Corvair | The Selvedge Yard

“Norm Grabowski”s monster– the Corvair-powered “Six Pack”. Neil East (another rodding icon), owned AutoBooks in Burbank, CA, and Colorado Carbooks here in Denver told me that Norm used to come to L.A. Roadster club meetings on the Six Pack, and he said Norm had no problem kick starting this bike, when it was time to leave. It had no electric starter!” –Irish Rich

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Norm Grabowski’s epic “Six Pack” — an air-cooled, flat-six Corvair engine mounted on the frame of a ’41 Indian shaft drive with no transmission, just a clutch. Another future Kustom Kulture legend pin-striped the bike– Dean Jeffries. Irish Rich (whose website is the authority on old school builders, and is due a ton of respect for his own incredible work) saw this impressive bike himself back in ’65, and has chronicled it well. Norm actually built 2 Corvair-powered “SIx Packs” — the other mated with H-D tranny called “PP ‘n’ Vinegar.”

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Steve McQueen– rockin’ the Aran sweater & enjoying a smoky treat, behind the wheel of his dune buggy from “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway with the dune buggy from “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

Steve McQueen’s highly-customized, Corvair-powered, Meyers Manx dune buggy from “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

Steve McQueen on the “Thomas Crown” Dune Buggy–

“Crown lives at the beach, and he has a sand Dune Buggy. I helped them design it, so I’m kind of proud of that. What it is, it’s set on a Volkswagen chassis, with great old wide weenies – big wide tires on it with mag wheels. Corvair engine stuffed in the back, and a semi reclining position, somewhat like my formula 1 car. It’s very light, you know, I think we are around about 230 horses, and the vehicle weighs about 1000 pounds.”

All the Dune Buggy stunt scenes from The Thomas Crown Affair were performed by Steve McQueen himself– with actress Faye Dunaway bravely sitting by McQueen’s side like a true sport. Man, how I love the howl of that souped-up Corvair engine in the clip below–