Carl Sagan had a Corvair

Went to Ithaca in ’93 to check out Cornell. While I was there I saw a Rabbit convertible with Carl Sagan at the wheel … only now does that automotive choice make sense. His Corvair, restored:

CarlSaganCorvair_01_2500-700x466

Steve in Manhattan
3:00 pm • Saturday • July 12, 2014
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Big Mechanical Things

33rd and Madison, 4:10PM

Not even aure what this is, but it’s going 20 stories into the air:

bigthing

Steve in Manhattan
5:00 pm • Saturday • June 28, 2014
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Autopia

Le Car

In France it was known as the Renault R5 – a benign hatchback designed to compete with the Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit. In the U.S. it was sold as Le Car. I test drove one in the early 80s and observed that it had worse-than-normal front-wheel-drive tendencies – understeer, which means the front end plows ahead despite your insistence on going around a corner. The Golf of that period was so much better, so that’s what I bought.

But Renault, determined not to relive the Maginot Line in rallying, retooled the car, putting the engine in the middle and making it rear-wheel-drive. But then the car had the Porsche 911 problem – severe snap oversteer because the weight of the engine/drivetrain was nearly hanging out the back. This meant the rear end would come ’round the driver’s side window and put you firmly into a ditch. Or over a cliff. At least you got to see a bit of your fancy sports car before plunging to your death. Similarly, the R5 Rallye: