The rear end of a Chevrolet Corvair and a cockpit that only includes a steering wheel offer enormous fun and potential for this classic car.
Richard Rawlings and his YouTube channel have been going strong since he sold his massive collection classic cars (29 of them) for $1 million recently, but since then he’s been picking up new ones at an alarming rate.
There are lots of cool and quirky new machines to incorporate Richard RawlingsGas Monkey Garage yard recently, as an “ugly” but rare Lamborghini Jarama, one of 300-plus, but today’s car reaches a new high for quirkiness, even for Rawlings.
From the same man we learn that he found himself at Barrett Jackson, the auction house, with no cameras or crew and no intention of buying a car, but, as we can see here, he left with one anyway, and it was.” ta muscle car.
Richard Rawlings’ latest car is a rocket
The car doesn’t have a name, but as it emerges from the trailer we can see that it’s not a mass-produced model, but rather a 3-wheeled vehicle that looks like a jet fighter.
It was bought in the car park of Barrett Jackson – the auction house – from the previous owner who had it for the last 32 years and had driven it there; an acquaintance of Rawlings.
As it turns out, the 1950s blue car that apparently could be bought and assembled decades ago is a later Chevy Corvair with the Corvair’s air-cooled flat-six engine.
GM’s air-cooled engine was installed in the Chevrolet Corvair in the rear, as in a Volkswagen Beetle; here, it’s combined with a tiny, narrow nose and cockpit and a lone wheel up front, resulting in a peculiar fusion of dragster and rocket.
Either way, Rawlings and the team are delighted with the new entrant and soon set to work inspecting the car, assessing its condition and seeing where improvements can be made.
From the rocket launcher to the rocket car – Rawlings Of Gas Monkey Garage is bliss
It’s an automatic, presumably the same 2-speed that the Corvair came with, and probably the same 90-110hp or something in that region, although the Chevrolet Corvair engine had a 150hp turbo option on select trims .
The Chevrolet Corvair was special mainly because of its engine placement and the fact that it was air-cooled, but this three-wheeled car is even more special as the team peels back the layers of the rare car kit.
It has a simple interior with a leather bucket seat, only a few important dials, a thin-rimmed steel wheel and little else; but all the necessities you’d expect are there, including lights, turn signals, a handbrake and more. We don’t think Bluetooth was an option in the 1950s.
Rawlings finally starts it up and takes it for a ride, with everything seemingly working and declares that it will need bigger wheels out back, maybe a lower stance as well.
Richard Rawlings is the owner of Gas Monkey Garage and his net worth is between 10-15 million dollars according to various sources. Its YouTube channel has also brought a new audience to the brand and has successfully expanded what it can do since splitting from the Discovery channel.
