"Most Unsafe Car in America."

[jogosub]

Ralph Nader killed this car (Corvair)... this was my first car in this country that I bought in August 1968! I must say I liked it a lot! I had to carry a load of bricks in the trunk (which was up front) otherwise the front of the car would raise with increasing speed.
The rear air cooled engine was a progressive design for that time period, in my opinion - pioneered by Tatra. Ferdinand Porsche studied in Prague where he got familiar with Tatra's air cooled rear mounted engine. He then applied the technology to air cooled Porsches.
On Corvair I had to adjust valve clearance once a week. I have fond memories of this vehicle! Mine was blue - 2 doors - with white strips from front to rear in the middle of the car. I bought it for a whopping $ 75.00 then!

[jogosub]

Velorex was manufactured in Czechoslovakia. They still make the motorcycle side cars and I believe you can buy those (side cars) even in this country. Velorex was an experiment (to the production of side cars) and was quite popular in the 50's and 60's. The popularity was then replaced by East German Trabant. My Dad had one (Trabant) but the problem was that the mice liked to chew and eat the Trabant's fiberglass/plastic body, while he had it garaged in the barn. The upper class drove Wartburgs, if you remember those... also East German car.
My very first car was French made Simca Aronde (in the 60's). Also very fine automobile then...

[upflying]

Originally Posted by jogosub

On Corvair I had to adjust valve clearance once a week.

One minor pick to nit. As I recall, the Corvair had hydraulic valve lifters, no adjustment of valve clearance was necessary.
I too am a Trabant fan. Never owned or drove one but always wondered what was going in East Germany before the Iron Curtain fell.
Mice liked your dad's Trabi because the body was made out of Duroplast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast
Chevrolet Corvair engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jogosub]

Upflying: This is what I was "adjusting" once a week... I remember this quite vividly even though it has been more than 40 years ago!
Basically, if I remember correctly, you keep turning it until you don't hear the clicking sound. This might not have been valve clearance but at that time, I thought it was.... maybe I am just not expressing or formulating myself well!

Adjusting Corvair valves is a snap! - YouTube

Adjusting Corvair valves is a snap! - YouTube

[upflying]

Yes, that is the method for adjusting hydraulic valve lifters. Should only be necessary once after engine reassembly or head installation. Something was wrong if you needed to do this frequently.
Incidentally, my dad owned a Ford Taunus when I was a small boy. Pretty awful car by todays standards. Not actual car but looked just like this one.

[jogosub]

Upflying: yes, something must have been wrong for sure ... that is why I only paid $ 75.00 for the car.
And yes, I remember Ford Taunus and also Ford Cortina, in the 60's in Europe. Quite popular car - Taunus being a suburb of Frankfurt...
Wow, you are a living encyclopedia!

I see a Citroen next to the Taunus - my brother had one of those. The shift lever (looked like a door handle) was protruding from the dash board. I think that car had like 20-some(or even less) horse power engine. My brother would paralel park and 2 guys would carry it close to the sidewalk - by grabbing the front and rear bumpers in confined parking spaces in Switzerland.

[upflying]

Yes, that is a Citroen 2CV. The "Trabant" of France had seat springs made from bungee cords. I recall the Citroen had such a soft suspension, it would lean at a 45 degree angle when turning a corner. Like the Trabi, the 2CV is now a cult car.

[SE95]

Originally Posted by Budaru

Don't forget the 1961 Chevy Corvair, one of Time Magazine's "50 Worst Cars of America".

1961 Corvair - The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME

The Corvair's so-called safety issues were horrendously overblown and realistically only affected the first couple years of production.

[upflying]

Originally Posted by SE95

The Corvair's so-called safety issues were horrendously overblown and realistically only affected the first couple years of production.

Nader's attack on GM and it's Corvair was politically motivated.
The VW Bug had the same solid swing-arm rear suspension as the early '60 -'64 Corvairs. Both would "jack" during extreme cornering and both had a tendency to roll.
GM redesigned the suspension in '65 but the damage was done.

[jogosub]

I am just curious why they did not develop more that rear air cooled engine - mechanically, it was such a "cool" design. Look what VW and Porsche did by continuing evolution of rear air cooled engine, likewise same as Tatra did for so many years. Huge Tatra truck are still beating all competition in Paris-Dakar (Euro-African Eco Rally) races although it's quite a different story. That brand should be revived same as Skoda has under VW ownership.