Mike Downey's Turbo Corsa
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Mike sits behind the wheel contemplating another autocross challenge. He's been around Corvairs all his life, and for the last two decades he's been the owner of one of the best preserved and most highly prized Corvairs in existence. This is one Corvair jockey who's likely to keep the flame burning well into the 21st century. We'll leave you with one more excellent shot of the turbo sport coupe, polished and ready to take on a few more miles of sun drenched Arizona highway. |
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Mike's turbo won a Concours d'Elegance Gold award at the CORSA International Convention in Flagstaff, Arizona, in June, 2002, where it scored 94.63 points and was elevated to Senior Division status. The stunning '65 also appeared on the cover of the August, 2002 edition of CORSA Communique magazine. |
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Being a Corvair performance enthusiast, Mike wanted to share the picture at right. It is a photo he took of Doug Roe "at speed" during practice at the 1987 Monterey Historic Automobile Races, where Chevrolet was the featured marque. The car was owned at the time by Doug Connoly (sp?) and built up (restored) by Doug Roe and the Cactus Corvair Club during the summer of 1987. It was originally raced by Doug Roe in the '60s and is the former Bill Thomas race car shown in the book How to Hotrod Corvair Engines. Unfortunately at Monterey, the engine developed turbo seal problems during practice and the organizers asked Doug not to run the race, so this is a pretty rare photo. |
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All photos by Mike Downey with the exception of the picture of Mike on the autocross track. That shot was taken by Brenda Priddy, a member of the Cactus Corvair Club. Readers of automotive publications like Motor Trend may have seen her work in the "spy photo" section. Brenda has made quite a name for herself as a freelance photographer by capturing manufacturer's prototypes. |
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