Network
The Chevrolet Corvair occupies an odd place in history; on one hand it was an innovative and attractive automobile with rear-mounted, turbocharged engine that was in many ways decades ahead of its time. Unfortunately, Ralph Nader made the Corvair famous for other reasons with his report “Unsafe at Any Speed”, which singled out the Corvair for fault designs that made it “dangerous” to the driving public. Keep in mind this is from an era where padded dashboards and collapsible steering columns were cutting edge safety features.
But that hasn’t stopped many people from buying, restoring, and even racing Corvairs on a regular basis. Hemmings Auto Blog brings us an odd story of a Late Model Sportsman race car covered in Corvair sheetmetal. Weren’t expecting that, were you?
The Late Model Sportsman class of racing is often associated with the South, though at one time New England had plenty of LMS racers and tracks of its own. LMS races often use old Chevrolet Chevelles, but driver Sylvian Massicote rocks something different; a Corvair. True, the rest of the LMS setup is stock, including a front-mounted engine that pushes Massicote further back than normal. But if you ask us, this LMS Corvair looks right at home on the track.
What’s more, this odd-rod was found in Quebec, Canada of all places, where the racing season is measured in weeks, not months. Norm Marx, a travelling photographer for Coastal 181, found this Corvair-bodied LMS race car up in Canuckville, and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun, which leaves us wondering what other racing series the Corvair might excel at.
