Given the love lavished on the Corvair here at Curbside Classic, I had no choice but to stop and collect a few pictures of this ’61-’64 Coupe parked in front of a Carson, California Hot Rod shop. The shop goes by the name “Starlight Rod and Custom,” and their website describes them thusly: “From mild to wild to extreme. Kustoms and Kandy-Coated Streamlined Boomin’ Babies. At Starlite we build dream cars meant to be driven.” Sounds like a good bunch to hang with.
Getting back to our Corvair, it appears that rake is more a result of front suspension lowering, rather raising the rear end, but the car is definitely trimmed out in a early seventies style. The spotlights, window antennas, laced panels and side glass etching all hark back to cars that surrounded me back in high school.
Do I like it? That depends- If this is a well preserved car someone built forty years ago, I think it’s kind of cool. If, on the other hand, this shop built the car up last year, I’m less inspired. While I embrace holding onto artifacts from the past, I see little need to create new ones in 2015. Still, everyone needs to make a living, and if the customers all want way-back machines, who am I to argue with them?
Like you, I’m hoping this is an actual antique and not some misguided hack under the name of “retro”. From my memories of 60’s and early 70’s custom magazines, I’m willing to give it credit as being the former. If its a re-pop, somebody definitely too the time and effort to do it right. And yes, customized Corvairs weren’t rare in the late 60’s. The hot rod crowd knew something besides SBC back in those days.
I’m betting it’s a new ’emulation’ of a old look. Corvairs were not ‘cool’ as customizing material in the 70’s or 80’s – they appealed to the sports/rally car crowd. This is a young hipster reimaging the past. The colors chosen were common in the 70’s but only for economy cars. Anything with custom paint would have been a bright primary color or metalflake. The spotlights belong to the 40’s or 50’s – putting them on your custom car would be a nod to a styling cue from your Dad’s generation: that is to say: outmoded – something like putting clear tail lights on a custom car built now. Wide whitewall? Nah – same problem – something from grandpa’s car. Unlikely.
Here’s an early 60’s look:
http://www.corvaircorsa.com/feature/XP-737.jpg
And here is the 70’s
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ba/8f/97/ba8f972c54f4fb74b9d99a2f50c333e6.jpg
The car looks good but it’s a pastiche of 50’s, 60’s and 70’s styling elements-
I can’t imagine that lowering the front of a rear engine car is going to help it’s handling in the corners any. At least it’s not another Mustang or Camaro.
If there’s no front suspension travel, then front roll-stiffness could be very high, which should counteract against oversteer. Or, more likely, make it handle like crap. But handling probably wasn’t a priority in this build.
I suspect the turning radius is about 200′, so they would be very gentle corners.
I do like the substitution of Pontiac Tempest taillights for the stock Corvair taillights.
Pontiac was originally supposed to get a version of the first-generation Corvair, which was dubbed the Polaris during the planning stages. The full-size clay models used the same style of taillights that ended up on the production 1961 Tempest.
Here it is.
Thanks! I believe that Bunkie Knudsen killed that car, and was able to get Pontiac a version of the upcoming Buick Special/Oldsmobile F-85 instead.
The nose reminds me of a ’60 Edsel more so than a Pontiac for some reason. And I’m also getting just a little whiff of Panhard?
Yes, the taillights look great. Would also like to see them complimented by two rectangular headlights, something like that, but more recessed into the body –
A very unfortunate choice of stance for a Corvair, considering its strong tendency towards oversteer and poor directional stability. Negative caster, negative camber on front wheels… no good.
I have to wonder if there is any front suspension travel left, or any front springs for that matter.
The front end treatment is interesting, wish there was a better picture of it to see exactly what they did to give it the look of a car with a traditional grille that has gone AWOL.
The dummy spots and this type of paint was something done by the low rider crowd in the early 70’s but I think this car is a modern interpretation of the style. I just don’t see that paint job having lasted this long using the materials they had in the 70’s.
Wonder if the suspension has air bags or hydraulics since that negative camber is going to ruin the tires. This is a cool looking Corvair indeed and I wonder what is inside that black hole up front where there used to be sheet metal. I would call the color Cardboard Brown.
She’s bagged, and still a work in progress. The front now has a kustom grill with hidden headlights.
I dunno. I like corvairs but don’t think I like this. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a front engine rwd. Saw some of them at the drag strip and this looks like a familiar stance. The exhaust piping looks strange but it would probably be dual if my guess is right.
I would prefer a stock corvair to this.
That’s what I think too. There is no camber on those rear wheels at all, and the black Tempest grill is probably there to hide the radiator. In any case, this rake on that car is wrong on so many counts I would not know where to start.
It has a traditional rear air cooled engine.
I’m sure this is a recently built “tribute” custom. Sometimes built by guys old enough to have been there, or by younger guys who wish they had been. It’s all nostalgia, either real or imagined. geez, That’s what this whole site is about: what we had, what our neighbor’s, classmates, cool guys, rich guys had. And what we wanted to have. This isn’t really a gearhead site but I know that there are plenty of guys reading this that will spin a wrench to get what they want. Still it’s gotta be fun or there’s no point to any of this. I wouldn’t have lowered a rear engined car this much in the front, You might be surprised to know that a lot of the older lowered cars handled much better than a stocker. Trimming the springs makes the spring stiffer, lowers the center of gravity, and reduces weight transfer. I had a 66 Riviera that was about two inches off the front bump stops and lowered a couple of inches out back by letting some air out of the rear air shocks. Replaced the steering wheel with a slightly smaller Grant custom wheel. This seemed to reduce the over assist in the power steering. The car handled much better than a stocker on smooth roads, Just take it easy over railroad crossings.
I like it! I would have dropped the rear a little more though. I know it’s bad for the tires, but I see a lot of old beetles and some Japanese “sport-compacts” driven around here that are dropped so low that the tires flare out at the bottom like that.
That’s the “stanced” look. Lots of negative camber is a required ingredient.
It lays hard! All the way to the ground. The back end was just left up for a bit when it was parked. She’s bagged.
Thanks, the back end lays to the ground.
It’s so low I wonder if it’s on bags or hydros?
BAGGED
That stance doesn’t look right on a Corvair. Also, the solid panel in the front instead of a conventional grille is one of the novelties of a Corvair, which the customizer has undone.
My brother sprayed his BSA A10 Super Rocket lace style.Unfortunately he used Mum’s best doylies and showed that being a 19 year old 6’3″ rugby playing biker he wasn’t too big or old for a thick ear.This would be around 1974 and it was the first time I’d seen lace paintwork.
It may be a bit of a mash-up of styling elements, which probably speaks to it being modern rather than an original artifact, but I like it anyway. It’s creative and it’s a tribute to hot-rodding/Kustom history. Personally I think it’s a little high in the back, and I would have left the grille-less nose intact, but that’s just me. The beauty of a car like this is that it’s perfect to the man (or woman) who drives it, and doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.
Thanks Chris, it’s still a work in progress. The rear lays a lot lower than the pictures he posted. The front end has a kustom grill. (Shown in pictures below) And yes it’s a woman’s car. Lol and I don’t care what anyone thinks! She’s my beauty and she’s amazing in person.
That thing would have a green or pink sticker on it here ordering it off the road unless theres a certification plate for the lowering, this kind of stupidity killed many kiwis back in the day it produces such poorly handling cars that become lethal for cornering removing all or most of the suspension travel does NOT improve handling despite what fast and fatuous movies portray.
Plenty jacked up Cortinas,Capris and Escorts ended up wrapped round lamp posts in the 70s.A girl in the year above me at school was killed along with her boyfriend when their jacked up Anglia failed to take a corner and overturned after hitting a wall in 1973.
Agree with everything you said, Dave… I don’t hate this ‘Vair, but I’d like it more if the customization was from the early ’70s. If not, and if it was an homage to someone’s relative’s car that looked just like it, that would also be cool. This car reminds me a little of a rolling Tequila Sunrise, in a good way.
I like it though I’d rather have a stocker like my 1961 Corvair 700 Coupe .
These were fun little cars to drive if a bit squirrely when you romped them much .
-Nate
I think that car looks hideous, and I like Corvairs.
Well not everyone has your opinion as she’s won numerous awards. But thanks for yours.
Hi sorry for the confusion about this corvair they took the picture when i didn’t lay it all the way down. I built this corvair for my girlfriend to start her to go to car shows together . I did the custom work at home in my backyard. The car is still in primer as you can see it with red base coat graphics, it’s not done yet i just wanted to show people the different stages cars go through before there done. The car has alot of different types of kustom modifications done to it. It has an (air bags) kustom suspension so it rides beautiful and i can put it whatever stance. Thanks for everybody’s feedback, i know that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea i just wanted to build something different that stands out.
Made the front end from scratch all in metal.
WELL IT DEFINITELY STANDS OUT, IT CAUGHT DAVE SKINNER’S EYE… WE LIKE EM LOW AND SLOOOOOOWW ROUND OUR HOOD. I LOVE THIS CAR, AND I HOPE MY GUY BUILDS ME MY OWN VISSION ONE DAY.
” Lol and I don’t care what anyone thinks! ”
That’s the spirit Janice ! .
-Nate