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A Rare Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside – America’s Answer To The VW Type 2

The Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside was produced alongside its siblings in the Corvair 95 model family to challenge the popularity of the VW Type 2 – otherwise known as the VW Bus or VW Kombi.

In much the same way the Chevrolet Corvair passenger car had been developed with no small amount of inspiration from the VW Beetle, with its air-cooled, rear-mounted, horizontally-opposed engine, and swing axles.

The Corvair 95 Rampside

Of all the vehicles in the Corvair 95 family, the Corvair 95 Rampside would be produced in the lowest numbers – just 3,210 were made between 1961 and 1962 when it left production. The “Rampside” name for the model came from (as you may have guessed) the fact that it had a fold down ramp on the right-hand side.

This ramp allowed for easy loading and unloading including the ability to roll cargo down the ramp when needed – they were used by the Bell Telephone Company because it vastly simplified the process of loading and unloading of cable drums.

Above Image: The side ramp allows easy access to the cargo area.

The Corvair 95 series can be separated into two main varieties, the vans and the trucks. Both vehicles used largely identical underpinnings, and the vans proved more popular overall.

Often referred to as the Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier, the Corvair 95 vans could be ordered in a variety of configurations including the panel van (Corvan) with no side or rear windows, and the Greenbrier which had windows all around and could be set up with up to three rows of seats.

The Corvair 95 trucks came in two primary configurations, the Rampside and the Loadside. The Loadside had what was essentially a normal rear tailgate, and the Rampside had both the rear tailgate and the side ramp.

Although the Corvair 95 vehicles never really challenged to wildly popular VW Type 2 they did have a number of advantages.

Corvair 95 engines had a significant power advantage thanks to their larger six-cylinder 2.4 and 2.7 litre horizontally opposed engines, versus the 1.1 to 1.6 litre four-cylinder engines in the Volkswagens.

This additional power allowed them to carry more weight at higher speeds, though they were more expensive to buy and operate. Chevrolet kept the Corvair 95 series in production for a relatively short time, just five years from 1961 until 1965.

Above Image: The “Flat Six” air-cooled engine was largely the same unit used in the Corvair road car.

In recent years the surviving examples of the Corvair 95 series have become popular with collectors, sadly many succumbed to rust and neglect over the decades and it’s now relatively rare to find one in good original condition.

The 1962 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside Shown Here

The vehicle you see here is an original Corvair 95 Rampside, it has a somewhat unusual history as it spent much of its life in Europe, it was bought in 2017 in France and shipped back to the United States for a full restoration before being shipped back to Europe.

The vehicle’s recent restoration is still immaculate throughout, it was finished with an eye-catching orange and white two-tone paint combination, and it has the Deluxe exterior trim package.

Due to the popularity of the Chevrolet Corvair and the parts commonality between the Corvair 95 and its road car sibling, it’s still relatively easy to source spare parts for most Corvair model variants.

If you’d like to read more about the Rampside you see here or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s, it’s due to roll across the auction block in February and at the time of writing there’s no estimate.

The post A Rare Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside – America’s Answer To The VW Type 2 appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/chevrolet-corvair-95-rampside/
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For Sale: A Reliant Regal Supervan III From “Only Fools and Horses”

This is a Reliant Regal Supervan III that was used during the filming of one of Britain’s most loved comedy TV series – Only Fools and Horses.

Although three-wheeled Reliants have long been a popular target for British comedy, featuring in Mr Bean, Top Gear, and Only Fools and Horses to name just three, the vehicles were built entirely seriously and used extensively in Britain in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Due to a tax loophole, the UK has been spawning unusual three-wheelers for over a century. Morgan three-wheelers were being produced all the way back in 1911, and they were the first vehicles produced by the storied marque.

The tax loophole is that three-wheeled vehicles are classed as motorcycles rather than cars. This means it’s far cheaper to buy them, register them, and insure them.

Reliant And The Legendary Supervan

Reliant developed almost their entire business model around this loophole and they achieved no small amount of success – over 105,000 Regal vans and saloon cars were built between 1963 and 1972, and that number doesn’t include the company’s other models.

Above Image: The unusual three-wheeled Reliant Regal Supervan was cheap to run but required careful cornering so as not to tip over.

The Reliant Regal first appeared in 1953 to replace the earlier Reliant Regent. The Regal initially had a wooden frame with an aluminum body all mounted to a steel box section chassis, and it was powered by a 747cc side-valve, water-cooled engine.

These cars were entirely built by hand and were cheap to run, so they became moderately popular and Reliant continued developing them over the 1950s and 1960s with a slow shift to cheaper fiberglass bodies and increasingly powerful engines – though the term “increasingly powerful” is being used loosely here, most Regals produced between 20 and 30 hp.

Reliant became industry experts in the use of the still new material called “fiberglass”, by 1956 they were building the Mark 3 Regal with a 100% fiberglass body. In 1962 they debuted the Regal 3/25 with a fiberglass body of unit construction doing away with the wooden frame entirely and making the the bodies in two main parts – the inner and outer body, which were then bonded together to form a rigid, lightweight structure.

The optimistically named Supervan III used by Derek “Del Boy” Trotter his younger brother Rodney Trotter was one of these 100% fiberglass Reliants, in many episodes of the show you can see that the props department has applied fake rust to the body of the car to give it a more rundown look, which of course amused the people who knew the car was made of glassfibre and therefore couldn’t rust.

Above Image: The interior of the Supervan III is spartan but functional, it can be equipped with seating for four, or the rear seats can be removed for carrying cargo.

Reliant offered the Supervan in three variants including the Supervan, the Supervan II, and the Supervan III. The use of the word “super” in the model name has been the subject of much comedy over the years due to the somewhat limited performance capabilities of the vehicles. That said, later versions of the Supervan III could reach speeds of 70+ mph (112 km/h), although you’d need to be a much braver man than me to try it.

Only Fools And Horses

Only Fools And Horses was a British sitcom that ran between 1981 and 2003. The show featured two hapless brothers named Del Boy and Rodney Trotter, Del Boy was the wheeler dealer and Rodney was the younger brother who was invariably pulled into Del Boy’s schemes.

The graphic on the side of Del Boy’s bright yellow Supervan III said “Trotters Independent Trading Co., New York – Paris – Peckam.” The Reliant was the families only form of transport for much of the show and it was central to many plot lines. A number of Supervan were used over the course of production, one was blown up, another jumped over a bridge and fell apart, and some just broke down.

Above Video: A classic scene from Only Fools And Horses showing the Reliant Supervan.

The 1972 Reliant Regal Supervan III Shown Here

The Reliant you see here is a 1972 Supervan III, it’s on offer from the private collection of John Mansfield, formerly of the BBC. It comes with some BBC documents and it’s believed to be a rare survivor from the television show – making it a highly collectible car in the United Kingdom.

It’s currently road registered in the UK with the registration number JPL 725K and it has 97,000 miles on the odometer. As you would expect the car has all the external patina that was added to Del Boy’s Reliants for comedic effect, as well as the suitcase in the roof rack, and some fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.

At the time of writing there’s no estimate attached to the car, and it’s due to cross the auction block with Silverstone Auctions on the 27th of March. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Silverstone Auctions

The post For Sale: A Reliant Regal Supervan III From “Only Fools and Horses” appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/reliant-regal-supervan/
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Documentary: The Mini-Trac – Antarctica’s Quirky Tracked Mini

This film by Callum Gillies is about one of the strangest vehicles to ever turn a wheel on the icebound southern continent of Antarctica.

Called the Mini-Trac, this vehicle looks like it was built as a fairground attraction or for some long forgotten Hollywood film. In reality it was a surprisingly sensible vehicle for use on snow and ice due to its low weight, small size, and ease of maintenance.

Since the introduction of the first Mini in 1959 the little car has taken over the world, millions were made and they’ve been driven on all seven continents one of very few cars that can make that claim.

Perhaps the most important contribution the Mini made to the automotive world was the layout it pioneered – it uses a transversely mounted inline-four cylinder engine driving the front wheels.

This layout is now used by most new road cars manufactured in the world, and it contributed to the Mini’s unusually spacious cabin. With the development of the Mini-Trac it also allowed the front wheel drive system to operate the front sprocket wheel that propelled the vehicle forwards.

I won’t go into too much detail about the Mini-Trac here as I don’t want to ruin Callum’s film, it’s a fascinating story and if you do know the whereabouts of any of the surviving Mini-Tracs please get in touch with us via the Contact Us page and we’ll tell Callum.

Read more about the history of the Mini here or click here to subscribe to Callum’s YouTube channel.

The post Documentary: The Mini-Trac – Antarctica’s Quirky Tracked Mini appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/mini-trac-antarctica/
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An Original 1985 BMW M5 Touring Car – 460 BHP at 8,400 RPM

This is the 460 bhp BMW M5 touring car that was built for French racing driver Marc Sourd for the 1985 Championnat de France Production, the nation’s premier touring car championship.

Sourd competed in every round and took both a win and a second place over the course of the season.

The E28 BMW M5

The BMW E28 M5 has become a cult classic in recent years largely thanks to the fact that it’s a comfortable four-door, five-seat sedan with a BMW M1 supercar engine under the hood. The car’s speed is nothing short of prodigious, and BMW engineers were sure to upgrade the brakes and suspension to better cope with the power output.

BMW first showed the E28 M5 to the world in early 1985 at the Amsterdam Motor Show, the motoring press were stunned by the vehicle’s performance abilities. On its release the M5 was the fastest production four-door car in the world thanks to the 282 hp M88/3 engine that was fitted to the European variant.

Road tests showed that the car was capable of 0 to 62 mph in just 6.0 seconds, with a 0 to 100 mph time of 15 seconds, and a top speed of over 150 mph. These were staggering figures for a luxury production car in the mid-1980s, by way of a comparison the 1985 Ferrari 412 did the 0 to 62 mph dash in 6.7 seconds.

Above Image: The highly modified engine in this car now turns out 460 bhp at a screaming 8,400 rpm.

The outlandish idea of taking the engine from the BMW M1 supercar and dropping it into the engine bay of a four-door saloon car is credited to BMW Motorsport boss, Jochen Neerpasch.

In a way, this was the ultimate evolution of the BMW 2002 first introduced in the late 1960s – a sports car with great handling that uses a standard three-box design with seating for 4+ adults, with ample trunk space.

This wolf-in-sheep’s clothing design ethos, particularly for M cars, has become a core part of BMW’s DNA and it’s present throughout the company’s model line up to this day.

The E28 BMW M5 Touring Car Shown Here

The car you see here is a race-winning touring car from 1985, it’s never been restored or modified and it still carries its original Marlboro livery.

French racing driver Marc Sourd drove this car to a win in Nogaro and a second place at the Croix en Ternois circuit. These took place within France’s top flight touring car championship, chosen to showcase the abilities of the then brand new E28 M5.

Above Image: The car retains its original livery and its original set up for touring car racing, with a stripped interior and a modern fire suppression system.

Of course no touring car is the same as the cars on the showroom floor, this M5 was significantly modified by Auto Motor Sport (chassis) and PIPO (engine). In its current trim the engine produces 460 bhp at 8,400 rpm, a considerable increase over the 282 hp of the original.

Suspension and braking systems were both significantly uprated, and the car features a full roll cage. As you would expect the interior was stripped back to the metal to reduce weight, the driver sits in a Sparco racing seat with a five-point seat belt, and there’s a Sparco fire suppression system installed.

Power is fed back through a 5-speed Getrag gearbox with a lightweight magnesium casing into a limited slip differential – different final drive gear ratios can be used on different circuits, the fastest of which will allow the car to reach 300 km/h.

Over the years the car has been well-maintained and it’s made appearances at a number of vintage motorsport events. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Artcurial.

The current hammer estimate is €90,000 to €140,000.

The post An Original 1985 BMW M5 Touring Car – 460 BHP at 8,400 RPM appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/bmw-m5-touring-car/
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Dome Zero by impressive:cars (Kyosho) by impression...

Dome Zero by impressive:cars (Kyosho)
by impression https://flic.kr/p/2gotj9w

from Tumblr https://somar78.tumblr.com/post/642118219127226368

The Dodge Charger Daytona – The First NASCAR Racer To Break 200 MPH

The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona is one of the most important cars in NASCAR history, it was the first to break the 200 mph barrier and it proved so fast that its immediate successor was essentially outlawed on safety grounds a year later.

NASCAR tire suppliers Goodyear and Firestone both announced they couldn’t supply tires that were able to safely withstand the speeds of the Dodge Charger Daytona – this combined with the car’s wild looks and race-dominating speed led to it being one of the most controversial NASCAR competitors of its age.

Still today, 52 years after it was introduced, the looks of the Dodge Charger Daytona are divisive. Some love them and some hate them, the only thing people can generally agree on is that the car looks entirely unique.

Designing The Dodge Charger Daytona

The project to build the Dodge Charger Daytona started in 1968 when Chrysler’s Special Vehicles Group began experimenting with a more aerodynamic version of the regular production Charger. This car looked far less drastic than the eventual Charger Daytona, and its lack of success on the race track inspired further and much more comprehensive aerodynamic changes.

Above Image: The unmistakable nose of the Charger Daytona helped improve aerodynamics and downforce, allowing NASCAR versions to top 200 mph on the track.

The car that resulted from these changes would be the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. It was fitted with a new 18 inch “pointy” nose and chin spoiler to reduce high-speed drag and reduce lift. The rear of the car was modified to ensure that the rear window was flush and reverse scoops on both front fenders reduced pressure build up inside the wheel arches.

After fine tuning in a wind tunnel the Charger Daytona had a drag coefficient (cd) of just 0.28, by way of comparison the Ferrari F40 has a drag coefficient of 0.34, the Lamborghini Murcielago measures in at 0.33, and the McLaren F1 sits at 0.32 – smaller numbers mean less drag.

The key issue faced by the development version was rear end lift at higher speeds. This was solved with the addition of a 23 inch tall rear wing. There are two competing explanations for this unusually high rear wing, one school of thought says it that it had to be that high to clear the roof line, and the other more practical school of thought is that it had to be that high to allow the trunk to open and close.

Regardless of the reasoning for its height, the rear wing added the much needed rear downforce as well as some directional stability at high speeds – exactly what the car needed.

Over the course of the one year only production run just 503 examples of the Dodge Charger Daytona were built, enough to meet the homologation requirement but far short of many other NASCAR homologation specials.

The reason for these lower sales numbers was almost certainly the car’s looks, though there were some practical considerations – it was often difficult to find a parking space that could accommodate the 18 ft long vehicle.

Above Video: Some period footage of both the Dodge Charger Daytona and the later Plymouth Superbird in action.

The road-going Charger Daytona were built on the 1969 Charger R/T platform, this meant that the cars had the required heavy-duty suspension and brakes they needed, plus either a 440 cu. in. (7.2 litre) Magnum V8 engine as the standard choice or the slightly more powerful 426 cu. in. (7.0 litre) Hemi V8 which came at additional cost. Just 70 would be sold with the Hemi.

For 1970 the 1970 Plymouth Superbird replaced the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, both cars look similar and are often mistaken for one another, though the cars aren’t identical – the Superbird is a development of the earlier Dodge.

The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Shown Here

The Dodge Charger Daytona you see here is an original survivor and importantly, it’s just 1 of 92 4-speed manual Charger Daytonas listed in the Chrysler Registry.

This car benefits from a full rotisserie restoration back to original specification, it’s the only one optioned in this manner per the Chrysler Registry Report. It’s powered by the Code E86 440 cu. in. 375 hp Magnum V8 which sends power back through a 4-speed into a D91 Dana 60 3.54 Sure Grip differential.

Restoration photos are included as well as a copy of the original window sticker. The car is due to cross the auction block with Mecum in March and at the time of writing there’s no estimate.

If you’d like to read more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.