How safe is a Corvair to drive?

"Probably has no air bags", lol. Add a front anti-roll bar and it will be fine. An no, there are no air bags or shoulder belts or other real safety devices. Drive it on weekends away from traffic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvair

Corvairs had short shafts on the transaxles. This meant that you had some body roll around turns. When they were new, tires got stickier, so it wasn't impossibly difficult to get the back end to lift the inside tire.

Not sure about your finances, but if I had a chance to own a '63 Corvair, I'd keep it. Drive a five-year-old Toyota every day, and put that classic car on the road for Sundays.

It's an air-cooled transverse-six, so you won't have decent heat. This is something that you'll have to consider in winter. You also won't find air-conditioning. But you will have a lot of American Graffiti-style charm. And if you get a manual, you'll also learn about basic mechanics- timing, fuel delivery, etc. You'll also learn about everything- how the interior lights work, how the speedometer cable gets replaced, etc. The car is 48 years old, so you'll have weekly issues. But you'll have a lot of fun, too. Maybe you can get your dad to work on this car with you, or maybe you'll just become the resident expert on Corvairs for your county.

BTW, until I got my 1995 Dodge five years ago, my daily driver was a '64 F-100, so I *might* be a wee bit biased. ... Take care!!

I have owned many corvairs i have never had a problem or felt unsafe in any one of them you canot drive them like a fool if you drive a jeep like a fool it will roll over on you much quicker than a corvair will if you drive it normally you will have no problem if you get one with a really well maintained engine you will have a good car if not you will have to do some maintenance on it they are more like a vw than anything else they just look like a regular car they are not a car than you can drag race or dog out with your buddies you have to show them some respect but they are amazing cars most corvairs are over 50 yrs old now so they don't perform like a new vehicle and you can't expect them to i would want something else to depend on for everyday but if i could keep the corvair also i would!!!!

That whole "unsafe" business came about because of the heavy rear-weight bias and the design of the rear suspension. Curiously, people who used the correct tire pressures (9 psi more in the back than in the front) didn't encounter these problems.

You'll probably be more unhappy with the lack of contemporary creature comforts than with the lack of airbags and such.

ahhhhhh man are you kidding me keep it, you really have no idea what is getting passed down to you. that car is more than a classic, it is a collectors item that in some cases brings big time bucks at auction good condition or not.my personal opinion keep it learn how to restore to its full glory and then pass that bar of gold to your children. dude look do some research and you ll see, i bet you that every person that looks at this will agree and or will want to swoop it from you, you know not every car is safe things happen to the most safest cars and then their are good cautious drivers, look at it this way it would make a great show car or weekend driver.

Cars have came along way since 1963. These are collector cars and a sought after by collectors. Is the car safe? compared to modern standers no.

yes its a collectible,no it does not have airbags,no they are not worth a lot of money,and they stopped making them because they caught fire when in front end collisions because the gas take was litterly in your lap,like the old vw beetles.nowadays it dont matter how good u drive there are still too maney idiots out there so if u keep it drive very cautiously

Keep it!!! Put it away until you are 21, and experienced enough to drive and appreciate such a great classic car. Not a good car for a beginner. It should be a "Sunday Driver". I would give my "eye" teeth to have one again.

Condition is everything, but being that old you wont want to use it as a daily driver unless you just drive around town. You could sell it and get something newer and much more reliable.

air bags??? it probably doesn't have seat belts,which were required in 1966.

i loved those corvairs,keep it,if it is in any kind of shape,it will be worth more every year and no one else has one ,unlike a camaro or mustang.