Barbara & Pete Frailey - Gaithersburg, MD
Rear Mounted Olds 215 V-8 with Corvair Transaxle
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Pete Frailey's Fitch - Silva V8 Vair at Lime Rock sometime back in the 80s
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December 30, 2023
Based on information received from Fred Santillo, Jim Dodd and others, Art Silva started building Corvair Conversions with rear mounted aluminum 215 V-8’s sometime in the mid 60’s. Reportedly Art started by converting six Corvairs to V-8 power while he lived in Staten Island, NY. Of these first six Corvair Conversions built by Art, three of those cars are still known to exist. Art Silva’s Willow Green 1965 Corsa Coupe (Shop Car No. 1) is in the care of Alex Haber who lives in NC. There seems to be some interest by the owner for donating this historic car to the CORSA Museum in Springfield, IL. Only time will if this becomes a reality. The second conversion is the 1966 Corsa Convertible built by Art and Fred Santillo (Shop Car No.2). This Aztec Bronze Corvair was then sold to Brian Sydow by Fred . It was repainted silver with black racing hood stripes and sold to Karl Cozad in Kansas City and then to its current owner Terry Kalp in Valley Center, KS after Karl passed away in January 2017. The third Corvair Conversion was completed by Art, Fred Santillo and Pete Frailey on Pete’s 1965 Forest Green 1965 (?)
Monza Coupe (Shop Car No. 3). Later Pete installed a ‘Fitch’ package on the car and painted it a dull red color per Barbara Frailey his wife. Pete was always updating and making changes to his Corvairs according to Barbara. At 88 years old, she still has fond memories of the Corvairs and friends who drove and raced them. Corvairs bring the owners together, but the relationships that develop last a life time. One could say that the cars are secondary to the friendships that are established as a result of the cars.
In addition to owning numerous Corvairs during his life, Pete was an Army Veteran, a musician and artist. Both Pete and Art Silva competed in Time Trial events at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT during the 1980’s. While many racers trailered their cars to the track, Art and Pete drove their cars per Jim Dodd.
Pete owned a number of Corvairs during his life and drove them as his main mode of transportation. Barbara Frailey his wife indicated that she also drove Corvairs for daily transportation. One day while driving the Fitch/Silva V-8 Conversion Pete was rear ended. The damage was not extensive, but the Corvair was not drivable due to the sheet metal pressed against the engine pulley. Pete sold his damaged conversion in the late 1990’s to Lee Hamilton, another member of Group Corvair in Maryland. Lee has removed the engine to make repairs,
but now at 84 years old doesn’t have the strength to install the engine. He plans to ask his grandson to assists him. Bob Hall who is another member of Group Corvair became aware that Lee bought Pete’s Vair and has offered the resources of Group Corvair members to help put Pete’s conversion back on the road. Again, this is just another example of Corvair friends helping each other.
Researching and finding these three Silva V-8 Conversions started in 2012 when more information about Art Silva’s life was a topic after his death. The search started very slowly at first, but picked up speed once a contact number for Barbara Frailey was obtained from JimDodd in March 2023. Piecing together this story reveals the strong interest displayed by those who enjoyed Corvairs in the early days and their interest in making them go faster. The V-8 Registry is proud to be able to make this story available to its members.
Based on information received from Fred Santillo, Jim Dodd and others, Art Silva started building Corvair Conversions with rear mounted aluminum 215 V-8’s sometime in the mid 60’s. Reportedly Art started by converting six Corvairs to V-8 power while he lived in Staten Island, NY. Of these first six Corvair Conversions built by Art, three of those cars are still known to exist. Art Silva’s Willow Green 1965 Corsa Coupe (Shop Car No. 1) is in the care of Alex Haber who lives in NC. There seems to be some interest by the owner for donating this historic car to the CORSA Museum in Springfield, IL. Only time will if this becomes a reality. The second conversion is the 1966 Corsa Convertible built by Art and Fred Santillo (Shop Car No.2). This Aztec Bronze Corvair was then sold to Brian Sydow by Fred . It was repainted silver with black racing hood stripes and sold to Karl Cozad in Kansas City and then to its current owner Terry Kalp in Valley Center, KS after Karl passed away in January 2017. The third Corvair Conversion was completed by Art, Fred Santillo and Pete Frailey on Pete’s 1965 Forest Green 1965 (?)
Monza Coupe (Shop Car No. 3). Later Pete installed a ‘Fitch’ package on the car and painted it a dull red color per Barbara Frailey his wife. Pete was always updating and making changes to his Corvairs according to Barbara. At 88 years old, she still has fond memories of the Corvairs and friends who drove and raced them. Corvairs bring the owners together, but the relationships that develop last a life time. One could say that the cars are secondary to the friendships that are established as a result of the cars.
In addition to owning numerous Corvairs during his life, Pete was an Army Veteran, a musician and artist. Both Pete and Art Silva competed in Time Trial events at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT during the 1980’s. While many racers trailered their cars to the track, Art and Pete drove their cars per Jim Dodd.
Pete owned a number of Corvairs during his life and drove them as his main mode of transportation. Barbara Frailey his wife indicated that she also drove Corvairs for daily transportation. One day while driving the Fitch/Silva V-8 Conversion Pete was rear ended. The damage was not extensive, but the Corvair was not drivable due to the sheet metal pressed against the engine pulley. Pete sold his damaged conversion in the late 1990’s to Lee Hamilton, another member of Group Corvair in Maryland. Lee has removed the engine to make repairs,
but now at 84 years old doesn’t have the strength to install the engine. He plans to ask his grandson to assists him. Bob Hall who is another member of Group Corvair became aware that Lee bought Pete’s Vair and has offered the resources of Group Corvair members to help put Pete’s conversion back on the road. Again, this is just another example of Corvair friends helping each other.
Researching and finding these three Silva V-8 Conversions started in 2012 when more information about Art Silva’s life was a topic after his death. The search started very slowly at first, but picked up speed once a contact number for Barbara Frailey was obtained from JimDodd in March 2023. Piecing together this story reveals the strong interest displayed by those who enjoyed Corvairs in the early days and their interest in making them go faster. The V-8 Registry is proud to be able to make this story available to its members.
