Daring The Darien

Corvair Daring The Darien Gap filmed by Leonard Clairmont

[@impala24ss]

My dad was part of the expedition! I still have all the home movie footage he filmed.

[@frage-zeichen]

impala24ss Impressive! What was his job?

[@MrLclairmont]

My father Leonard Clairmont was the expedition photographer

[@dennisl.kistmann5676]

hi mi father is a mechanic in the expedition

[@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels]

Care to share the videos?

[@JoRgEChavez-to2xd]

Why was the 3rd corvair left behind in the jungle?

[@robertrishel3685]

The guys who did the 1978 Jeep expedition which crossed the Darien, actually saw an abandoned Corvair in the Gap! Amazing!

[@thebnicho]

So did the guys in the Range Rovers in 1972.

[@dylanmccallister1888]

@@thebnicho I believe Loren and his CJ5 the Sand Ship Discovery in the 80s also saw it, and so did some guys on KLR 650s recently which is here on YT somewhere

[@calebb9314]

Supposedly there is one that made the trip, abandoned just over the boarder from South America. Guess the import fee was more than they wanted to pay. lol Just sitting there rotting away into the jungle....

[@LSnium]

Fun fact: theres one Corvair still stuck there till this day.

[@armandomiranda1722]

I WAS THE DRIVER OF THE THIRD CORVAIR THAT CAR STILL OUTHERE IN THE JUNGLE

[@bigchair7912]

Was it fun

[@davidtaylor4148]

I bicycled through the Darien in 1992 from Yaviza to Turbo and saw the third Corvair abandoned near the border marker. I have never heard of this expedition so it was a mystery as to how the car got there.

[@indie8845]

If you wanna know how it's doing today, here it is: lh3.googleusercontent.com/-efB5Fye7lEE/Vl9F3ELyr4I/AAAAAAAAJeg/RMS9fBCiHNs/s1024-Ic42/571.jpg

[@MrLclairmont]

My father Leonard Clairmont was the photographer on this adventure.

[@alemanfrin9807]

Hey David i'm interested in that trip too, would you like to share some info about it?

[@user-dbh]

I'm so excited I found this video! I have a DVD version because My dad was one of the men on the trip. He was a driver and mechanic. Deac Hundley. He was a close friend of Dick doane who organized the trip. My dad ended up getting malaria at the end of the trip and almost died but recovered and stayed in the jungle until they were able to come back and get him and try to salvage the corvair that was abandoned. But decided it wasn't worth bringing it back. It had been stripped down. I also have a newspaper article from the Chicago Tribune about the expedition. I'll have to figure out how to post it later. So excited to read all of these comments!

[@kirstenspencer3630]

I had an 1960 Corvair, a red two door with auto transmission. Had a gasoline powered heater in the trunk. Instant heat, one of the best driving cars I have have had the pleasure to drive. I regret selling it to this day.

[@monicahernandez7344]

I am Colombian i loved watching the documentary was fantastic

[@trusevich]

absolutely crazy! It started as your usual car promo video... But by the end I wanted to buy the damn thing that can get through the Darien!

[@MrLclairmont]

There will be a story on the Discovery Channel later this month called “Secrets of The Jungle”.

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

Wow, I love the Corvair! Unbeliveable that ONE LAWYER and ONE BOOK shut the car down. And I love these old movies! The guys doing these kinda expeditions were carved from different wood than today. I first ever heard of the Darien when watching a movie in where British Range Rovers did the Darien- by the skin of their teeth. In that movie an abandoned Corvair was to see, I thought "Wow, they had balls, those days". I´m so glad this is to see- Thanks Mate!

[@FrankOlsonTwins]

Oh man, I'd love a Corvair...

[@andymckane7271]

Before GM's Corvair expedition, two other wheeled vehicles had made that trip through the Darien Gap. One was an 88" wheelbase Land Rover hardtop; the other was a Jeep pickup truck from the 1950's. While I don't recall the exact issue this Land Rover-Jeep Darien expedition was written up in, it was reported in a National Geographic (U.S. magazine) of the late 1950's, or perhaps as late as 1960 or 1961. This Land Rover/Jeep Darien expedition preceded the Corvair expedition, which itself had preceded the later British Army Range Rover expedition.

[@johns4306]

Mercury had 3 1965 Comet coupes run from Ushuia to Fairbanks with factory support. In 1970 Lou Hartarz made the run on own. Lou, a privateer, drove his own 1970 American Motors Hornet.

[@94fdjk31]

This expedition through the Darien gap had alot of assistance on clearing roads through the jungle compared to the Jeeps expedition in 1978. Nearly every shot of the corvairs and chevy trucks shows them driving down a CLEARED vehicle wide path. The trucks always took the lead and dragged those cars through everything the 2wd couldn't manage and I guarantee it was 90% of the gap. The Jeep expedition had minimal clearing, only chainsaws for trees that the Jeeps could fit through. They had no support vehical escorts fording the way through. It was all Jeep with their electric and pto winches and the guys riding with them. They went straight through and continued on to Alaska!

[@will7its]

With massive 4wd and tires.....did you see the whitewalls???

[@nealesmith1873]

Forget the Corvairs, I want one of those trucks!

[@Dogpool]

Those cars look like they were driving backwards

[@Pushing-Bumpers]

They should make a movie of this expedition

[@franhughes5840]

Hey, I did some sork in Darien in summer 1969. Saw almost no cars or other vehicles.

[@jeffh7021]

Selling the Jeep. Looking for a Corvair

[@williamrae9954]

Ha ha

[@Worldtravelerr78]

Jesus... I live in Panama City, and in my entire life I have never heard of anyone actually trying to get across the Darien Gap to Columbia in a Car! And they actually made it? This is crazy, how does nobody know about this? It’s been a century since this expedition and we still haven’t been able to build a road!

[@MrMrsregor]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2HQe2d-jbJ7rLM

[@patrickancona1193]

Century??? it’s only been 60 years kiddo, & it’s not that no one can build this road y’all just can’t AFFORD to build a modern highway system & the rampant corruption, graft & crushing affects of the cartels mean y’all never will, kinda sad but when the people believe fee fee’s can beat psychotic sadistic evil bastards heavily armed & armored who pay the same evil lying bastards to convince gullible people that “love & fee fee’s” can beat dedicated sociopaths far better funded then your military? of course nothing will ever change, & no cartels have much bigger global markets for their poisons then just America

[@thebnicho]

@@patrickancona1193 Wow, solid rant!! :D

[@cartwtf]

@@patrickancona1193 damn bro its not that deep

[@GM-js2yg]

@@patrickancona1193 its better that the road doesnt get built, some places can still stay more or less pristine

[@richardhaywood4123]

So the corvair was pretty much an all American version of the VW beetle! I believe they could have made the journey too! Great story.

[@BuickParkAvenue]

That's exactly what GM imagined when they built that car, they even had a Corvair van and pickup truck.

[@bigteddybear5962]

Cool video. Thanks for sharing.

[@ricardobernal8897]

Got nothing against the corvair, matts off road recovery built a killer machine that would do this.. But why does no one talk about the four wheel drive suburbans that probably made the trail for these cars to follow? They are the unsung heros in the background that deserve recognition

[@TheBandit7613]

Matt runs out of gas 20 miles from his house. That thing he built is a piece. Trail Mater whoops on it.

[@mecano572]

😮hehehe

[@michaelralls2498]

All I can say is WOW that's some crazy cool stuff.

[@suntrespasser9684]

I came here from the AllBadThings podcast, and honestly these cars did better than I thought they did!

[@flyingpeter]

can't belive they made it, one of the cars was left oin the palo de las letras if i'm not wrong, is still there, shame is dangerous to go there for other reasons now

[@mwyatt222]

In 1982 l drove from Dallas Tx to Ushuaia Argentina and back up the west coast of south america b/c my girlfriend from Brazil had never seen it. 6 weeks but we stopped for several days a couple of times. 12,200 miles in a 75' type A Volkswagon 1835cc fuel injected stock beetle. The bug only needed several tire changes and a belt. l sold it to a friend and its still running with 550k miles on the 2nd motor and 2nd belly pan.

[@planetiowa]

I suppose some embarrassing scenes have been edited.

[@gotham61]

Wonderful film, although it seems the telling uses a fair amount of artistic license. These days there's a smooth paved road, including restaurants, hotels and tour buses, all the way to a few miles beyond Yavisa (seen @ 23:00), so all of that sliding around and river fording in the first part of the film is no more. Today, the hard part is about 60 miles long, 1/4 the length it was in 1962. The Bayano River which formed the prior end point seen @14.30, was dammed in 1976 to form Lake Bayano.

[@SGBassplayer]

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, TOP GEAR!

[@jorgeresendis8330]

Muy buen auto tuve un modelo 60. Era muy económico a pesar de sus 2 carburadores

[@jackoneil3933]

The Corvair survived the Jungles of the Darien Gap but was no match for propaganda of one seeker of fame.

[@weedeater49cc]

that car is amazing you can drag it right across a river .. that motor in that dozer on a semi frame and a quad truck cab and a long bed would be cool truck ...

[@johnsarcaneautos]

someone should have written a book on this. It done 20 years later by the British and it took the army and a fleet of helicopters and planes to assist.Even then the Range Rovers broke constantly.

[@MrLclairmont]

The Chicago Tribune (newspaper) had a reporter embedded in the expedition .

[@rodneydolman1]

Land Rovers fail regularly without a Tran's jungle adventure..

[@49walker44]

Anyone know where the surviving corvairs are? There has to be a true account of that crossing of the daren gap, hard to believe they made the same crossing as the land rovers and Jeep's.

[@eun5oo280]

One is still near the border rotting away. I don’t know the rest.

[@tommyphilip2000]

Wonder how many time these cars got stuck and they just didn't show it in the video. Does the Corvair have locking differentials ?

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

No locking diff.

[@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels]

You can left foot brake to simulate a locking diff sometimes

[@tommyphilip2000]

@@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels lol

[@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels]

@@tommyphilip2000 No, seriously. A slight braking will "lock" the diff

[@49walker44]

@@TheMrPeteChannel it's how modern 4x4s "lock" the diff, use the abs system, pretty affective. You can do the same thing

[@ciprianoderore4792]

I REMEMBER THIS EXPEDITION IN PANAMA

[@hiddenarea3670]

CIPRIANO DE RORE whey lost one chevy in expedition.why they are nothing say about?

[@magnavoxfifty]

Did anyone notice one of the Corvairs didn't make it out of the jungle? The Jeep Jamboree done in 1978 shows what happened to it. The poor thing got stuck forever.

[@750count]

Fascinating in every way

[@goldtruck1270]

One of the corvairs are still in the jungle. Rotten but there.

[@dantesdantes7834]

I wonna go to that place

[@wernerbloemwagen6878]

With thát voice, I constantly expect him to say : "Lexington.. after action, satisfaction!"

[@boathemian7694]

The vans were cool.

[@myview2519]

The cars look to clean after a trek in the jungle

[@federicoacker5672]

Thank you for sharing, is very interesting, I didn't have a clue of this expedition... But I don´t get it... why they did use Corvairs??? That car was designed as a refined saloon sedan, with a highly sophisticated power train (transaxle, aluminum 6 cylinder flat engine air-cooled, etc), so the natural environment to this vehicle is the highway... why try to do this crazy journey thru the jungle ??? why they did not use a Chevy 4WD pick-up that was launch around that time? Very bizarre...

[@2K-Tan]

I think If I remember correctly it was basically all for publicity as they were trying to "expose the Corvair" to as many as possible, to "Get a Corvair in the driveway of every American." This promotional film was the main goal and all they really got from it.. They also didn't want anyone to think it was "incapable" or unable to perform as a normal car because of it's "different by American standards" rear engine air cooled layout. They did actually use 1/2 ton GM trucks with winches for support vehicles and lost many of them due to failures or accidents. It's a pretty neat concept and it was certainly a different time back then. I know of the British Range Rover expedition through here in the early 70's as well, That was certainly a more "purpose built car" for the operation and cool as well. This guy's video I saw recently did a pretty good job explaining it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYaYi56Ap7eHe5o

[@pauliewalnuts240]

It was to promote the new car and its unconventional (to america at the time) configuration like the gentlemen above me stated. However, its design handles off road conditions better then you might think. Independent suspension, air cooled engine simplicity to avoid overheating off road, and rear mounting location of the engine provides weight for traction in tough conditions.

[@2K-Tan]

@@pauliewalnuts240 I did a little bit of thinking and came to that same conclusion myself, the addition of the extra weight over the rear drive wheels actually would be quite useful in off road situations for extra grip. GM was actually pretty purposeful, smart and honest here.

[@billdescoteaux]

I'm thinking at the time, a full-sized Chevy such as a Biscayne wouldn't have made it to the beginning of the Gap, not even with Positraction. Some of those rivers the Corvairs forded would have drowned a Biscayne.

[@2K-Tan]

@@billdescoteaux Was thinking that myself! Very incredible little car for the time period. I think this was a cool marketing "stunt" for sure. Just a shame that judgemental and assuming Ralph Nader undid all of GM's hard work in 1 lie packed book that everyone took as gospel.. History sucks sometimes..

[@H71BCD]

Why was one of the Corvairs abandoned. Was it engine or transmission failure ? Kind of sad as it nearly made it.

[@MrLclairmont]

thecitypaperbogota.com/travel/pacific-travel-guide/the-lost-corvair/1429

[@H71BCD]

@@MrLclairmont Thanks. The article doesn't appear to specify the reason why the third Corvair was abandoned - it looks like it was stripped out. I guess this could be the only remaining car - a big salvage job but I guess it would be neat to bring it home.

[@urbanesasquatch]

At the end, the other two look pretty battered. I'm guessing a lot of suspension repairs in this movie.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Wow!!!!!

[@jannahjohnymuhammad9172]

THIS PROVE THE ADVANTAGE OF REAR ENGINE CAR TO CROSS THE RIVER/WATER WITHOUT STALLING

[@pl5624]

GM pushing the car as an off road brute...yet no buyers wanted an amc eagle/subaru outback type then.4 wheel drive meant jeep...land rover...scout...rear drive not being considered an off road layout.

[@2K-Tan]

Certainly pretty forward thinking. It really impressed me with how it handled a lot of that absolutely brutal terrain in the jungle for being just a cheap compact sedan, One might think that they were on to something there, The rear engine layout certainly did help keep the drive wheels loaded and maintain traction better. Pretty cool stuff. I really miss old "Peak Engineering" GM.

[@alexpacoe2768]

Can't believe how young Jeremy Clarkson was!!!

[@pieterstedehouder8441]

He was even younger before😀

[@gaspardelgado2263]

Hubo dos eventos. El primero en 1960 con el Land Rover. Después ne la década de 1970 con el Range Rover. Ellos pasaron en frente a nuestros terrenos por un camino que se había hecho para los que sacaban madera en tucas. Iban acompañados de una columna de militares y nueva regresaron. Eso fue entre 1973 y 1975 más o menos. Estoy buscando el año específico. Hacen como 5 años me enteré en la televisión del por qué había pasado es grupo por nuestras tierras y nunca regresaron.

[@mr.cardguy7635]

I have seen several people on here claim to be a part of this and I am very intrigued in this story and would like to communicate with a few and see about getting some interviews and putting a story together about this

[@MrLclairmont]

My father Leonard Clairmont was the photographer for this expedition, he passed in 1984. The Chicago Tribune had a journalist imbedded with the crew and he wrote several articles. Also, a good article with color photos in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 1, #3 (1962) plus mentioned in Wikipedia “Darien Gap”.

[@mr.cardguy7635]

@@MrLclairmont do you have any stories that he may have shared with you.

[@horstebreedow8608]

Jam Handy made this picture.

[@Weegus]

Never finished go watch the British expedition from Alaska Argentina in the first Range Rover you see the American cars in the gap the British expedition done it by the way.

[@BuickParkAvenue]

Those little cars are tough

[@daves2552]

So they’re not going to explain about the one left in the jungle? Just curious what caused it to be abandoned.

[@mikeadams3292]

What yr was this ?

[@MrLclairmont]

1962

[@khaledadams4329]

Take a drink every time they say "Corvair".

[@horstebreedow8608]

I wish Jam Handy still made pictures

[@alanrogs3990]

Why wasn't this filmed in the middle of the aisle instead of at seat 32?

[@will7its]

Holy crap, Corvairs with whitewall tires made it thru the Darien gap??? Probably helped by lots of whiskey and cigarettes. Well now I have seen everything.....😅

[@ronniebrown2517]

i wonder what ralph nader had to say about this journey!....i drove a corvair from shreveport, louisiana to san francisco, california in 1971....had major issues with the air cooling system as i was pulling a uhaul and any speed over 35 mph would not allow air to get to the motor so drove the trip under 35....took almost 2 weeks...if one of the vairs is stll in the jungle, how did three end the trip?....if this car was so great, why did chevy stop producing them in 69??....

[@theomnipresent1]

Did these cars have positraction?

[@Nirmaljohn7]

It is more like a Chevy commercial. I wish there was a highway..!

[@rajachowdhury4042]

Super driver

[@fadlanm1467]

one car still in the jungle,, from video revzilla you can see

[@Star_Gazing_Coffee_Lover]

Mom had one

[@josericardojesusgonzalezte8875]

The Corvair arrive to the division point but doesn’t go foward anymore???

[@oldoffy4408]

That was quite the expedition and torture test. Both the truck and Suburban were somewhat designed for it. A crime they didn't focus more on them. But those little cars surely took a beating. The modern junk they pump out nowadays couldn't take such abuse.

[@michaelscurr9046]

No drug dealers 2 cut your throat back then. Amazing that they used a car

[@toadsinabag3202]

who's here because of the one guy's comment about the corvair in the 31 days documentary?

[@mr.cardguy7635]

Never heard of it but I'll look for it

[@calsurflance5598]

Forget the corvairs! Those supply trucks are my hero!!

[@jugamela3826]

I need q corvair

[@FabiolaPicojimenez-wq7rq]

si se puede construir ahora

[@FabiolaPicojimenez-wq7rq]

eso demuestra que es imposible construir el tramo de panamericana qué falta si rompieron con machete e isieron puentes improvisados en esa época qué abia tanta tecnología como no Seba a poder construir en esta época con tanta tecnología abansada qué hay ahora

[@bbzz]

I've found remains of one of those cars, near the Colombian border forum.awd.ru/viewtopic.php?f=409&p=8337561#p8337561

[@MrLclairmont]

Thanks !!

[@shavpookie]

And I still can't drive to South America. Why?

[@patrickjuvetarchives6570]

because this "documentary" may just be a movie..... a staged performance... not something for real??

[@shavpookie]

@@patrickjuvetarchives6570 Granted. But my point being...There are still no roads though the Darien Gap.

[@patrickjuvetarchives6570]

@@shavpookie hum.... **maybe** because there is nothing to link... or **maybe** because the darien gap is not linking what it is supposed to link... ?

[@williamrae9954]

FARC will kill your ass for one....don't you just love Communists?

[@williamrae9954]

@@patrickjuvetarchives6570 First guy to do it was British SAS and an Australian in a Land Rover,backed by the British Army....60 something days i think?

[@pauldefazio3480]

Really cool old documentary if it was three air-cooled Volkswagen and none of them would have been left behind in the jungle sorry I'm a fan of the documentary but I'm no fan of a Corvair please note rope behind bulldozer pulling Corvair through River wow announcer tells you how great car drives

[@will7its]

He said the river was 12 feet deep. Any thoughts now???

[@pauldefazio3480]

This documentary should be about the trucks not the corvairs the truck didn't need any help to make it they did it on their own

[@joachimmikalsen1676]

This is just total random oldies stirred together. What is the point of it?

[@williamrae9954]

Back when the World was a friendlier place,before all the Cuban backed nonsense with their Soviet backers! Thanks for posting!

[@michaelfoulkes9502]

Now the communists are here in the United States.

[@MrSpuzzz]

Everything was great until Ralph Nader came along.

[@komerwest3748]

Ok try that in today's car

[@HandyC]

If all three made it how come there is a wreck of one on the same route... Hmmmmmmm Slight bit of artistic licence by Chevy me thinks..

[@MrLclairmont]

I believe none of the vehicles were worth “driving back” and were left behind or given away.

[@pooky1959]

Is that Lorne Greene narrating the second part?

[@13orrax]

pfff a GM car has to Ford the rivers

[@mikefoley1664]

Very impressive. But there is no way in hell these cars weren't heavily modified for this trek. Videos showing jeeps and other 4X4s losing axles and major breakdowns convince me that these two wheel drive cars are not in stock configuration

[@HeavyTanker-vx4oq]

They had 2 support Suburbans with 4 wheel drive, but they were not modified. The only non stock parts on the Corvairs were all terrain tires on the rear wheels, and a bash plate on the bottom to prevent a ruptured gas tank. Everything else was totally stock. That's kinda the reason it took over 100 days to finish. And only 2 cars survived, the 3rd had to be abandoned for a unknown reason.

[@BuickParkAvenue]

@@HeavyTanker-vx4oq The third one was abandoned because someone stole the drivetrain because the car was low on fuel.

[@trevorzzealley2670]

@@BuickParkAvenue Thanks for that info

[@mikeking4193]

Unsafe at any speed. Except in mud.

[@LSnium]

Wasnt unsafe at any speed. According to Hagerty, they conducted tests with the corvair at high and slow speeds and nothing happened.

[@mikeking4193]

@@LSnium You're right, the Convair was as safe as any cars in it's day. Not sure why Ralph Nader seemed to single it out. Growing up my family had a few of these cars, they could be temperamental at time's! I still have a couple Convair Monza hubcaps from one of them. Mike

[@operator91210]

@@mikeking4193 Nader used it as an aid to push his political agenda. The corvair may have been unfairly treated in the book. But it had to be said, cars were dangerous and safety needed to be brought into the picture.

[@pl5624]

Lying GM as usual..one car was lost and I hear the trucks were damaged beyond repair as well.no wonder this whole venture was downplayed later on and not capitalized on..

[@anthonystrohmayer7462]

well crap. shoulda bought a corvair. I seen one of these rotting in the darien during a migrant video

[@BIGBADWOOD]

Two of the six survived ! So GM had a 66 Percent failure rate !

[@BuickParkAvenue]

There was 3 Corvairs and 2 support trucks, 2 Corvairs survived. I don't know what happened to the support trucks though.

[@BIGBADWOOD]

@@BuickParkAvenue Crashed over hill and broken axles !

[@SchismTP]

They'd DREAM of that success these days. Aveo

[@BIGBADWOOD]

@@SchismTP Unsafe at any speed !