1961 LaBoa Cox Corvair Special

In the early 1960s, Herbert W. Cox, an attorney from Arcania, Ohio, commissioned the Fitzgerald Machine Shop in Greenville, Ohio, to build a road racing special. The frame design was created by an aircraft engineer at Wright/Patterson Air Force base. The original plan was to use alloy, but the completed product was made of mild steel, which was a full 70 lbs. heavier. The 'stress skin' design was extremely rigid and was inspired by the Lotus Elan. The chassis is comprised of two 'tubes' measuring 9x3 inches in dimension. At each corner are four 1/2-inch square tubes. Running the length of the chassis is 1/16-inch sheet mild steel. The result was a vehicle that was much heavier than tube-frame sports cars but was capable of accommodating a variety of engines, ranging from 4-cylinders to V8s. Herb Cox went with Corvair power. At all four corners are hand-cast alloy wheels and disc brakes. The body design was courtesy of Al Baurle of Chicago and was purchased from Competition Engineering in Wheaton, Illinois. The end result was the LaBoa Corvair Special.

Herb Cox raced the car during the mid-1960s in SCCA events. Records indicate it competed until around 1967. A short time later, Mr. Cox passed away due to cancer. The widow of Herb Cox sold the car. It passed through two owners who had used the vehicle in Ohio for street use. The fourth owner performed a restoration and fitted the car with a 2.8-liter flat-six with six downdraft Weber carburetors. It has a Porsche transaxle and modern safety features. Since that time, it has been used sparingly, even seeing some track time.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2011