barrett

The funny thing about the Nader book is that only one chapter is about the Corvair, but it's the one bit everyone remembers. Mainly because, instead of ignoring him, GM embarked on a campaign against him including hiring private detectives to follow him, go through his trash and basically harass him into piping down. The media found out about this, the story gained traction and book sales soared. The private detectives found exactly diddly squat with which to discredit Nader - a 'boy scout' is how he was described. If GM hadn't gone all psycho chances are the book would have sunk without a trace and Corvair sales would have continued to rise and we'd all remember it as that groundbreaking American compact with the incredible engine and beautiful balance... oh, well. More ironically, the Corvair was essentially put on trial and was subjected to an intense and expensive government-backed safety investigation. After several years of study and countless taxpayers dollars, the independent body responsible for the tests published its report, which concluded the Corvair was no more dangerous than any other American car and was, in fact, much safer than many of its rivals. It remains to this day the only car in history to have been officially branded as 'safe' by the US government... The heater is a separate, petrol-fired affair with it's own gas tank, and its own ignition system complete with coil and condenser, mounted in the boot. Our one doesn't work and we have no intention of trying to fix it - somehow that seems much more dangerous than swing axles and light steering.

I'm not sure it's possible to tell externally, but it's being sold as a DS. I forgot to add the link: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1195135

No such thing as a cheap DS anymore, but... this is a cheap DS, albeit slightly flambéd Had a very quick snoop and I reckon you could find most of the replacement bits for €1000. Assuming the engine isn't totally crackered you could end up with a really nice car... Anyone feeling braver and flusher than me?

@Fabergé Greggs !!!

Absolute bollocks I'm afraid. It's amazing how often this old canard gets repeated (so, not having a go at you personally!) but there is precisely zero evidence any Nazi ever died at the wheel of a Tatra, or that it ever got that nickname except decades after the fact. Tatras handle a lot more neutrally than most front-engined cars of the era and were very much vigorously engineered. Similarly, it's frustrating how the Corvair is 'remembered' as an ill-handling deathtrap (almoat exclusively by people who've never driven one) when, in fact, it is the ONLY American car I've experienced that actually handles at all - a total joy to drive on twisty roads with a lovely predictable feel. The front end gets a bit light in cross winds, but no worse than lots of much more modern front-engined, rwd cars do. A rear engine layout was a real boon in the pre-1970s era because it allowed a compact power unit/drivetrain assembly with none of the complexity of fwd, thùs also allowing a low frontal area in an age when aerodynamics were first seriously being applied to car design, and it isolated intrusive engine noise from the cabin (the Corvair is virtually silent at cruising speeds) and at a time when all heaters were shit/nonexistent the issue of cabin heat was less obvious. The r/r layout fell out of favour because fwd became so much cheaper and more reliable and engines became more refined, which negated the two biggest advantages of the layout. For ultimate handling and low centre of gravity, engine behind the cabin is still the best way to go - vide Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsche, Ferrari etc etc etc...

Hey, shows what I know. I sent this to the guys at the brilliant Car Design Archives FB page and this was the almost instant reply: "Hi Scott, that's interesting, this capture is also new to me and didn't know it was used as mule. Actually this is a Renault 14 counterproposal penned by Pierre Mignon. Here the full-size mockup. Cheers" so, there ya go

I don't know how often people read this thread, but if you read this and it applies to you PLEASE STOP QUOTING PICTURES IN YOUR REPLIES. It's absolutely infuriating having to scroll down a page and seeing the same images over and over and over again. The general etiquette on this website is to never quote an image unless it's absolutely necessary. Please take note anyone who has signed up in the last year or so... THANKS

I missed this reply. Seems like that's the answer then - just a 'mule' body (hence the weird relationship between front and side windows etc) rather than a styling model, and the 504 rims

It'll be such a sad day when this stuff is cleared out. Fuggin' ulez. That Cortina is superb, of course, but I have weirdly got a hankering for an early Punto at the moment...

See, hilarious. I did say 'Men on the internet will be looking at that later' but it didn't make any difference A shit photo, but this Merc hearse was mega. I also saw, but to my eternal regret could not capture, a BEDFORD MIDI HEARSE which might just be the most shite vehicle ever built 404 pick-up advertising a shop just outside my digs in Porto (v nice city, would go again) Lovely old BMW is exactly the sort of thing I would ignore in the UK, but this looked so 'right' in that colour and on those steelies another 'still working' Transit. This was the only proper Mk3 I saw, but I'm pleased to report lots of Portuguese Transits have the pointless single 'hatchback' door thing that I love A very typical street scene. The Panda was more loved than most with fancy alloys etc An Sierra More bilge. Particularly scenic images here. What a beautiful country. Never seen a Clio van before so I was quite excited about this! An odd Toyota truck thing. A few similar such vehicles were seen, of indeterminate age and model There was a smattering of Cavaliers, mostly booted An proper cla**ic. Nice. Nocturnal 305. I really like the look of these Ending on a high note. I went to a bar on the top floor of an Art Déco car park (a sort of bougie European take on Trinity Square, if you will) and took the stairs back down to see what I could find. yum! Let's have a closer look... frankly, it doesn't get much better than a beige Simca 1100 estate, does it?

Right then, here's what eight days in Portugal will get you. Overall impressions were a little disappointing - lots of dull modern cars with a smattering of early '90s bilge but little else. I have the feeling if I'd been there 10 years ago the streets would have been teeming with rammle, but the tourist trade has certainly changed the country's main cities a great deal recently and an influx of foreign property investors has probably irreparably ruined a lot of the atmosphere there. For non-non-shite purposes it was bloody great and I'd reccomend it to anyone who likes crumbling buildings, 1970s signage and good cheap food (and walking). My first wander round Lisbon netted the previously posted, and these. Tried to get away with a subtle pic here but was rumbled, which soon developed into a fun* game where my missus tried to jump into frame every time I snapped a car. Hilarious. This was a highlight. Looked absolutely mint, unlike a lot of the older cars I saw Really satisfying spotting the old black and white plates on stuff Lots of R4s around, easily the most common old car, whilst I only saw a couple of 2CVs fewer old commercial vehicles than I had hoped, but still a handful of older things playing various trades Another one, just behind the Mitsubishi And this was a couple of cars along There were loads of R5s about, and even more AXs, Unos and Pandas another highlight. In a 'cool' bit so presumably owned by a hip young blade rather than an old duffer. Looked very tidy another one... lots of cool car-based vans not familiar in the UK. I had no idea these existed but it looked great. Novas (well, Opel Corsas) were also very common to the point I only photographed a small handful. I did see another van, too, but it was much rougher Lovely CX 2.5 Turbot in 'that colour' with the window Louvre etc. Lovely. Most vans are fully decorated by the region's amateur street artists This is becoming unwieldy on my phone. More in a sec...

Wheels and hub caps look like Peugeot 504 to me. Maybe one of the 1971-74 Pug prototypes which ended up being the 305. I think they tried saloon, hatch and coupe versions.

That GS is great. I spotted it a year or so ago, so nice to see its still there. The piles of building materials suggest a house reburb, or possibly new owner, so I wonder if it'll be sent off for scrap soon...? Be a shame to turn it to bin cans even if it can't be saved.

Ooooof!

On my first holiday since 2011. Just touched down in Lisbon. Here are some live shite spots accrued whilst the missus wasn't looking. I think the Suzuki is actually a Maruti!!