"New" Toy - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

Stevoone · 07-14-2011, 07:55 PM

My dad got this car when I was 5 (22 years ago) and it's spent most of it's time collecting dust in the garage. He's been talking about passing the car onto me for while. Unfortunatly something happend in the family and he needed the space in the garage. I'm happy to have the car but I would have rather gotten it under different circumstances. Just figured I'd share some pictures.

1963 Corvair Monza 900 Spyder. As far as I know it's an original Spyder. Really don't know much about Corvairs, but I'll probably start looking around for more information on the car.

Needs a fair amount of work but it runs and drives. Should keep me busy for awhile.

I'll work on more pictures after I get it cleaned up a little.

sweetbmxrider · 07-14-2011, 09:48 PM

I know nothing about them but it looks pretty wild.

BonzoHansen · 07-14-2011, 09:49 PM

cool ride steve.

coolmanvette75 · 07-14-2011, 10:20 PM

Oh sweet, corvair corsa convertible. Very rare to find in decent shape these days

edpontiac91 · 07-14-2011, 11:05 PM

WOW, this was was first brand new car. I think it listed for around $2,500. Mine was a Hondurous Maroon coupe. I have a color picture of it in my garage.
They were hot stuff and after the 1963 Olds F-85 Turbo, this was the only other TURBO powered U.S. made car. That carb is a Carter single barrel side draft and was only used on the '53-'54 Corvettes with the 6 cylinder motors. That motor was also beefed up quite a bit at the factory with special valves/ crankshaft and pistons. For about $150.00, this option was a bargain.
I used to race mine around Route 22 in Union against the new Dodge Dart 273 V/8's and pull away in 2nd gear and bury the boost gauge.
There was a company led by John Fitch that made performance parts I had installed such a quick steering ratio/ positive camber kit for the rear wheels/ quick shift short throw/ a L.S. Lucas aircraft landing front headlamp and a wooden steering wheel. It was called the Sprint package. There was also a company called Bill Thomas that built some special parts for these cars, especially for keeping the belt from flying off the engine!
If you take the time to restore this to original condition, you will have a very rare car and something that could be worth quite a bit of money. There are still quite a few Corvair Clubs around and I would contact them about getting production numbers and where to purchase parts. Get an original 1963 Corvair brochure on eBay and read up on the specs. LOL and PM me if you need any assistance about these models.

Tru2Chevy · 07-15-2011, 06:47 AM

Wow Steve, that's pretty sweet. Sorry to hear that you got it under poor circumstances, hope everything works out for the best though.

Definitely keep us updated on this car though, would love to see how it looks all cleaned up.

- Justin

Stevoone · 07-15-2011, 07:52 AM

Thanks guys. This is the car that got me started. I remember sitting on 2x4's in the garage helping my dad drop the gas tank (when I was 5). He could never sneak out to the garage without me being rite behind him.

As far as restoring the car goes, I'm not going to be able to do much yet. Has some small rust issues and I'm pretty sure it's going to need floors. I'll probably tinker around with the little stuff until I get the funds together to put a serious effort into it.

greenformula92 · 07-15-2011, 08:03 AM

well i know that they are worth quite a bit of money, moslty because there just isn't many left. they also got a bad wrap as one of the worst cars ever built lol....or so i've been told

Adam1978 · 07-15-2011, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenformula92

well i know that they are worth quite a bit of money, moslty because there just isn't many left. they also got a bad wrap as one of the worst cars ever built lol....or so i've been told

not worst, but unsafe thanks to Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at any Speed although thanks to suspension redesign in i believe 74, this solved the 'rollover' problem that the corvair got a bad wrap for. I love corvairs, wouldnt mind having one for a DD honestly.

Anti_Rice_Guy · 07-15-2011, 08:27 AM

Probably scoots pretty well even with low power considering they're pretty light. Bet it's a fun little car.

edpontiac91 · 07-15-2011, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam1978

not worst, but unsafe thanks to Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at any Speed although thanks to suspension redesign in i believe 74, this solved the 'rollover' problem that the corvair got a bad wrap for. I love corvairs, wouldnt mind having one for a DD honestly.

They revised the entire car in 1965 and called it the Corsia, with the TURBO model up to 180 hp (from 150 hp on the '62-'64 Spyder). The rear suspension was copied from the Corvette and improved the handling greatly.
The new car was fantastic and WAY improved over the older car, but as stated Nader's book killed it before it had a chance to redeem itself.

Adam1978 · 07-15-2011, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

They revised the entire car in 1965 and called it the Corsia, with the TURBO model up to 180 hp (from 150 hp on the '62-'64 Spyder). The rear suspension was copied from the Corvette and improved the handling greatly.
The new car was fantastic and WAY improved over the older car, but as stated Nader's book killed it before it had a chance to redeem itself.

Ha! woops, i meant to say 64 not 74, and yeah, there are a few i see driving around brick, 2 converts and a hardtop every so often

Blacdout96 · 07-19-2011, 07:07 AM

Want.....Corvair.......so.....bad.....