Franklin Lakes American hero’s prototype car to be featured at show by Bob Marlow The Corvair powered, Italian-bodied 1966 Fitch Phoenix sports car – the only one ever built – will be among the attractions at the 35th Annual Franklin Lakes Car Show and Flea Market on May 30, as part of a special display highlighting the 50th Anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvair. The Corvair, an air-cooled, rear-engine compact car from Chevrolet, was introduced as a 1960 model. Not long thereafter, Connecticut-based John Fitch, a World War II fighter pilot, sports car racer, and highway safety advocate, began marketing Corvairs modified for enhanced performance and comfort. The cars were known as Fitch Sprints. When the second-generation Corvair was introduced for 1965, Fitch not only continued to modify the cars into Sprints, he also designed a two-seat targa-topped roadster based on the Corvair mechanicals, which was to go into production as the Fitch Phoenix. With a stunning body handcrafted by Intermeccanica in Turin, a leather interior, and a modified six-cylinder Corvair engine, the Phoenix debuted in New York City to rave reviews and strong initial orders. But just as production was to begin, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Act was implemented, requiring automakers to crash-test their cars. Crash testing was not in the budget for Fitch’s small operation, and the Phoenix project was canceled. The prototype car was the only one built, and it is that car that will be on display in Franklin Lakes, one week before its appearance at the prestigious Greenwich Concours in Connecticut. Fitch, now 92 years of age and not yet retired from advocacy on behalf of highway and racing safety, has retained ownership of the car through the year and still drives it regularly. Its appearance in Franklin Lakes is being facilitated by the members of the New Jersey Association of Corvair Enthusiasts. An additional two dozen Corvairs will be part of the anniversary display, along with prototype Corvair engines built by Chevrolet in the mid-‘60s, early wind tunnel models, and more. Corvairs were built in a wide range of body styles, including trucks and vans, all of which will be on view at the show along with stock and race-modified Corvair cars. Fitch studied civil engineering at Lehigh University, and in 1941 volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps. During the war, he was credited with shooting down a German Messerschmitt jet while piloting the propeller-driven P-51 Mustang. Two months before the end of the war, he was Car Show and Flea Market May 26, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES III & IV • Page 23 A 1966 Fitch Phoenix - the only one ever built. shot down himself while making a strafing pass on an Axis train and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. Following the war, Fitch began racing sports cars and ultimately became the first American to drive for the Mercedes-Benz factory team. It was during this period that Fitch participated in the renowned 24 Hour of LeMans, where, in 1955, a horrific crash involving his Mercedes teammate spurred Fitch’s enduring interest in matters of safety. Among Fitch’s contributions to safety are the near-ubiquitous sand-filled barrels at highway barriers, a design he demonstrated to skeptics by personally driving into them at high speed. In 2005, at the age of 88, Fitch was still racing, piloting a vintage Mercedes in pursuit of a land-speed record at Bonneville. That effort was chronicled in a riveting 2006 PBS documentary, “A Gullwing at Twilight: The Bonneville Ride of John Fitch.”