by Michael Gulett –
On the Post about the 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa for sale here on My Car Quest, Byron LaMotte left an interesting Comment which started,
I am excited to see my favorite car site is acknowledging my other favorite car next to my Iso Grifo.
He then went on and wrote about the 1966 Corvair Sprint that he had built by John Fitch. Byron sold his Corvair Sprint, regretted it and bought it in back from the fifth owner in 2012. He then commissioned a complete restoration back to the original condition.
I asked Byron LaMotte to send in some photos, he did and here they are.
1966 Corvair Sprint by Fitch in 1966 (Photo from Byron LaMotte)
1966 Corvair Sprint as found in 2012 (Photo from Byron LaMotte)
2013 – after the restoration (Photo from Byron LaMotte)
2013 – after the restoration (Photo from Byron LaMotte)
John Fitch
John Fitch was not only a great race car driver he was also a great inventor.
John Fitch was the only American on the Mercedes-Benz racing team, he later served as the first manager for the Corvette racing team and he was the first general manager of the Lime Rock Park race track.
He was also a pilot in the US Army Air Corps during WWII.
He was an innovator in road safety – the Fitch Barrier (aka “Yellow Barrels”), the barrels filled with sand that we all see on US freeways are one of his inventions.
John Fitch had a special relationship with the Chevrolet Corvair.
The Corvair Sprint By Fitch
Corvair Sprint Advertisement
He liked the Corvair as a good starting point to build a high quality, yet low cost, American GT car. He called his modified Corvair the Sprint. The engine was modified to boost it from 140 hp to 155 hp.
The suspension was improved significantly, wheel alignment was improved, steering ratio was better plus there were a few cosmetic options that made the Sprint look more like a European car. He even installed a wood steering wheel.
Corvair Sprint Catalog
The exterior was unique with the installation of the “Ventop” which made the Sprint look like a “Porsche 904 and Ferrari 275 LM” according to the sales literature.
If you are looking for a unique collector car the Corvair Corsa and the Corvair Sprint are great candidates.
John Fitch also designed and built a one-off car called the Fitch Phoenix based on the Corvair.
The Corvair Sprint was on the cover of Car and Driver Magazine in September 1965
Corvair Sprint by Fitch Catalog
More photos of Byron LaMotte’s Corvair Sprint are in the slide show below.
Let us know what you think in the Comments – I am interested in more stories like this – send yours in!
Into his late 90″s, Mr. Fitch would drive the one-off Fitch Pheonix at the annual Concours D”Elegance show in Greenwich, Ct, and this car just recently sold at auction within the last two months or so. Glenn in the Bronx, NY
Hi Byron, Great photos of a great car! Good story! John Fitch was quite a guy. It is so cool that you bought it back. It has to be quite rare. I talked to John Fitch about his days as a Bizzarrini Dealer. Thanks for sending in the story, and all the best to you. Don Meluzio
Great story and wonderful to see this car restored to former glory. Fitch was a superman in the automotive world. Racer, builder, entrepreneur, and safety advocate for not just motor racing but multiple passenger car innovations and highway safety systems.
A few years before he passed away, I had the pleasure of working with him on a scale model replica of both his one-off Fitch Phoenix and a series of Fitch Sprints (as featured above) with the company Automodello. Fitch was, just as he was in racing, gracious and detailed in the scale modeling of his cars.
Byron – congrats on owning a wonderful piece of history and keeping it alive for all to enjoy.
I have a 65 Sprint. It runs and drives and is well worth restoring. I have owned it since 1990.
James
I best friend’s Father bought one of the first Corvair Sprints in 1962 from Atwood Chevrolet in Bristol, CT. It was Honduras Maroon with black vinyl top and interior . 4 carbs with short throw shifter, Lucas Flamethrower headlamp with a wire screen over the front grill area, low restrictive exhaust and black racing stripes. He traded it in on a 1966 Super Sport 327 with powerglide.
I had the pleasure of having a drink with John at the bar in Sardi’s in NYC when we were members of the same club and I certainly would like to buy one of his Corvairs. If anyone has one for sale please contact me at 908-209-2939. or e-mail me at: ArtLloydIII@aol.com
I owned a 1962 Corvair Spyder Sprint by Fitch way back in the day. It was a great car that was upgraded with Porche suspension. I wish I still had it. I sold it for $150 when it was getting about 20 miles to the quart of oil.
Below is a series of emails between myself, Dawn Castro of the Chicagoland Corvair Enthusiasts, and Pete Kohler, former President of Chicago Corvair Society, about my Fitch Sprint.
Hello,
I bought a 1965 Fitch Sprint from a Mr John Hawley In 1985, he said he bought it from the Chicago CORSA president who bought it from John Fitch. According to him it was a car Mr Fitch raced and he hit the wall with the car damaging the right quarter panel at Lime Rock. The panel was absolutely replaced and the were holes in the floor and rear firewall where a roll bar had been installed. He said that the CORSA president had some supporting documents for the claim. I was wondering if you You might know who this was and how I might contact him or someone who could help me find the documents or research the car.
Thanks for your time and trouble.
Sincerely,
Conrad Wolfgang
Reply from Dawn Castro :
Hi!
Pete Koehler was the CORSA President at the time – 1985. Here is his response to your inquiry – I hope this helps you out!
Dawn Castro
CCE Membership Chair
CCE 2019 Convention Chair
I was never the President of CCE, but in the md-1980’s I was the President of CORSA (three one-year terms). The car in question was a 1965 Corsa 140 4-speed coupe that I bought from Kurt Hein, John Fitch’s Parts Manager for John Fitch and Company of Falls Village, CT. I bought the car in 1979 along with the white and blue 1966 Corsa Fitch Sprint that is currently owned by the Corvair Preservation Foundation. The purchase was a package deal along with a collection of parts in Kurt’s garage in Kent Falls, CT.
There is no documentation as to the actual driver of the car. It was built to be a race car. At time of purchase it did not have a fiberglass Sprint Ventop that is characteristic of the Sprint conversion. This was said to be a “works” race car project meaning that the employees built it up and it must have seen some track time as the right rear quarter was flattened out from impact with something. Over the Christmas Holiday in 1979 I had help from a fellow GM employee (Pete von Schwedler Sr. of Naperville) to replace the quarter panel and lead in the joint with the “C” pillar. Cost of the new panel was $103 from GM Parts Department (GMPD). The engine was a stock 140 that I installed. The “works” race engine was a 140 but Kurt had sold the heads off it so I had to use one of my own engines to complete the project. I did put a NOS Ventop on the car and had it painted and added a set of really rare 13″ Hands wheels.
I sold the car to John Hawley for something like $1900 to finance the (first) restoration of the white ’66 Sprint. That one was actually John Fitch’s demonstrator that he drove for three years before selling it to Kurt in 1969. The title for the 1966 Sprint had John’s signature as seller from an MSO (not titled before sale – Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin). The 1965 title had no such provenance. The 1965 Corsa did have a nick name given it by the guys at the Fitch works: “Fred” . After painting the car and re-attaching the chrome bits I remember leaving off the “Corvair” emblem from the front edge of the hood and having the name Fred painted on by a neighbor of CCE member Gary Isenogle.
After trying for ten years to locate the owner of the white Sprint that was visible from the road (Route 7 in CT) I did connect with Kurt Hein in ’79 and made the purchase. Soon after that I met John Fitch at his home in nearby Salisbury, CT. We stayed in touch over the next 30+ years. The last time I visited John was when we brought the white and blue ’66 Sprint back to his house for his review and approval of the car’s second restoration by myself and the CPF. That was in 2010, just two years before he passed.
It would be inappropriate to guarantee that John Fitch actually drove the 1965 Corsa coupe. Since during my ownership I returned the car to a street version of a Fitch Sprint with a complete interior, the Ventop and the Hands wheels – none of which the car had when I bought it from Kurt Hein. Yes, the car spent time at the shop. Yes, John’s guys built it up. That is the connection to John Fitch as best I can offer. Hope this helps. – Pete Koehler
My reply the Dawn Castro :
Dawn,
Thank you very much for the information. I am very glad to know the history of my car. Please tell Mr Koehler thank you for the information. I very much appreciate it. I always loved my Sprint, Fred. Most people had no idea what it was. The only thing I didn’t like was that the cops in the small towns used to follow me around all the time, of course They did that when I drove my 914 Porsche too.
I restored Fred in the early 1990s as the paint started the crack like a puzzle. I stripped the paint down to bare metal. I also rejetted the carbs, added headers, a spring to the tensioner pulley, and the adjustable impeller fan pulley. I wanted to turn the cabs inboard 90 degrees and had plates made for it but could not figure out how to make the linkage for it, as none was available at the time. So I put the carbs back to stock orientation. I also added a rear spoiler, side skirts and a front spoiler. The spoilers and side skirts caused Fred to suck to the road at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately the engine dropped a valve guide on the right head shortly after I finished the restoration and it has sat in my garage since. Kids and such took up my time and money since then. I am hoping to use the 140 engine out of my 1965 Convertible to get it back on the road soon. The convertibles body is in pretty bad shape. It was my first car the Sprint, Fred, was my second. I bought the them in 84 and 85, I was 21 when I bought the Sprint.
I hope you and Mr Koehler did not mind my update on Fred. Again I thank you for your time and trouble, I greatly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Conrad Wolfgang
My follow up reply to Dawn Castro:
Dawn,
I reread my reply and original email and realized I left out a few things. I never thought to go look up Mr Fitch on the internet until a few days after he died. I had started to look him up from time to time but I was always taken off the task by more domestic concerns like jobs and kids.
Before I restored the Sprint, I had to have the rear suspension realigned because the tires wore off it quickly. I got to looking at the wheels and realized that The toe was all the way to the left and you could see where the undercoating was missing because the rear sway arms had moved all the way to the leftmost stop. The camber was tiled top all the way to the right. I then was pretty sure the car must have been in a pretty hard skid to the right. That along with the rear quarter panel having a marker light fixture visible from inside the engine compartment, Mr Hawley pointed it out to me as evidence of his alleging John Fitch hit the wall at Lime Rock, seemed to fit in with the story Mr Hawley told me. By the way, that is why I said the quarter panel was obviously replaced, if it wasn’t for the marker light I would have never known it was replaced, it was expertly done. When I reread my first email I realized that I forgot to mention the marker light as the reason I knew the quarter panel had obviously been replaced, I did not mean it was a bad job.
Finally, is there anyone who worked in Mr Fitch’s shop who might know what the engine configuration was or how the rear quarter panel was smashed?
Well I hope I am not bothering you and Mr Koehler too much. Thanks again to you for taking the time to reply to me. I am glad to know my cars nickname and actual history. Mr Hawley must have had the cars name painted over before I bought it.
Sincerely,
Conrad Wolfgang
I forgot to add to my post that I am looking for more information about my car. Does anyone else know anything more about it? Mr Hawley claimed that John Fitch spun it out and hit the wall at Lime Rock with it, but Mr Kohler never mentioned it. I can be contacted at Cww6964@gmail.com.
Can only suggest you contact the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society, a good chance they might be able to help you….
Arthur Lloyd
I had a brand new silver Corvair Monza 2-dr automatic when I joined the Air Force in 1963. It was treacherous around sharp curves at high speeds, especially in the rain, and it broke loose on one hairpin in Yellowstone in a storm and swapped 90 degrees … I had to spin that wheel back and forth to straighten it out, but luckily stayed on the road. I put a $200 Fitch Sprint kit on it (rear shock and springs and dual exhausts only), and it became a different car. It could take ANY curve and rode it flat and asked for more.
But after 1.5 years I traded the Monza for a used ’63 Corvette blue metallic convertible with a 340 engine. It was gorgeous and a real girl-getter. But it was junk … NO instruments (or radio) worked but the oil pressure gauge. At 125mph it smelled like the engine was burning up. The 4-spd linkage was constantly coming loose, and a $15 bushing in the driveshaft made it shake like mad at 65mph, and I paid $150 for shocks, numerous balancings and alignments to no avail until a farm machine mechanic found the bad bushing. I sadly sold this beautiful dog to save my sanity.
Then in ’67 I bought ’66 Corvair Corsa convertible in beige. Strange car with stiff stick shift. Zero to 60 in almost a full minute, then the turbo took over and SLAMMED you into your seat, and if you kept the pedal down, it might have hit 140 before blowing up … incredible! Previous owner had burned up the engine and turbo, but Chevy fixed ’em for only $200 (those were the days!). I might still have that car if I hadn’t had to sell it to pay for emergency surgery.
But about the handling of these 3 cars: there was a freeway with a long, banked, sweeping curve near my base, and I liked to take it as fast as I could. The original Monza was dangerous and maybe took it at 50mph. The Fitch Sprint kit on that Monza made it so fast that you never felt the rear end was going to get loose … so it went easily at 70+mph. The Corvette did 65mph on the curve before your seat told you it was about to spin out. And the Corsa was as good as the Fitch, though if I pushed them both, I think the Fitch would have won. I sure miss the 60’s!
A comment EDIT feature would be of great help. My photo was too large, and my car wasn’t even in the shot!
So here’s the photo again after I trimmed it to 5×7 and 120DPI.
I met John Fitch at a party at Monterey Car Week. I think he told me that he was strafing a German train when he was shot down, but as it was near the end of the war, he convinced his captors not to be so rough on the American pilot prisoners as the war was turning and in a few weeks the Yanks would take the camp and the prisoners would say they were (relatively) well treated.
Bought a new 1966 Corsa Coupe new. factory 4 speed, factory HD suspension, and factory quick ratio steering. Read the Car & Driver feature article on the Sprint. And proceeded to start converting mine based on the article, and then some. Added a steering stabilizer, metallic brake shoes, Gabriel shocks on all 4 corners, aftermarket steering wheel, oil temp, oil pressure, and ammeter gauges over the radio, adjusted the timing to 20 deg advance on the 140 engine, Lucas flamethrower in the left headlight pod with a momentary long angle switch by the steering wheel.Replced the tire with Pirelli Cinturatos as well. Carpeted the rear seat back and installed a grab rail over the glove box. Brought your car up to John Fitch to have him check what I had done with the tune, and work on the shifter tube. He installed 3 o rings to replace the factory bushings.Shifted like like the trannt was right under the shifter- tight and smooth,Still have a soft spits for that car. Metallic Silver, Black interior.
Hell of a car, but it sounds incredibly expensive to make all those mods. I’d have kept that car forever. I’d still be driving it. I can’t believe you you sold it, which I assume you did.
Currently working on our plan for the restoration of our 1966 Corsa Sprint that we picked up Oct. 14th 2024. Looking forward to getting on the road in the near future.
I put the Sprint by Fitch on my ’63 Corvair, and it turned it from a suicide machine into an incredibly handling vehicle that actually out cornered my ’63 Corvette.
I also had a 1966 Corvair Corsa turbo charged, and it handled at least as well as my my Fitch Corvair. The Fitch modification certainly does not apply to a Corsa. It just wouldn’t work, and you couldn’t make it handle any better than it already does.