[V8Vairs] V8 Vairs - Charlie Friend, Open Road Racer

[Rick & Janet Norris]

Bob,
Thanks for the info. We have several photos and a short blurb on the V8 
Vairs web site but I've had no luck at getting any decent detail photos of 
his car.

Rick Norris
First President CORSA 1971
Email rickjanet at charter.net
Web Site http://webpages.charter.net/corvairalley
V8 Vairs Web Site http://www.v8vairs.com

>I stumbled on this letter from Charlie Friend and his former Open Road
> Racing Corvair. I haven't seen much written about him or his incredibly 
> fast
> car before. There are few pictures of it on the web. It was a pretty plain
> looking car - looks like it was in primer - but boy, was it FAST.
>
> Bob Thomas
> 68 Monza
>
> Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 3:37 PM
> Subject: Mailing from Clarks
>
> Hi Chuck,
>
> Got your clubs letter thru Clark's. Great thinking on how to increase your
> membership.
>
> I live in Alamogordo and rarely get to Abq. It does sound like you have a
> great club going there. I don't know that I would really "qualify" for 
> your
> group.
>
> Although I do own a "Corvair" and do purchase parts from Clark's, my
> "Corvair" is pretty much of a silhouette car. I have a late model coupe 
> that
> I have "slightly modified" over the years. It has a 400 cu in small block
> Chevy in the back seat running thru a Porsche 930 transaxle. It has '94
> Corvette suspension and brakes front and rear as well as steering (with no
> power assist). It runs Corvette wheels and tires: 17x9.5 with 275/40ZR17
> tires front and 17x11 with 315/35ZR17
> tires rear. The top has been slightly chopped and it runs a front air dam
> and a rear spoiler. The interior has been gutted and it has a full cage,
> aluminum racing seat, five point harness, a 20 gal fuel cell, and fire
> supression system.
>
> All that is left of the Corvair is the modified body. It is licensed for 
> the
> street but is used primarily for Open Road Racing and some autocross. It 
> won
> the overall trophy at the Big Bend (2004) ORR when all of the faster cars
> broke. It has won in the 170 mph class in the MKM and Silver State events.
> It has recorded RADAR speeds over 180 mph (189 tops so far)
> at various events. I was working to record a 200 RADAR speed and sneaking 
> up
> on it. But, last Sept at the Silver State event in Nevada, disaster 
> struck.
> A right front tire failure at 165 mph in a left hand curve put me off of 
> the
> road. The result was a long end-over-end trip thru the desert.
>
> Due to my required safety equipment, I walked away with minor injuries. I
> can send before and after pix if you are interested. As you might imagine,
> the car was rolled up in a ball. I plan to rebuild it. I have located a 
> '65
> body that I'm trying to acquire to start the rebuilding process.
>
> So as you can see I'm into the high hp, hi speed stuff. The Corvair body
> makes a good platform for a mid-engined low buck "supercar" since it is
> fairly aerodynamic and has a small frontal area.  If I can acquire the 
> '65,
> I will have Corvair running gear and other odds and ends that I would like
> to sell at reasonable prices, if anyone up there may be interested.
>
> Charlie Friend
>
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