoma in the late 70s to attend college. With almost no money, all he could afford was a 1969 Subaru Star 4-door sedan. It had inboard front drum-brakes which were a pain to work on, plus the most uncomfortable front seats I ever experienced in a car. He had trouble getting parts because the local dealer only had listings for the '70 FF1.
Don't recall what eventually happened to it. I'll ask.

The FF1/Star had tiny, boxy, straight-line bodies.
Your photo actually shows a wagon from the next generation 1972 Subaru DL
series with the more contemporary 'coke-bottle' look that carried through until the next update in 1979.

In those days I drove a '71 Audi Super-90 wagon - a model developed while the company was still owned by Daimler-Benz.
Unfortunately, the early '70s Audis were very trouble-prone, with engines noted for burning oil. That Super-90 was such a rare model, and fairly easy to work on for a front-drive design, plus I loved the ride & handling of that car. So I kept mine going far longer than any sane person, even taking it on an epic 7000-mile cross-country road-trip to California in 1982! During my time with that car, it dropped a valve through a piston and I rebuilt the engine. Two years later, a bearing failed in the transaxle. So I fixed that too. By the early '90s, parts supplies for that model had completely dried up. Unlike Mercedes, Audi didn't support those vintage models.
I replaced that Audi with my first Japanese vehicle - a 1987 Isuzu LS pickup - the MOST reliable vehicle I've ever owned.

Happy Motoring, Mark

PS: I asked, and that Subaru Star tranny went out. Then it rotted in a friend's yard for several years before ending up at the local salvage yard in the early '90s

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DrDKW

(I edited The photo to show the correct Subaru FF1 body style)
I had a 1970 AUDI 100LS; I replaced the rod-through-the-block motor on one I bought for $250.; that Audi had so many problems; I was glad when it burst into flames at an intersection.
A pressed-in brass fuel hose fitting decided to pop out of the carburetor, thus spraying the entire running engine with gasoline....Spectacular!

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

I never experienced bursting into flames with my Audi. Though my Mom's 70 VW Squareback popped a fuel line off a tee in the rear compartment at a traffic-light, and emptied half a gas-tank onto the engine. Why any manufacturer would install a high pressure electronic fuel injection system without clamps on some of the fuel lines boggles my mind! The fact that Mom's VW didn't also burst into flames still amazes me.
What pretty-much finished off my Audi in 1989 was a snapped rear torsion-bar, which was NLA, even from Germany. I rigged up a pair of salvage-yard Datsun coil-springs over the rear axle to make the car driveable, but that special Audi ride and handling was gone. The next summer, I bought the Isuzu.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Scary Cars to Drive?

Scare Yourself With These Five Finds | Petrolicious

The 930 Turbo is unstable in the hands of nearly everyone. This is the car that owners don’t lend to friends without a deposit and never drive in the rain.

I used to think I'd want a 930 turbo but after driving my daughter's 911 and getting it sideways on the entry ramp to the interstate I think I will stick with front or mid engine cars.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Maybe this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ktMcCDZvk

Twelve horsepower. Thin gauge lightweight construction. Death trap. I think I might actually enjoy driving one.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

I had a '75 Volkswagen Dasher; brother in law had a '75 Audi 100. I believe they were basically the same cars. By sheer stubbornness I managed to make the Dasher last until the spring of '85. I never changed the oil, just topped it off. I was too busy chasing odd component failures (accelerator cable, starter, shifter bushings, and of course, door handles, to name a few) to perform basic maintenance.

BiL, who far outperforms me in the obstinacy department, actually offered to give me his 100 around 2001 or so. It was in his garage but hadn't moved in years. He'd done a lot of rust repair and had the engine out at one point. I think my sister finally demanded that he get rid of it.