Did the Chevrolet Vega Develop out of Stalled Plans for a Third-Generation Corvair? by Daniel Strohl on May 26, 2021, Hemmings
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Letting the Good Times Roll Since 1975 www.corvairs.org Third Quarter 2021 Volume 46 Number 3 Did the Chevrolet Vega develop out of stalled plans for a third-generation Corvair? By Daniel Strohl on May 26, 2021, Hemmings Despite a few commonalities (Ed Cole, Corvan variants had inlets breaking up "was never intended to be used in any aluminum-intensive engines, and maybe a their long swaths of sheetmetal. other GM vehicle. It had essentially no nut and bolt here and there), the Chevrolet When it debuted for the 1971 model parts interchangeability and there was no Corvair and the Chevrolet Vega were two year, the Vega also had openings stamped Vega configuration that would/could have separate and distinct vehicles. Even though into its rear end. The hatchback had them used it." GM employed both in its efforts to push on the hatch aft of the glass, the notchback Don gave us "a definitive no" to answer back the tide of imports and to compete in had them on the decklid, and the wagon the question, but David also cited an in- the compact class and one followed more had them pretty much where the Corvair triguing second source: Bob Spinello's or less right after the other, it's even diffi- wagon had them. Vega history, in which Spinello claims that cult to say the two shared a predecessor- But there's a few holes to poke in this the "earliest Vega proposals dating from successor relationship. But could the de- theory that the Vega's poked holes were 1967 featured a rear engine, which was velopment of the latter have actually intended for an air-cooled rear-engine shelved for fear of association with the stemmed from the last vestiges of the for- setup. First, how would an engine air inlet troubled Corvair." mer? have even worked on the hatchback? Sec- Pretty much every history of the Vega's It's an interesting question, apparently ond, were the vents actually vestiges of an development begins with GM chairman one that H-body fans have often pondered, air-cooled, rear-engine design, that would James Roche's announcement of the XP- as David Kelly recently posited in a com- have meant Chevrolet got as far as tooling 887 small-car project in October 1968. By ment: If Chevy had only put the turbo Cor- up the sheetmetal for a vehicle with that that time, as John DeLorean noted in "On a vair drivetrain in (the Vega) as they had layout, yet none of the Vega's sheetmetal Clear Day You Can See General Motors," originally planned it would have been has the proportions for a rear-engine vehi- Ed Cole, who was working on his own something. cle (not to mention the near-impossibility small-car project using the corporate engi- We followed up with David, who at- of making such severe changes as engine neering and design staffs, got GM to ap- tributed his comment to two sources. First, location so late in a car's development prove his project over small-car projects he cited the louvers stamped into the deck- process within GM). that Chevrolet and Pontiac divisional staff lids of the coupes and on the rear quarters Third, the theory completely ignores were working on (possibly John Sawruk's of the station wagons - louvers that he and that those vents do have a purpose. They mid-engine radial-engine design for other Vega fans have occasionally attrib- were part of the Vega's flow-through venti- Pontiac?). uted to canceled plans for a rear-engine lation system. Similar vents for the same It could very well be that Cole, who Vega. purpose appeared on 1971 Chevrolet Impa- was behind the development of the Cor- Indeed, the first-generation Corvair las and full-size cars. vair, initially proposed a similar layout for coupe and sedan had a louvered decklid, Don Homuth, our resident Corvair ex- the pending small-car project. Spinello's the Corvair station wagon had louvers on pert who has also owned a few Vegas, said history offers no further detail, but if we its quarter panels, and the second- that some people do occasionally make the look at what GM was doing with the Cor- generation Corvair had openings punched connection between Corvair and Vega due vair circa 1967, we might find a little more into the panel between the backlite and the to the aluminum engine blocks in both detail. decklid. Even the Greenbrier and the other cars. But as he noted, the Corvair engine True, by that time GM's brass had Corvairsation 3Q2021 1 Continued on page 3. TUCSON CORVAIR ASSOCIATION TCA 2021 Events Established 1975 The Corvairsation is a quarterly publication of the Tucson Corvair Association, at a Glance which is dedicated to the preservation of the Corvair model of the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. The Tucson Corvair Association is a chartered member of the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) as Chapter 357. Membership dues are $5 per year for individuals. Make checks payable to the Tuc- Monthly Meetings. 6:00pm. Meetings son Corvair Association and mail to the TCA Treasurer. are back to O’Rielly Chevrolet, 6160 E Change of Address: Report any change of address or phone number to the Member- Broadway, Tucson. TCA monthly ship Chair or email changes to [email protected] 3rd Tues of CORSA membership dues are $45 per year ($90 for 26 months) and include a meeting are held in conjunction with subscription to the CORSA Communiqué, a monthly publication. Rates are $37 per each month the Classic Chevy Club. Enter on the year and $74 for 26 months for a “virtual” membership. CORSA memberships is not staircase on the west side of the two- required for membership in the Tucson Corvair Association, but is highly recom- mended. See any TCA officer for more information. story building in Used Cars. New Business Mailing Address: 4842 W Paseo de las Colinas, Tucson, Arizona 85745 permanent meeting time and Website: www.corvairs.org. Email address: [email protected] place will be announced soon. CORSA NATIONAL CONVEN- Jul 27-31 TION: CANCELLEDCrown Plaza San Diego- Wheels and SPokes Mission Valley, San Diego, CA PRESIDENT TREASURER Allen Elvick 4210 S Preston Mike Lake “Route 66” TRI-STATE: Marriot 520-979-0310 Tucson, AZ 85735 [email protected] 520-883-4437 Oct 15-17 Pyramid Hotel, Albuquerque, New [email protected] Mexico VICE PRESIDENT Frank Pella CORVARSATION EDITOR/ WEBMASTER Great Western Fan Belt Toss & 520-437-2481 Swap Meet. Sunrise Park, 405 S [email protected] Van Pershing Oct 22-24 520-780-7564 Pavilion Way, Palm Springs, Cali- [email protected] fornia. My, how times have changed! Corvairsation 3Q2021 2 Did the Chevrolet Vega develop out of stalled plans for a third-generation Corvair? (continued) killed off the Corvair - not because of any- until June of 1967. The second, a front- cate their development overlapped. The thing Ralph Nader had written, but because engine fastback, was positioned against timelines, however, do indicate that all it couldn't compete on a cost-effective ba- Volkswagen's sportier vehicles; its devel- three were under development either while sis against the Ford Mustang. Chevrolet opment lasted from January 1967 through Cole was working on his small-car pro- could wring greater profit from the Nova August 1967. The third, definitely rear- posal or while GM staff under Jim Musser and Camaro and would thus focus its ef- engine and possibly to be powered by a were developing the XP-887 Vega. forts on those cars. But as noted in an April Chevy II 153-cu.in. four-cylinder engine 1982 issue of Special Interest Autos, Cor- (not the Iron Duke), had a development Still not a smoking gun, of course. In a vair development actually did continue lifespan of March 1968 through June 1968 corporation as large as GM, dozens if not after the summer 1965 decision to axe the and probably gave us the earliest glimpse hundreds of projects go on simultaneously Corvair. at the colonnade body style of the Seven- and in parallel. Even if there were a con- That development continued in the ties. nection, it doesn't tell us exactly how any form of three XP cars: XP-849, XP-873, We've noted before that GM's XP num- of those third-generation Corvair proposals and XP-892. The first, also known as Cor- bers generally progressed chronologically, became the Vega. It's possible Cole had a vair II and the 197x Corvair, continued to but often skipped around, so the fact that hand in one of those XP projects or used use a rear-engine layout in combination the XP-887 Vega development project falls one as his inspiration for the XP-887, but with a fastback body style; first proposed right among those three third-generation without further proof, we can't definitively in May 1965, its development continued Corvair proposals doesn't necessarily indi- make that connection. XP-849 XP-892 XP-873 Corvairsation 3Q2021 3 A new Tucson Corvair Association in the works!! As we all know, a couple of years ago we de- three members, to discuss what steps should be cided to combine Tucson Corvair Association taken next. With 18 people showing interest it ap- meeting with those of the Classic Chevy Club of pears that there is sufficient interest to proceed Tucson. A few TCA members attended the meet- with efforts that get things rolling once again. The ings and several even joined to the CCCT and Club will probably restructured to suit the current have been active in their activities.