Either out of some sense of nostalgia, because I’m that much closer to being an old man, or because this is just completely different from what I’ve owned & driven, I have to come out of the closet on this: I have a strange and growing fascination with floaty-boaty older American cars from the 60s and early 70s. I’m sure part of it is the amazing amount of torque I imagine these things have, plus the fact you can pile 5 of your friends in, plus luggage, and go somewhere in reasonable comfort, if not with the greatest amount of control! There’s also a certain carefree appeal to driving a large and powerful car with an automatic when you’re used to darting through traffic & working the gears in small 4-cylinder cars.
Archive for the ‘Feature’ Category
The Whale Series: Chryslers, Part 1
May 21, 2009
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood
May 20, 2009I’ve always had a fascination for this most European of American cars, and it sounds like any classic with a flat 6 and decent horsepower with independent suspension would be a fun drive. Wait, did I just describe a Porsche?
While the later (1965 to 1969) Corvairs got the more elegant design, particular in the front and rear treatments, the lighter greenhouse of the earlier cars works in their favor. With my preference for oddball cars, I’ve gone one further and found a 1962 Lakewood, the station wagon version of the early Corvair, near Seattle in Federal Way. Being an American car, I’d imagine many parts are readily available and reasonable (I didn’t have to go far to find references to Clark’s Corvairs, among others), and some parts might even be shared with other Chevys of the same vintage.
The Gateway Drug – Alfa Romeo Spiders
May 16, 2009My entry to cheap, fun sportscars was with my ’77 rubber-bumper spider. Granted, it’s not the prettiest of Alfa’s creations, but at a low cost-of-entry, you get a convertible with that magical twin-cam and 5-speed, plus respectable, safe handling, even in higher-mile cars. I’ll admit I went over the top with my spider, so it no longer fits with our theme, but a lot of that was cosmetic, and drivetrain condition is our first concern here (being California-based, dangerous rust is usually less of an issue). Although I wouldn’t want to encourage it, the great thing for us with spiders is their fallback strategy – unless they’re completely thrashed, parting out is feasible (something I’d like to do to learn more about my car).
First up is a 1978 spider on Craigslist. Laid up for 20 years (1989 is 20 years ago?!), that means this car was only on the road for 11 years of its life, so it’s not an outrageous assumption that the rust is fairly minimal, miles would be around 100K, and if you’re lucky, the cosmetics won’t be half-bad. My guess on reasons for the lay-up would be something like a blown head gasket or failed SPICA fuel injection. Check for chocolate milkshake-like emulsion on the radiator cap or oil in the coolant overflow tank for the former, and fuelish-smelling oil for the latter. Fixing either of these would be $200 – $400 in parts (if you go used with the SPICA), and I believe having someone install the SPICA (used) is $750ish including parts. At $950 asking, this puts you at $1700 on the outside, probably a bit more when you figure in registration and resurrection costs. Of course, if you’re lucky the cause was nothing more than someone losing interest in a sports car.
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Rusty But Trusty 