MY FEEDLY

100% Road Legal: A 4×4 Chevolet Corvair Zombie Hunter Van

This is the latest in our “Curious Contraptions” series, where we find unusual, offbeat, or downright insane vehicles online and bring them to you on the off chance you may want to sell your Kia, quit your job, and start a new life driving a curious contraption.

This highly-unusual 1964 Chevrolet Corvair van first popped up for sale a little earlier this year and caused quite a stir. The seller explains that it’s 100% street legal and that it was built for events like Burning Man and Wasteland Weekend.

Although it’s listed as a Corvair van it actually just uses a Corvair van body. From the sills down it’s actually a 1965 Ford F100 four-wheel drive chassis that’s been fitted with a 350 cubic inch small block Chevy V8 which is mated to a GM Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission.

Fast Facts – The Zombie Hunter

Believe it or not, this unique Corvair is 100% road-legal in Nevada, despite the considerable amount of “reengineering” it’s had and the fact that there’s a machine gun mounted on the roof.
The vehicle has a 1964 Corvair van body mounted to a four-wheel drive Ford F100 chassis, and it’s powered by a small block V8.
The seller notes that the van/truck is capable of highway speeds and that it tracks straight, the front axle doesn’t have a driveshaft so for the time being it’s rear-wheel drive.
There’s seating for four inside, though seatbelt availability is limited to the driver only. The seller does note that with the rear bench seat removed it could be used as a camper.

Zombie Hunter Or Vanlife Overlander?

Although it currently looks like it just rolled off the set of The Walking Dead this F100 based Corvair could make someone an interesting vanlife project vehicle. It obviously needs plenty of work but the task of getting the body onto the chassis is done, leaving the required mechanical and cosmetic body work.

The van looks like something from the movie “Zombieland,” though the seller assures potential buyers that it’s road-legal and highway capable.

Alternatively, if the whole vanlife concept isn’t your thing, this truck/van is already set up as a rat rod show car suitable for a slew of themed events. It would also make a very popular attraction at any cars and coffee event in the country.

It’s clear that some work is needed either way, there’s some concerning areas of the body, the front driveshaft needs to be fitted, proper front seats and a full assortment of seatbelts would be a great idea, and you may want to remove the (possibly?) deactivated machine gun from the roof turret – lest you attract the attention of Highway Patrol.

The fact that the vehicle uses an F100 platform combined with a small black Chevy V8 and a Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission is excellent news, as these three items are all easy to source parts for, and they’re each known for their toughness and longevity.

If you’d like to read more about this van or place a bid you can click here to visit the listing on eBay. At the time of writing there are 5 days left to bid, and the starting bid of $7,500 has not yet been made.

Images courtesy of eBay, header image background courtesy of “The Walking Dead” – AMC

The post 100% Road Legal: A 4×4 Chevolet Corvair Zombie Hunter Van appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/chevolet-corvair-zombie-hunter-van/
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The Controversial-Looking BMW 2000 CS: A Neue Klasse GT

The BMW 2000 CS was a member of the all-important Neue Klasse (New Class) series of vehicles introduced by the German automaker in the 1960s to turn their fortunes around and save the ailing company.

BMW had been losing money hand over fist since the 1950s but the Neue Klasse cars were designed to change that, with the modern unibody construction, overhead cam engines, and independent front and rear suspension tuned for spirited driving.

Fast Facts – The BMW 2000 CS

The BMW 2000 CS is a sporting coupe that was introduced in 1965 with modern styling and advanced engineering for the time. Both a 2000 C and the 2000 CS were offered, with the 2000 CS offering more power thanks to twin carburetors.
Under the hood of the 2000 CS you’ll find a 2.0 liter version of the BMW M10 engine, an inline-four with a single overhead cam and two valves per cylinder producing 120 hp at 5,500 rpm.
The 2000 CS (and the 2000 C) were styled by Wilhelm Hofmeister, they set the trend for BMW going forwards and they had a strong influence on the BMW E9 coupe released in 1968.
Compared to the more popular cars from the Neue Klasse series, like the BMW 2002, the 2000 CS has been largely overlooked by many collectors.

A Neue Klasse For A New Era

BMW struggled in the post-WWII years as their compatriots at Mercedes-Benz, VW, and Porsche, all seemingly went from strength to strength. It was clear that the company needed a new direction, and it needed to happen quickly as the vultures were circling by the end of the 1950s.

This car has been significantly modified to compete in vintage rally events like the Carrera Panamericana.

In 1960 German industrialists Herbert and Harald Quandt took a controlling interest in BMW and launched the Neue Klasse program. This program was designed to entirely modernize the automobiles made by BMW, it was led by Fritz Fiedler with Eberhard Wolff in charge of chassis design, Wilhelm Hofmeister in charge of styling, and Alex von Falkenhausen designing the engines.

The first car in the Neue Klasse family was the BMW 1500 introduced in 1961. It was a four-door, three-box sedan with a 1.5 liter engine, unibody construction, and independent suspension on all four corners. Performance was good by the standards of the time, and BMW finally had a production car for sale in the lucrative 1.5 to 2.0 liter market.

The 1500 was followed by the 1800, the 1600, and the 2000, all of which were four-door sedans with the model designation also being the engine’s approximate swept capacity in cubic centimeters.

The coupes first appeared in 1965 with the release of the 2000 C and the 2000 CS, both were powered by the 2.0 liter version of the Falkenhausen-designed, four-cylinder M10 engine with the 2000 C producing 100 hp at 5,500 rpm and the 2000 CS offering 120 hp at 5,500 rpm thanks to its twin carburetors.

The design of the front end of the 2000 C and CS has long been controversial, some love it and some loathe it. BMW seem to have heard these concerns and the front was considerably revised with the release of the E9 coupe in 1968, though the design of the E9 from the hood emblem back was very similar to the earlier 2000 C and CS.

Engine modifications are aplenty, thew BMW M10 inline-four has been fitted with twin Weber carburetors and a number of other performance upgrades.

The BMW New Class vehicle family would remain in production from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, it’s no exaggeration to say that the New Class saved BMW, setting them on the trajectory they still follow today.

The BMW 2000 CS

When it was released in 1965 the BMW 2000 CS was the most desirable vehicle in the German automaker’s line-up. Powered by a high-performance version of the venerable M10 engine the 2000 CS offered sporting driving wrapped in German luxury, with surprisingly good fuel economy to boot.

The 2000 C and the 2000 CS were introduced together in 1965, the model names tell you the size of the engine, with the “C” standing for “Coupe” and the addition of the “S” on the more powerful model standing for “Sport.”

Independent suspension on all four wheels was still relatively uncommon in the mid-1960s, the 2000 CS was fitted with MacPherson strut front suspension and coil springs with semi-trailing wishbones and a cross beam that also supports the differential.

The car’s handling was firmer than many reviewers expected, particularly when compared to the company’s earlier sporting coupes like the BMW 503. Overall the 2000 C series cars received good marks for handling, and the later BMW E9 would go on to have significant successes on the race tracks of Europe.

The side profile of the car is immediately recognizable as a BMW, and design cues from this car would be used on many future models.

The 1969 BMW 2000 CS Race Car Shown Here

The 2000 CS you see here clearly been modified significantly from its original condition, it’s been given a slew of performance upgrades and turned into a vintage race car to compete in the Carrera Panamericana.

The Carrera Panamericana is a modern version of the legendary 2,000+ mile road race from the 1950s, a race that was so dangerous it was cancelled after just four years in 1954 after 25 deaths in total.

The modern Carrera Panamericana is run as a stage race, similar to the original, but with a combination of “speed” stages and “transit” stages. Speed stages are timed, closed-road races that require entrants to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time. This requires driving flat out along winding mountain roads that pass through small villages, along cliffs, and through wooded sections of forest.

This BMW raced in the Carrera Panamericana twice with Danny Stewart as driver and C.H. DeHaan as co-driver. It’s now fitted with a full roll cage and a mostly stripped out interior, with Sparco Pro 2000 racing seats, a Terratrip rally computer, alloy wheels, Toyo tires, a bumper delete, and a significantly modified engine that now breathes through twin side draught Weber carburetors.

The car is due to cross the auction block with Mecum in mid-October, if you’d like to see more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post The Controversial-Looking BMW 2000 CS: A Neue Klasse GT appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/bmw-2000-cs-car/
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For Sale: A Rare Japanese “Mini Supercar” – The Autozam AZ-1

The mid-engined Autozam AZ-1 is one of the most unusual Kei-class sports cars ever made.

Originally developed in the 1980s the car carries styling cues from the era, like Ferrari Testarossa-inspired side strakes, DeLorean DMC-12-inspired gullwing doors and sectioned side windows, a side profile not entirely unlike the Fiat X1/9, and the two tone color scheme of the Ferrari 512BB.

The Kei class is a strictly regulated microcar segment in Japan designed within certain size, weight, and engine size limits. Generally Kei class cars are small and relatively boring commuter or commercial vehicles however there have been some notable exceptions – perhaps none more notable than Mazda’s Autozam AZ-1.

Fast Facts – The Autozam AZ-1

The early prototypes of the Autozam AZ-1 were developed by Suzuki, the project was taken over by Mazda when Suzuki decided to concentrate on the Cappuccino Kei car.
The development work on the AZ-1 was led by Toshihiko Hirai who also developed the original Mazda MX-5/Miata.
The mid-engined AZ-1 is powered by a turbocharged inline-three cylinder engine with a swept capacity of 657cc and 66hp, power is sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed transmission.
By the time the car was released in early 1992 a recession was sweeping Japan, as a result fewer than 4,400 examples of the AZ-1 were built over three years, with production ending in 1994.

The Autozam AZ-1 – Mazda’s “Mini Supercar”

What would happen if you took the engineering and styling specifications of the world’s most famous supercars and squeezed them into Japan’s restrictive Kei class? The answer is the car you see pictured here, the rare and highly unusual Autozam AZ-1 from Mazda, and indirectly from Suzuki.

The Autozam AZ-1 has a cult-following around the world thanks to its unusual looks and engineering.

For the uninitiated, Autozam was Mazda’s sub-brand for smaller cars including Kei cars, many of which were simply badge-engineered Suzukis. This close connection between the two Japanese automakers would directly lead to the car you see here, it started out as a Suzuki prototype before being picked up and productionized by Mazda.

In the years since its introduction in 1992 some have called the AZ-1 a “mini supercar” due to its supercar-inspired design influences – the mid-engined layout, gullwing doors, optional rear wing, and prominent side strakes.

If you were Japanese in the early 1990s with a limited budget and a love for exotic machinery you would have likely had just one car on your shopping list – the cheeky little bug-eyed Autozam.

The Autozam AZ-1 – Specifications

The original Suzuki prototypes that would eventually be developed into the AZ-1 started with the Suzuki RS/1 prototype from 1985 – a mid-engined Kei car that was followed up by the RS/3 of 1987.

Suzuki decided not to put the car into production, instead focussing on the Cappucino, but thankfully due to the close relationship between Suzuki and Mazda a deal was struck and the project was taken over by Toshihiko Hirai – the father of the Mazda MX-5 (Miata).

To this day the AZ-1 remains one of the cheapest ways to get a gullwing door into your garage, so long as you can find one that is.

The Mazda team then developed their own version of the car, the AZ-550 Sports, in three different configurations: Type A, Type B, and Type C. The Type A was the design chosen for production, while the Type B was a spartan “high-tuned pure sports” version, and the Type C had a distinctive body design inspired by Mazda’s Group C sports prototype racers.

Much of the development work for the chassis of the production car would take place in England, it consists of a steel unibody internal structure with lightweight plastic outer body panels. The curb weight of the production car was just 720 kgs or (1,587 lbs).

Power is provided by a mid-mounted double overhead cam, 12-valve, turbocharged inline-three cylinder Suzuki F6A engine producing 66 bhp and sending power back through a 5-speed gearbox to the rear wheels.

Period reviews extolled the handling and performance virtues of the Autozam AZ-1, by the standards of the Kei car class of course, and it appeared that Mazda was going to sell almost a thousand of them a month.

Unfortunately a recession hit the Japanese economy causing pursestrings to tighten, and ultimately Mazda would struggle to sell the cars, releasing a number of special edition versions to bolster interest and shift them off Autozam showroom floors.

The turbocharged inline-three cylinder engine produces 66 bhp, however the car only weighs 720 kilograms.

By the time production ended in 1994 just 4,392 had been built. Suzuki also tried to sell their own version called the Suzuki Cara, however they managed to sell just 531 of them.

Today the AZ-1 and its cousin the Cara are both highly sought after in Japan, and overseas in the rapidly growing JDM culture scene in the United States, Europe, and further afield.

The Autozam AZ-1 Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1993 model finished in Siberian Blue and Venetian Grey two-tone paintwork, with black and blue fabric upholstery in the cabin.

A number of subtle upgrades have been added to the car including the addition of a Mazdaspeed bonnet with a larger central air intake, a stainless steel exhaust, and Navi Street coilover suspension.

We don’t often see these come up for sale outside of Japan so it’ll be interesting to see what this one sells for. It’s currently being auctioned live online via Collecting Cars, you can click here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.