LBPB1 <LBPB1@aol.com>writes:
<< In the US did'nt Tucker build the first rear engined, air-coold car? ok so
it wasnt exactly hi production, but ithink it ws to be offered with turbo.>>
At about 50 cars, most people didn't consider the Tucker
a true "production" car... but your point is well taken. Tucker
had a super-high performance aviation-type homebuilt engine
(complete with hydraulically operated valves) planned for full
production. According to legend, Tucker actually built them in
his kitchen. Only a couple of complete prototypes still exist.
No turbo was planned (that I know of). There
were other air-cooled engines earlier (Franklins come to
mind) as well, but the Corvair was the first "mainstream"
air cooled rear-engine.
Corvair guys are usually big fans of such earlier cars...
they see them as part of their cars' heritage. Tuckers,
VW's, Franklins, and Tatra's (anybody familiar?) are
common non-Corvair marques popular with Corvair enthusiasts.
<< I have seen several in SCCA events.....with good drivers they do well.>>
Kind of like a 911. Competent but unforgiving. When
you "screw up" in most cars, you simply understeer off
the track. In a Corvair (and 911), you go out in a crowd-pleasing
blaze of glory.
To the "pro-Nader" comments earlier: Of course the "big three"
wanted him shut up. Without a solid case, he was costing them
lots of money. Seat belts were offered as an option in all US
cars of the era. If people didn't buy them, is that the manufacturer's
problem? Nader claimed it was and much of the public agreed.
Thus ushered in the "nanny" era in the US. (Wear your motorcycle
helmet, buckle your seatbelt, drive 55, buy a car with a $1500
explosive airbag that may kill you if you're short, etc. Only drive
a car the government "approves of". Etc.)... at least they're
off cars and after tobacco now....
Most issues since then (Pinto, Audi, GM trucks, minivan hatches)
have been simply accusations with anecdotal evidence (at best). But
the media is glad to run with it (and even stage fake examples), the
lawyers are willing to take the money, and the corporations are looking
for the best way out. If that means settling questionable claims
involving 0.01% of your total production vice completing a recall
to fix a problem that doesn't resist in reality, then so be it.
I'm not a big fan of American car corporations; they have built
the crappiest cars I've ever owned (save for that LeCar....), but
I'm even less a fan of these lawyers and the regulations that
follow cases like these.
Are you happy the TR6 was replaced with the TR7 in answer to a lot of those
new regulations? Thank Nader.
Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
TR and Corvairs, no Renaults or lawyers
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