Chevy Corvair With C8 Engine Is A Thing Of Fantasy

Jul 17, 2021 3 min read
Chevy Corvair With C8 Engine Is A Thing Of Fantasy

To be, this is a rendering, but maybe someone will make it reality.


Now that the C8 Corvette is out and has shown its mettle, everyone knows it’s the real deal. That has led to much fantasizing about what could be done with the hardware on C8s which have and will be wrecked. Perhaps that was behind the inspiration of this Chevrolet Corvair rendering where it has the C8 engine stuffed in mid-ship.

image credit: Instagram

If you immediately are thinking the Corvair had a rear engine layout, you’d be correct. In this Frankenstein digital 1967 Ford Mustang Widebody Finally Gets A Test Drive


, the C8 powerplant has been located ahead of the rear axle instead of behind, so it does sit in the middle. The dual-clutch transaxle from the C8 ‘Vette is also present.

image credit: Instagram

Obviously, the structure of the Corvair wouldn’t accommodate such a setup, so the artist added a custom cradle modeled after what you find in a Porsche 550 Spyder. A custom pushrod suspension uses the same geometry found on the Koenigsegg One to One. The artist even included bigger brakes in the rear to ensure the car is “safe at any speed.”

image credit: Instagram

A rear diffuser helps with aerodynamics, while there’s a custom air intake connected to the rear quarter windows to keep the LT2 properly fed. Overall, the look of the Corvair hasn’t been altered that much considering, but keep in mind this is a fantasy project and not reality. Were someone to actually do this with a Corvair some of the design might not actually work, but it does look cool.

image credit: Instagram

There are a lot of mixed feelings about the Chevrolet Corvair. On one hand it was demonized by the likes of Ralph Nader, who wrote the book Unsafe at Any Speed in 1965. The Corvair had become a symbol of unsafe automotive design, despite the fact there had been many European cars with similar designs for some time. On the other hand, there are diehard fans of the car who today try to buy and preserve the Corvairs which are left.

Is this Chevy Corvair with a C8 engine a cool idea or something you’d rather not see built ever?

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Here’s something I’ve been working on that I am really excited to show off: The Corv8. A 1965 Chevrolet Corvair with the engine and transaxle of a Corvette C8, a custom pushrod suspension, and a custom carbon-fiber intake. Not too long ago the amazing team over at @overkillracingandchassis reached out to me to do some concepts, and after seeing the incredible work they do, I was really itching to try and do something more “technical” than usual. Everything starts off with the Corvette’s LT2 paired to the dual-clutch transaxle, it sits on a custom cradle loosely based on a Porsche 550 Spyder structure. The pushrod suspension borrows geometry from a Koenigsegg One to One, and there’s big brakes on the end of it to keep it all “safe at any speed” 😝. The exhaust loops around the cradle in between the suspension and all the way to the end. Under that, there’s a carbon-fiber diffuser, and on top of the engine, a custom designed air intake is connected to the rear quarter windows in Singer 911 fashion (which to be honest, I’m not sure it would work 100%, but I like how it looks 🤣). All that is wrapped around a relatively stock looking ‘65 Corvair body, slightly wider fenders were needed to accommodate the new guts and some carbon fiber bits up front as well. To keep things controlled, part of the deck lid is now an air brake which in my mind deploys under heavy braking, although the shape of the panel might disturb the air a little too much. Color was hard to choose, but this blue won my heart. What do you think? Would you like to see more stuff like this with detailed internals? Let me know what you think! . . . . . . . . #chevrolet #corvair #corvette #corveight #corv8 #custom #midengine #hotrod #air #intake #cradle #blue #dualclutch #supercar #fast #3d #render

A post shared by Abimelec Arellano (@abimelecdesign) on

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