Corvair Manx

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John Clarke
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Corvair Manx

#1 Post by John Clarke »

just an enquiry at this stage.
Does anyone know of a Meyers Manx Dune / Beach buggy with Corvair power that may be for sale? We are in the U.K so not sure of the costs involved.
Many thanks Jay
 

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C J Murray
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Re: Corvair Manx

#2 Post by C J Murray »

I have a buggy for sale but it is VW powered. Berrien steel tube frame, 4 wheel disc, IRS rear, adjustable front beam, everything new.
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'57 Speedster
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Wes Bender
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Re: Corvair Manx

#3 Post by Wes Bender »

If you managed to put a Corvair engine in one I would think that the weight distribution would result in an accident waiting to happen. Nice looking Manx, Cliff.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

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C J Murray
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Re: Corvair Manx

#4 Post by C J Murray »

Thanks Wes. I'm not using it so I hope somebody will buy it for their beach house or buy it because they are more involved with the VW world. You can't even buy a 356 engine for the price and buggies are great fun to drive.

I built a buggy the summer after I graduated high school and I have seen quite a few but have only seen Corvair powered ones in magazines. They seem to have mostly been built for drag racing in CA in the old days. Now that gigantic amounts of power can be had cheaply from VW engines I don't think there is any advantage to a Corvair engine. I have talked to some Corvair Yenko Stinger vintage racers and it is hard to get power out of those engines. Time to install a Porsche Turbo into the buggy! Drag bars recommended.
'57 Speedster
'59 Sunroof
'60 Devin D Porsche Race Car
'63 Cabriolet "Norm"
'67 911 S Original Owner
'03 Ferrari 575M
'09 Smart Passion

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Jack Walter
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Re: Corvair Manx

#5 Post by Jack Walter »

Steve McQueen drove a Corvair powered Manx in the Thomas Crown Affair..
There was a Corvair powered Manx running autocross in Atlanta during the late sixties and early 1970's - it was blindingly quick and usually took FTD at the Georgia Tech sports car club events.

My 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible had the turbocharged engine which I modified using all of the tricks detailed in the "How to Hot Rod your Corvair Engine" book. I would estimate that I was pulling a bit over 250 HP out of it once I got it finished - good enough to light up a pair of E60-14 tires going into third gear and to push the car to an actual 132 mph by stopwatch.
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