Corvair in Austria (Europe)

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hugofant
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Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by hugofant »

Hello guys,
my name's Roman and about 2 weeks ago my Corvair (63 convertible) found it's way to Austria.
It's still some work to do for getting it registered in Austria, but i hope to get it done until next year.
I'm over 50 years old and have an officejob in the IT, but in my sparetime i enjoy working on old cars....and in the meantime i've already got some experience.
I'm looking forward, to have some nice contacts and to exchange experiences about our common hobby.

thanks in advance and best regards
Roman
Last edited by hugofant on Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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azdave
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by azdave »

Welcome Roman! Hope you get it registered and on the road for driving season next year.
Dave W. from Gilbert, AZ

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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by bbodie52 »

:welcome2: :wave: Welcome to the Corvair Forum!

I wanted to suggest posting some pictures of your new Corvair acquisition when possible. I hope you don't mind, but I took advantage of your name to suggest a photograph...
Roman's Chariot.jpg
In any case, if you take some pictures of the car from different angles, and include the interior and engine compartment, if you include pictures of the Body Tag (in the engine compartment) and vehicle number (in the driver's side door frame) we can decode them for you to provide some background production information on your Corvair.

The following Corvair Forum link can provide you with a list of useful websites that should be helpful as a Corvair owner...

Common and Useful Corvair Websites

Corvair Forum :link: http://www.corvairforum.com/forum/viewt ... 225&t=6007

:dontknow: I would like to invite you to expand on your initial post and tell us more about yourself, your Corvair, etc. If you can describe your personal assessment of your mechanical skills and abilities, that would help a lot. Members of the Corvair Forum love to be helpful in assisting other Corvair owners with technical support and advice, but it helps a lot if we have some understanding of your technical background and mechanical abilities, your Corvair-related knowledge, etc. Helping us to know more about you and your Corvair will help us to write comments to you that are tailored to your needs and experience. Pictures are great too, because pictures of your Corvair will help us to visualize where you are with your Corvair and its condition at the present time. Knowing your geographic location is also useful, because knowing where you live can sometimes suggest possibilities to resolve some issues or problems.

:welcome:
Brad Bodie
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TikiRalf
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by TikiRalf »

Hi Roman,

If you got a change post some pictures to please,

Greetings from the Netherlands! :tu:
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toytron
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by toytron »

Welcome Roman!

Ed Stevenson

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65 corvair corsa convertible turbo
65 corvair monza
hugofant
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by hugofant »

thanks for the nice words and pictures will follow.

br
Roman
TomReinmueller
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by TomReinmueller »

Hey Roman..my name is Tom Reinmueller..I was born in Austria but moved to Canada in 1962...Ive been involved with Corvairs since the mid-eighties..It sure is cool to know that there r a few Corvair roaming around Austria! LOL! Cud u send some pics of your car or video of it? The last time I was home was 1994...The Corvair wasn't a bad attempt at VW after all eh? To us Europeans its normal...eh? LOL.. anyway Roman it would be neat to hear from you and see some pics of our favorite car..hope to hear from you soon..
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by bbodie52 »

Early known pictures of Corvairs in Austria...

The 1964 Corvair Monza convertible was made available to Julie Andrews during the filming of the movie...
Austria 1.jpg


This later picture was made in 1965 — using a red 1965 Corvair Corsa coupe that was imported to celebrate the year of the movie's release...
Austria 3.jpg

This aging photo was donated by Miss Andrews from her private photo album...
Austria 4.jpg
Brad Bodie
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by TomReinmueller »

Good One Roman! LoL! Let us know when your Corvair gets rolling on thoseAustrian hills!!LoL!....Tom Reinmueller
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by TomReinmueller »

Good One Brad! LoL! Let us know when your Corvair gets rolling on thoseAustrian hills! Yodel hoo hoo hoo!! !LoL!....Tom Reinmueller
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by bbodie52 »

I was stationed in Germany (near Kaiserslautern and Ramstein Air Base) from 1980 to 1983. The closest I ever got to Austria was a trip to Munich. We did have two Corvairs with us in Germany — a 1965 Corsa coupe and in 1965 Corsa convertible. That same Corsa convertible was the one my mother drove us in to the Century 21 theater in San Jose, California in 1965 to see The Sound of Music when it was released in 1965. So for me all of those memories of the Corvairs, Germany, and the movie came together and inspired me to piece together those movie images coupled with Corvair images.
Brad Bodie
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Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
hugofant
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by hugofant »

Hello again,
as promised - here are some pictures. car is technically in a quite good condition, but painting has to be done completely.

@bbodies52: ...and some background infos would be great

thanks in advance and best regards
Roman
Attachments
FSCRW_1107_01.jpg
FSCRW_1109_01.jpg
FSCRW_1125_01.jpg
FSCRW_1126_01.jpg
FSCRW_1127_01.jpg
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by bbodie52 »

Austrian Corvair Spyder.jpg
Here is a breakdown of the information on the body tag you provided...

BODY TAG INFO:

10C
Body Build Date: 10 = October, C = Third Week
The first two digits are numbers 01 through 12, indicating the month of manufacture. The letter is A-E, indicating the week of the month. If the letter is an "C" it indicates the third week of the month.

STYLE 63-0967 BODY WR 5597
63 = 1963
Model 0967: 09 = Monza, 67 = 2-Door Convertible, WR = Willow Run, Michigan
Production Sequence No: 5597

1963 Chevrolet Corvair (900 Series) Monza 2-Door Convertible — 4 Passenger, Total Production: 36,693, (Spyder Convertibles: 7,472)

Image

TRIM 1-732 = BLUE with a WHITE convertible top.
This 3 digit code represents the interior color and seat type (732 applies to 900 (927/967) Series Monza only, which is fitted with Bucket Seats).
An extra digit is included for 1963-64 convertibles for the top color. 1 = White

PAINT 912-2 = BLUE "Silver Blue"
Lucite No. 4250L, Rinshed-Mason No. A1481, Ditzler No. DDL12546
Image

The 1962-63 Corvairs have an extra digit on the trim or paint section of the tag. WRN has the extra digit for interior paint on the Paint section. Ex. 922-7 = Red with black interior paint.
912-2 = Silver Blue with Blue interior paint.

ACC = Accessory line
When decoding ACC line on the Fisher body tags, be aware that body tags do not include any options that did not require any body modification be done by Fisher. Fisher was only concerned with items that required modifications during the assembly of the body. A good example is that you won’t find Telescopic column listed on the body tag. Although this is a major option, it did not require any special consideration during body assembly.

E3C

FIRST GROUP
E = RPO A01 — Tinted Glass (Soft Ray glass in all windows)

SECOND GROUP
NONE

THIRD GROUP
C = RPO L87 — Turbocharged Spyder option, Includes Monza Spyder Turbocharged engine (includes special ornaments and instrument cluster).
RPO G95 required (Rear axle, 3.55:1)
  • Front stabilizer bar
  • "Spyder" nameplate on front fender and glove box door
  • "Turbocharged" emblem in steering wheel hub and rear deck lid
  • Full instrument cluster with satin chrome face plate (Includes circular gauges with 120 MPH speedometer, 6000 RPM electric tachometer, manifold pressure gauge, and cylinder head temperature gauge)
  • 150 Horsepower Turbocharged 6-cylinder engine


VIN: 30967W131401
Image

I have attached a copy of the 1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs for your model year Corvair.

:chevy:
Attachments
1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs.pdf
1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs
(3.11 MiB) Downloaded 26 times
Brad Bodie
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hugofant
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by hugofant »

wow, great - thanks a lot for that detailed info.

One additional question: does it mean it's a real spyder (one of 14807, if i'm calculated correctly)....or is it "just" a monza with additional spyder "option".....and what's the difference between "spyder" and "monza"?

br
Roman
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by bbodie52 »

hugofant wrote:Fri Jul 28, 2017 11:11 am

...One additional question: does it mean it's a real spyder (one of 14807, if i'm calculated correctly)....or is it "just" a monza with additional spyder "option".....and what's the difference between "spyder" and "monza"?
American automobile marketing has evolved over the years. In the 1960s the 500, 700, and 900 (Monza) passenger cars were essentially all normally aspirated starting points to be used by the salesman in offering a variety of features. They were essentially the same as offering the cars in BASIC, DELUXE, and PREMIUM vehicle configurations. They were starting price points with some features added as a part of a bundle. Once the salesman had guided his customer to a vehicle configuration that was agreed upon, the salesman would then confront the customer with a list of options, so that the customer can pick and choose a custom configuration that fit his or her needs (at an additional cost, of course). If you look through the 1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs document that I attached to my earlier post, you will see the basic model identifications outlined in the first few pages, followed by several pages of regular equipment items and which of the models (500/700/900) those features were found in. Then you will find a page or two of Regular Production Options (RPO) that could be ordered with your selected car for an additional price. These additional add-ons might include anything from backup lights to the turbocharged Spyder option, as well as transmission type, final drive ratio, metallic brakes, etc. In later years, as European and Japanese automobiles increased their market share in the US sales, marketing schemes changed to bring American car marketing schemes into approaches similar to those used by European and Japanese car manufacturers.

The baseline Corvair has only small differences between the 500/700/900 model configurations. The same is true with later Corvairs, as owners would find that the total weight, brake systems, suspension designs, and powertrains were very similar in the 500, Monza, and Corsa models. Minor trim details, instrument panel features, and the turbocharged engine were essentially the only differences between the 500/Monza/Corsa Corvairs.

The Corvair Spyder was introduced in 1962, and remained a Regular Production Option (RPO) through 1963. In 1964, the Spyder became a separate model instead of being designated as a Monza upgrade. The new model was designated as the 600 series (model 627: 2 door Spyder club coupe, and model 667: two door Spyder convertible). To further confuse the issue, in 1964 a front stabilizer bar was included with all Corvair passenger cars. In 1962-1963 the front stabilizer bar was a standard feature only with the Corvair Spyder (although it could be ordered as a heavy duty suspension option on non-Spyder Corvairs).

The two body tags shown below are from your 1963 Spyder convertible (63-0967) and from a 1964 Spyder convertible (64-0667). Both are from the Willow Run, Michigan production facility. Interestingly, both body tags reflect the ACC option 3C, which points to the turbocharged Spyder option for the car. The 600 series Corvair (Spyder) only appeared in the 1964 model year. In 1965 the Corvair was redesigned and the Corsa designation was assigned to the top-of-the-line. That was the only model that could be ordered with the turbocharged engine. There was little difference between the 140 hp Corsa and the 180 hp turbocharged Corsa.

So in the 1960s these model designations are used as production management and sales/marketing tools. Now, Corvair enthusiasts use the body tag and VIN tag to help identify an original Spyder or turbocharged Corsa, as opposed to a Spyder clone or Corsa clone that inherited turbocharged Corvair parts from a salvage car that could be used as a donor to try to preserve the unique turbocharged configuration.

ImageImage
Image

I have attached a copy of the 1964 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs, if you wish to compare the 1964 document to the 1963 specifications that I attached to my earlier post.
Attachments
1964 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs.pdf
1964 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs
(2.57 MiB) Downloaded 26 times
Brad Bodie
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Re: Corvair in Austria (Europe)

Post by azdave »

hugofant wrote: Fri Jul 28, 2017 9:11 am One additional question: does it mean it's a real spyder (one of 14807, if i'm calculated correctly)....or is it "just" a monza with additional spyder "option".....and what's the difference between "spyder" and "monza"?
It might be of no concern to you but in your photos, I noticed that the VIN tag and the Body Tag have been re-attached with non-factory fasteners. This could simply indicate that a previous owner removed them for painting and put them back when they were done. It could also mean that someone swapped the tags from another car to convert a Monza to a Monza Spyder.

If you ever re-sell the car you should be careful if you claim it is a genuine Spyder because a purist will see the tags and might not be so happy. If you like the car and don't plan to sell it, then forget about it. Get it on the road and have some fun.
Dave W. from Gilbert, AZ

66 Corsa 140/4 Yenko Stinger Tribute
66 Corsa 140 Coupe w/factory A/C
65 Monza 4DR 140/PG w/factory A/C
65 Monza 4DR EJ20T/5
64 Greenbrier 110/PG, Standard 6-Door
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