Books That Should Be on Every Corvair Owner’s Shelf...

The Ideal Library is a listing of 72 Corvair-related books that I either own, were suggested by users, or are commonly available in vendor catalogs and on the Internet.  The library’s web pages present pictures of the books, mini-reviews, and helpful purchasing information.

The Most Important Feature

In addition to the features described above, the Ideal Library also lets visitors rank the various Corvair Books according to the recommended order in which they should be purchased.  After all, if a Corvair owner were to buy all the books listed in this library at an average price of, say, $20 each, he or she would end up spending about what it costs to get a brand-new Clark’s interior.  From this librarian’s perspective, that’s an awful lot of books/money.

If everyone participates, the results of the ranking process should make the essential books for a Corvair library plainly apparent.  Please take the time as you browse through the library to rate the Corvair books you’ve read so the rest of us can benefit from your knowledge and experience.

Vote Early, Vote Often!

The Ideal Library only works if everyone participates.  If you’ve read any good Corvair books, please click the button above to rate them on a scale of 1-5.

The Books

In order to get right down to a listing of the books included in The Ideal Library, I have postponed the usual discussion of the methods used to create the master list of books until the bottom of this page.  If you think that a particular book or document is missing from this list (e.g., The CORSA Communique), please review the discussion below before concluding that the head librarian has been sniffing too many heater fumes...

And now, the books.  The Ideal Library is divided into four general categories:

• Corvair Technical, Fix-it, and How-to
   
• Corvair History, Background, and General Reference
   
• Corvair and the Automotive Industry
   
• Other Corvair Publications

There are two other book-related topics that also might apply to you if you’re assembling your own Corvair library:

• Books to buy if you’re new to Corvairs
   
• The best places to purchase Corvair-related books.

Please click any of the links above (or just scroll down) to see a list of books in that category.  Once there, click the detail button — — or the book’s title to view detailed information (including buying tips) for the book.

Corvair Technical, Fix-it, and How-to

 

All of the books in this category have to do with fixing or restoring your Corvair.  About half are general "how-to" manuals (e.g., How to Keep Your Corvair Alive) while the others cover a specific component or area of Corvairs (e.g., Stop Corvair Lubricant Leaks).

Book Title Author Votes Rating Detail Assembly Manual Chevrolet Staff 230 1.2 The Care and Feeding of Your Corvair Various Authors 5 3.0 Chilton's Repair & Tune-up Guide Automotive Editorial Department 87 1.2 The Classic Corvair Bob Helt 55 1.7 The Corv-8: America's Original Mid-Engine Super Car Greg Riley 10 1.0 Corvair...A History and Restoration Guide Bill Artzberger 346 1.1 Corvair Basics Various Authors 145 1.3 Corvair Body Service Manual Chevrolet Staff 238 1.1 Corvair for the Not So Mechanically Inclined Perry Moore 3 1.7 Corvair Junkyard Primer (2nd Edition) Larry Scrivener 72 1.5 Corvair Owners Handbook Floyd Clymer 63 1.2 Corvair Owners Workshop Manual Kenneth Ball 11 1.1 Corvair Performance Handbook Ocee Ritch 37 1.6 Corvair Secrets Bob Helt 19 1.2 Corvair Wheel Alignment Frederick Johnson 76 1.3 How to Air Condition Any Corvair Vehicle Richard Finch 203 1.0 How to Hotrod Corvair Engines Fred W. (Bill) Fisher 76 1.5 How to Hotrod the Corvair Engine and Chassis Emerson, Seth & Fisher, Bill 87 1.0 How to Identify and Rebuild Carter YH Carburetors Used on Corvair Turbocharged Engines Bob Helt 174 1.0 How to Identify and Rebuild Corvair Rochester Carbs Bob Helt 11 1.4 How to Keep Your Corvair Alive (8th Ed.) Richard Finch 311 1.2 Power Train Removal and Installation Chevrolet Staff 6 1.8 San Diego Corvair Club "Vair Tips" Various Authors 24 1.3 Service News & Technical Bulletins (Reprint) Chevrolet Staff 5 2.8 Service News: Engine Fume Odor Diagnosis Chevrolet Staff 19 1.2 Servicing the Powerglide Transmission Chevrolet Staff 15 2.1 Shop Manual (Chassis -- plus Supplements) Chevrolet Staff 505 1.1 Stop Corvair Lubricant Leaks Frederick Johnson 19 2.3 Technical Guide & Supplement (CORSA) Claypool, Larry and Wispell, Clay, editors 235 1.2 Ultimate Guides to Vairs with Air Greg Riley 1,404 1.0

Corvair History, Background, and General Reference

 

The books in the Corvair History, Background, and General Reference category are reference books specifically written about the Corvair by various automotive writers.

Book Title Author Votes Rating Detail Air-Cooled Motor Engines Julius Mackerle 116 1.2 Car Life Reprint Various Authors 4 3.3 Chevrolet Corvair Photo History Monty Montgomery 18 2.2 Compleat History of the Corvair for the Compleat Corvair Nut!! (Volumes I & II) John Wipff 79 1.3 Corvair 1959-1968 R.M. Clarke 64 1.1 Corvair 1959-1969 R.M. Clarke 7 1.7 Corvair Affair Mike Knepper 132 1.2 The 1960-1969 Corvair Authenticity Series Machan, Wayne & Bruggen, Bill 10 3.6 Corvair by Chevrolet Ludvigsen Library Series 52 1.3 The Corvair Decade Tony Fiore 465 1.1 Corvair Engineering Specifications Chevrolet Staff 129 1.0 1969 Corvair Finger Tip Facts (30th Anniversary Edition) Ellis, Mark & Newell, David 215 1.1 Corvair Guide Hans Tanner 300 1.0 Corvair Performance Portfolio 1959-1969 Various Authors 742 1.0 Corvair SAE Papers Chevrolet Staff 6 1.7 Don Yenko and the Yenko Stinger Charlie "Bud" Doerge 36 1.2 The (in)Compleat Corvair Story David Newell 339 1.0

Corvair and the Automotive Industry

 

Books in this category cover the Corvair and its relation to the general automotive industry.  Nearly all entries in deal with the Corvair, Ralph Nader, and GM management.

Book Title Author Votes Rating Detail Assassination of the Corvair Andrew J. White 29 1.7 Chrome Colossus - General Motors and Its Times Ed Cray 29 1.2 Hit & Run - The Rise and Fall? - of Ralph Nader Ralph De Toledano 174 1.0 The Investigation of Ralph Nader Thomas Whiteside 6 1.5 On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors J. Patrick Wright 367 1.0 Unsafe at Any Speed Ralph Nader 604 1.0

Other Corvair Publications

 

This category lists various Corvair books and pamphlets that didn't seem to fall into the Fix-it, Reference, and Industry History categories.  The topics range from marketing (e.g., Chevrolet Showroom Accessories Brochures), to show car judging (e.g., CORSA Concours d'Elegance Rules), to the truly miscellaneous (e.g., NHTSA Response to Ralph Nader).

Book Title Author Votes Rating Detail Accessory Installation Instructions Chevrolet Staff 431 1.0 Bullet Hole Drive: A Pedal to the Metal Citywide Demolition Mystery (Corvair Corsa Club Series) (Volume 1) Karl J. Niemiec 48 1.0 Chevrolet Showroom Accessories Brochures Chevrolet Staff 145 1.1 Chevrolet Showroom Sales Brochures Chevrolet Staff 28 1.5 Clark's Corvair Parts Catalog Clark's Corvair Parts 21 4.1 Converting Corvair Engines for Use in Experimental Aircraft William Wynne 24 1.3 CORSA Concours d'Elegance Rules & Judging Sheets CORSA 78 1.2 CORSA Membership Roster CORSA 136 1.2 Corvair Convertible Operation and Care of the Folding Top Chevrolet Staff 233 1.0 Corvair Owner's Manual Chevrolet Staff 34 1.8 Corvair Parts and Accessories Catalog 1960-69 Chevrolet Staff 206 1.1 The Corvair Plastic Model Guide Nick Whitlow 10 1.0 The Corvair Reference Guide Bob Helt 261 1.0 Corvair Underground Catalog Corvair Underground 338 1.1 How to Build Corvair Based Dune Buggies and Bugs John Quan 283 1.0 Lifemobile Jonathan Rintels 0 n/r National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Report on 1960-63 Corvair Safety The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 302 1.0 Solo Is Warren LeVeque 20 1.2 Yenko Stinger Tech Manual Yenko Sportscars 49 1.1

Buying the Books

In general, if a book is still in print, I recommend that you buy it new from either a Corvair Vendor (e.g., Clark’s, Corvair Underground), or from a national bookseller such as Amazon.

My thinking is that, even if used copies of the book are widely available, we shouldn’t keep royalties from any author who has taken the time to write a book on the Corvair.  After all, it would help us all if these writers were motivated enough to update their books and/or write new volumes from time to time.

The obvious exception to this rule would be the book “Unsafe At Any Speed.”  We certainly don’t want to encourage Mr. Nader to write another book about the Corvair.  One was enough.

In any case, detailed purchasing instructions for each book (including formatted Internet searches for the online used booksellers) can be found on each book’s detailed information page.

A Few Final Notes on What Is and What Isn’t in The Ideal Library

When I began researching this project, I went to many sources to try to understand which Corvair books had been published over the years and whether or not they were still available.  The sources I checked were:

• The Vendors’ Catalogs – In addition to offering tons of Corvair parts, the vendors (Clark’s in particular) offer a nice assortment of Corvair-related literature.
   
• ABEBooks.com – ABEBooks (the American Book Exchange) has an easy-to-use interface for searching for used books.  I simply entered “Corvair” in their keyword search and sifted through the hundreds of entries that came back.  This is how I learned about the existence of a couple of obscure gems, Ocee Ritch’s “Corvair Performance Handbook” and Thomas Whiteside’s marvelous analysis of how GM bungled Ralph Nader’s accusations in “The Investigation of Ralph Nader”.
   
• Bibliofind.com – Like ABEBooks, Bibliofind.com is a used book website connected to a powerful search engine.  Because Bibliofind is now owned by Amazon.com, there tend to be many more books available.  For whatever reason, however, I find the books on ABEBooks to be cheaper.
   
• My Own Bookshelf – I already had accumulated about half the items in this Library.  These certainly gave me a leg up in creating the cover scans and writing the initial book reviews.
   
• Other Corvair Experts – When I had my lists together, I ran them by a group of knowledgeable Corvair people I had “met” on Virtual Vairs.  These folks generously took the time to review my list and a preliminary version of this website.  Thanks, guys.

After I had assembled my working list of books, I had to make some decsions concerning what to leave in and what to take out.  For better or worse, the following were my conclusions:

• Magazine Articles and Advertising: Not In – I decided early on that The Ideal Library would not be a Corvair version of the “Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature”.  Magazine articles featuring the Corvair are not included in this library, mostly so that I would have had the proverbial snowball’s chance of getting this done.  Compiling a list of every article ever written about the Corvair would have been a monumental effort and was well beyond the scope of what I was trying to accomplish.  Believe me, compiling a list of books about the Corvair was hard enough.
   
• Brochures and Pamplets: In – One could infer from these comments on magazines that The Ideal Library only contains references to Corvair books.  However, when I began assembling the various Corvair-related documents, things got a little fuzzy.  For example, what is the exact definition of a “book”?  Should the original Chevrolet Dealer Sales Brochures or Fred Johnson’s Corvair booklets be thought of as “books”?  I thought so, so these valuable documents are in this library.  Perhaps the best definition of the contents of this libary would be “Books & Other Reference Documents.”
   
• CORSA Periodicals: Not In – Another important group of Corvair-related items that are not in The Ideal Library are the various publications printed by CORSA and its local chapters.  I decided to leave out the CORSA Communique, the old CORSA Quarterly, the CorvanAntics newsletter, etc. since these are/were recurring publications.  In addition, back issues are normally purchased using different channels than the ones described above.  If and when The Ideal Library is expanded to include periodical literature, these extremely valuable documents will be the very first ones listed.

If you’re aware of any Corvair books that are missing from this library or if you disagree with any exclusions I’ve made, please send an email to the Ideal Garage to let me know.
 

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