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One qualifier I do have to add- were Porsches of the era swingaxle? I'm pretty sure all of the 356s were, but were the early 911s and the like IRS? I guess the numbers are significantly limited, but did Porsche drivers of the time know their cars limitations better? Were they just better educated drivers? On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 11:06:39 -0500, John Jaranson <jaransonT3@comcast.net> wrote: > > > The problem with the Corvair was not so much that the swingaxle design > > was flawed (it was no more flawed than any other swingaxle, really). > > The problem was that it was a sporty car with radically different > > handling than anything buyers of Detroit products were used to, and > > the low performance of the VWs (and the mindset of VW drivers having > > better assumptions of their cars limitations) of the time was much > > more forgiving. > > >> outside of some small circle. OTOH, I never understood why the same > >> criticism > >> wasn't also leveled at VW, since both used the same swing axle, which > >> Corvair > >> fixed in '65 and VW fixed in '69. > >> > > I think Constantino get it right. The swingaxle VWs at the time were > at best 65 hp and most of the Beetles were still 40hp and were not > marketed as sports cars. The Corvair started at 80hp and went up to > 110hp quite quickly and then 140hp and could even be had with a 180hp > turbo. They were marketed as a sport car and were purchased by people > that were looking for that kind of experience. > > The Corvair just pushed the limits of the swingaxle design a little too > far. > > Later, > John Jaranson > '66 Square (Sophy) > '71 Fasty (Jane - darkside project in waiting) > various parts.....don't we all. > http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/jaransonT3/ > http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/2004Invasion/ > http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/notavwclub/ > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >