Solar Cavalier Corvair ~

[Charlie]

Here is an original ad for Art Herschberger's Solar Cavalier :

From the July 2007 CORSA Communique (page 8)

I believe started life as a 1968 Corvair, but he would build one from your Corvair, if I remember correctly?

Identifying exterior features are the 1967-1968 Camaro taillights, vents under the front bumper, rectangular headlights, and of course, the "Fitch" roof line, which I believe was vinyl covered (optional)?

One identifying interior feature is the custom made wooden dash panel to replace the Corsa / Monza instrument cluster and possibly included better driver and passenger bucket seats, and customized inner door panels?

Did Art go so far as to add electric windows?

I have other pix from a CORSA show at, I believe, Lime Rock, around 1978, and I'll post them when/if I can find them!

[cad-kid]

Thanks for sharing the artwork

[isucorvair]

There were lots of variations on the Solar cars.

My Uncles documented Solar does not have a wooden dash panel, but does have the camaro lights, sprint vent top, and a bunch of other things.

There was at least one car that had single headlights, one on each side.

Eric P

[NMVair]

Wait I don't get it, is it an electric car?

[cad-kid]

Wait I don't get it, is it an electric car?

Nope, just some custom styling and performance work.

[PressurizedPancake]

Is Art still alive? I wonder what ever happened to all of the Fitch stuff he bought? I'm only 20 minutes from there.

Very futuristic looking, neat by today's standards!

[UNSAFE]

It was run by 2 brothers and they would do just about anything that you wanted .

They advertised that they would take your Corvair and completely tear it down and rebuild it to better than new condition .

How about a vinyl cove treatment ? - I never did care for the Camaro taillights or rectangle headlights

They also did other cars - I think Vega and Pinto and maybe a few more .

I think one brother got hurt or killed in a snowmobile accident and that was the beginning of the end .

[Allan Lacki]

"I wonder what ever happened to all of the Fitch stuff he bought?" Don't be too concerned about parts that Hershberger bought from Fitch. Aside from the fiberglass "904 Ventop", Fitch didn't offer many unique parts for the Corvair. He bought his stuff from other jobbers. Most if not all of it could be purchased from other sources. In other words, you could build your own Fitch Sprint without having to buy anything but the Ventop roof from Fitch. The advantage of the Fitch Sprint was the fact that it provided one-stop shopping for souping up your Corvair, and if you had his guys do the conversion in his shop, they would revise the suspension settings, alter the ignition, etc. In other words, they'd super tune your Corvair for you after installing all the parts.

[bbodie52]

Is Art still alive? I wonder what ever happened to all of the Fitch stuff he bought? I'm only 20 minutes from there.

Very futuristic looking, neat by today's standards!

To try to answer your question, I did a little Internet research. Unfortunately, Art Herschberger passed away last summer. The information from his posted obituary is shown below. The obituary did confirm that his brother, Dennis, did pass away before him. I also noted that his mother's maiden name (Cavalier) was apparently the source for the name he used for the custom Corvairs produced by Solar Automotive.

Arthur H. Herschberger

Born: Thursday, September 03, 1931

Death: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Age: 83

Arthur H. Herschberger, age 83, of Princeton, passed away at his home on Tuesday, September 23, 2014. He was born on September 3, 1931, in Chicago, IL, a son of Arthur and Rosemary (Cavalier) Herschberger. He married Lois Lund on July 11, 1953 in Chicago. Art was the owner of Herschberger LP Gas of Ripon. Art had many interests. He loved airplanes and aeronautics, enjoyed reading, woodworking, photography and politics. He was a member of the Beaver Dam Model Airplane Club, Experimental Aircraft Association and a member of the Wyldewood Baptist Church in Oshkosh.

He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Lois of Princeton; 5 children, Bruce (Leeann) Herschberger of Neshkoro, Jeanine (Brian) Kundinger of Rochester, MI, Gary Herschberger of Olympia, WA, Glenn (Susan) Herschberger of Orlando, FL, Julie (Douglas) Vrechek of Princeton; 18 grandchildren, Jonathan, Hannah, Artemus, Ruth; Todd, Heather, Brian; Gregory, Kelsey, Kyle; Heather, Kirsten, Grant; Blake, Cole, Emma, Joshua, Ava; 7 great grandchildren, MacKenzie, Keegan, Aubrey, Lily, Charlie, Elliot, Weston; many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Rosemary Herschberger; brother, Dennis Herschberger.

A funeral service for Arthur H. Herschberger will be held on Friday, September 26, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. with visitation beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the Wachholz and Sons Funeral Home, 303 W. Harvard St. in Princeton. Pastor Jason Brenenstuhl will be officiating. Burial will follow the service in the Weiser Cemetery in the township of Princeton. A memorial has been established to Agnesian Hospice Hope, 745 South St. Green Lake, WI 54941. Please visit our website at http://www.wachholzandsons.com to send private condolences to the family.

Wachholz and Sons Funeral Home
Onsite Cremation Center in Princeton
Serving the Family, 920-295-6631

http://www.wachholzandsons.com/wachholz ... &obiid=700

Is this a Fitch Sprint or a Solar Cavalier?

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.ph ... 125,page=1

[cavalierguy73]

My name is Bruce Herschberger and I was there from beginning to end, as they say lol. What the fella said about John Fitch is essentially true but what should be remembered is that John Fitch was a big time race driver. The picture of John Fitch with the large white haired man is the legendary Mercedes Benz racing director Alfred Neubauer. John raced the 300 sel and gullwings in the 1950s along with Stirling Moss where they dominated road racing at events like Targo Florio and Mille Miglia where they would race a1000 miles over open roads. So for John Fitch to lend his name to this American VW wannabe changed the way people viewed Corvairs. That was explained to me in the 1970s by some of the writers at Motor Trend and Car and Driver when they road tested the Sprints and Cavaliers. Also Mr. Fitch developed his GT suspension kit which greatly improved the handling. I think the 2nd CORSA Convention was held at Lime Rock in 1972, a race track He designed and helped develop. I went with my dad to Connecticut to meet with Mr. Fitch and he was a kind and dignified man. My uncle Denny (dads brother) raced SCCA in Alfa Romeo's in the late 50s and early 60s and we went every year to the June Sprints at Elkhart Lake. As an SCCA member he received a newspaper every week called Autoweek and gave them to me. Inspired me to read over 100 books on racing before I was 14. So knew a lot about Mr. Fitch and irritated my dad because I kept asking him questions about his racing career and my dad didn't care about that. So Mr. Fitch took me for a ride in his Phoenix and answered my questions and I loved the Phoenix which he was very proud of. Looking back I'm kind of surprised he was trying/willing to sell it ($10000) but I couldn't convince my dad to but it. The coolest part of the sale was the GM display of the 1965 rear suspension, engine and transaxle all cutaway and with 10 electric motors that moved showing the operation. We had that in the showroom for years. I still have an all steel work bench with a large English made vise we got from Mr. Fitch. Incidentally we did make a wooden dash for the 1st Cavalier with VDO gauges. Almost all of the cars came with 3 VDO gauges mounted above the radio. That first Cavalier also had the Camaro taillights and 2- 7 inch round headlights but no Sprint top. It had the 3bbl Weber carbs with headers. The 2 black and white photos of a Sprint was red wit black interior that was my dads favorite. It started out as the propane powered Clean Air Vair that we took to the 1st CORSA Convention at Chicago in 1971. The reaction to that car and that Tony Fiore, who was the editor of the Corsa Communique, asked my dad if he would build him a car inspired my dad to sell his propane business and start building cars. We only built the one car with the wood dash and 7" round headlights. Both the headlights (done in steel) and the dash were too expensive. But most of the customers wanted the Sprint roof and the Camaro taillights and the VDO oil temp, oil press, and amp gauges with the standard Corsa dash, which was easier to read and better looking anyway. The summers of 1972 and 1973 my dad in the red Sprint and me in the green Cavalier drove all over the country going to Corvair events. We had a blast and I cherish all the time I got with him. Funny story, well funny now I guess. 1972 we're coming back from the east thru Chicago. My grandma lived in Libertyville and we spent the night with her and left the next morning. I was following dad and as we went by a county fair, very slowly for the crowds, I'm blipping the throttle because those Webbers loaded up easily (we didn't know how to adjust them) and they backfired and caught fire. I could see the black smoke coming out of the air intake in front of the decklid. I jumped out of the car going to the trunk where we had a fire extinguisher mounted but there were so many people crowding around the car (apparently oblivious that the car was on fire) I had to push my way to the front and then the back, pushing some to the ground, until I opened the decklid and they saw the flames. Then they ran away. I put the fire out but the damage was done, the car was undriveable. My dad, knowing I knew the way home, just continued on to Princeton. The policemen that showed up knew my dad (he grew up in Libertyville) pushed the car out of the way and kept on eye on it. I walked back to my Grandma's and called home. Dad sent a truck to get me. Amazingly the fire did no damage the the exterior of the car and we put a 425hp 327 in the back seat using a Crown kit. The engine cover with 2 scallops for seats was too cramped for my dad or the other guys to drive so it continued as mine! I had many adventures in that car! Since it had a 3:27 rearend and 15" rims it got better mileage than the webber engine. Which mattered as I paid for my own gas. The car became an orphan because no one liked the headlights or the dash so there was no reason to display it. Now, as an old man I marvel that my dad turned me loose in that car. I was a very responsible kid and never got in any trouble with it and kept it spotless, but when I was 13 Denny took me out on a snow covered frozen Green lake with a VW bug and showed me how to slide and drift a car, with me driving, often. so when I say I had a blast with that Corveight I'm not kidding. A few years later, after they built some Kelmark V8's( my dad could drive )he did ask me about that it turned out alright and that nothing got hurt but he said I showed more restraint then he would have at 17. I didn't correct him! lol He put me in another very cool fast car but I doubt anyone is much interested in this rambling story much less that one. One other thing Denny wasn't involved with the Corvair era, he and my dad had a falling out over something and he stayed working for Skellgas after dad sold the bulk plants. He was involved with the Blakely project. We also did a number of cars that were not Sprints, Cavaliers or restorations. But people would bring their tired Corvairs (some early models) and want the new suspension, brakes, engine, reclining seats and sound deadening in the interior. I went thru the Solar records when I took over Bernardi Auto Works in 1985. There were records for 43 cars and I built the last one when I got out of the Air Force in 1976. Every car was sold at a $2000 to $3000 loss. When I told my dad that he said, "no one would pay that". I just let it go. I knew he had sold his propane businesses in 1972 for $800,000 and had spent it all on those 2 car projects. He was 54 years old and was broke and was starting his last propane business (his 3rd) on a shoestring and working like a dog. At the time I didn't think much about it, it was just what dad did. But now looking back I'm so proud of him I could burst. He embodied the American spirit. I can't wait to see him again in eternity. Although I don't think we will be much concerned with this world then. I never told him I sold that last gold Sprint for $8500.

[bbodie52]

This Car and Driver magazine cover layout depicts many of the Fitch Sprint components...

The Corvair Sprint on the cover of Car and Driver Magazine in September 1965

More on the Fitch Sprint...
The Fitch Sprint in CAR and DRIVER
"It's real grand touring on a shoestring, thanks to the
old pro, John Fitch" - Car and Driver, September, 1965
http://www.corvaircorsa.com/fitch01.html

The Corvair Sprint By Fitch – An Original Lost And Found
https://mycarquest.com/2014/08/the-corv ... fitch.html



HEMMINGS FEATURE
The Connecticut Corvair - 1966 Corvair Corsa
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/articl ... vair-corsa

The 1965 Corvair Fitch Sprint

My father had a set of these on our 1965 Corsa convertible. At age 16 I encouraged an upgrade from the 13" Hands custom wheels to 7X14 Ansen Sprint wheels, fitted with Goodyear RWL Polyglas tires. I sure wish I still had that set of Hands wheels!

[Allan Lacki]

Hi!

This is a message for Bruce Herschberger, a.k.a. cavalierguy73.

That very first Cavalier - the one that was converted to a mid-engine CorvEight - ended up in the hands of John Egerton, a friend of mine and a Corvair racer who lives in eastern Pennsylvania. It was in rough shape when John bought it. He stored it along with the rest of his collection in a barn on his property. Realizing he would not get around to restoring it, he sold it to another Corvair guy who lives a few miles away. John hasn't seen it since the sale so we don't know whatever became of it. The sale took place about five years ago.

Allan Lacki

[cavalierguy73]

That car had the wooden dash but it might not have had the Camaro taillights, I don't remember. But it was the first car we put a power brake booster from the early Pontiac Tempests, I think. I put many miles on that car and the booster with the metallic brake linings were very effective. The 7" round headlights were Cibie, very bright and those and the brakes helped me avoid deer a number of times! The Solar name was from the name of the LP gas business my dad named in 1960 when America in a space travel craze. Sorry to hear it that it fell into disrepair. It was a true sleeper. We put 2 stock GM turbo mufflers with Crown headers which produced just a low rumble. I did a fair amount of street racing with it (stoplight to stoplight) in a couple of the local larger cites and surprised many a sixties muscle car driver. Great fun.

[doow1dogs]

Hello, I’m new to this forum. I was reading an old post on Solar Automotive. I own the original cavalier that Art built. I had the pleasure of talking to him before he passed and he sent me some extra things that he had laying around. In the picture that I posted the car has the suspension removed but I now have the car back together with the original wheels/tire that were on when it was built.

[doow1dogs]

Here are pictures that Art sent me as well. I bought the car from John A few years back then sold it, then got it back.

[doow1dogs]

Sorry for the pictures. For some reason they post upside down