A Pioneer in Turbocharging

When Chevrolet decided that the Corvair, its 1960's "economy car," didn't really fill that niche, it reacted rather quickly. By 1962 the Chevy II appeared and the Corvair variants, such as the station wagon and the black rubber mat-no chrome-underpowered "fleet models," should disappear.

The engine's design and the car's overall dimensions really meant the engine size could not grow much beyond the 140 - 164 cu. in. of the flat, aircooled 6 cylinder. To get more horsepower, the Corvair's engineers increased the number of carbs from two to four, and even more spectacularly, created the first American turbocharged cars.

 

Long before Saab, even before Porsche, turbocharged their cars, you could buy a Corvair Spyder, and later, Corsa, with a long-lived turbocharger. No automatics allowed; all those models came with 4-speed transmissions only.

Here's an overview of the Corvair's turbocharging from Carbuzz.com.

 

Land Rover and Aston Martin?

 

Might this storied nameplate join the Leaping Cat and the Green Oval under Tata? That's the report published yesterday in AM, an online UK resource for automobile dealers. 

Their report states that the current majority owners, a Kuwaiti investment group, would like to sell their stake in Aston Martin and that Tata, Land Rover and Jaguar's current parent, might be a possible suitor.

It would certainly be a cost-effective way for Aston to get the all wheel drive and/or four wheel drive technology it might require to remain up to date in the luxury car market.

Here's the full report from AM Online.

 

 

The End of Lancia?

I'm not upset about the departure of Suzuki from the US market but losing Lancia would hurt.

 

As reported in Hemmings and elsewhere, Lancia's parent company, Fiat, now wonders aloud whether it cares to continue this manufacturer renown for its engineering excellence. 

 

At present Fiat handles Lancia as GM once did Saab, using it as excuse to re-badge boring cars that don't sell well so as to increase sales volume. Here's hoping that Fiat can see the value of re-energizing this marque.