Although my vote for Best of Show at the 1998 'Vair Fair was the '61 700 Sedan (I have a soft-spot for earlies), the '66 Corsa 180 Convertible probably had the most interesting history. It was originally owned by an American diplomat stationed in England who used the turbo 'Vair as his car when travelling on the continent, often-times pegging the speedometer on the Autobahn! The present owner (a member of the Roanoke Valley Corvair Club) met the original owner (who now lives in Northern Virginia) at the Vair Fair. The latter was duly impressed at the impeccable restoration of his old Marina Blue 180 Convertible -- one of only 581 turbo drop-tops made in 1966.

 

I spied this 1966 or 1967 Corvair Monza in Fairfax, Virginia, less than two miles from my old office. For the uninitiated, the quickest way to differentiate between a '66 and '67 Corvair is to look at the steering wheel: '67 steering wheels are oval-shaped, while '66 steering wheels are circular. In this case I would have checked, except a big dog whose chain ended about three feet from the 'Vair was going to eat me.

 

I photographed the Corvairs pictured here around the Corvair Museum in Richmond, Virginia. For the uninitiated, yes in fact, there really is an entire museum dedicated to the preservation of the mechanically sophisticated and revolutionary Corvair automobile! A half-dozen unique Corvairs were displayed when I visited (8/98), including the first turbo Corvair (1962), the first Corvair Monza (1960), the far-out Super Spyder (1962), the "Mitchell Monza" (1969), and "5999" -- the newest Corvair known to exist (it was number 5999 out of 6000 Corvairs produced in 1969). The Corvair Museum is a wonderful tribute to our favorite car, as well as to the dedication of individual Corvair enthusiasts.

1969 Monza Hardtop	1962 700 Coupe behind Museum	1966 Monza Hardtop behind Museum	1963 Eight-door Greenbrier
Corvair drag-racer	Authentic Yenko Stinger	1963 700 Coupe	1966 Monza Hardtop

 

Pictured here is a Cameo Beige 1965 Corvair 500 (110/pg) that was donated to the Northern Virginia Corvair Club. Although the paperwork found in the glovebox indicates that the 'Vair was originally purchased in Indianapolis, it lived most of its life in Georgia. As a result, most of the sheetmetal was in remarkably good shape ... which was great for me since there are several rotted-out areas on my own '65 Corvair requiring a little sheetmetal grafting. As you can tell from the second photo on the left, happiness is definitely a warm saber saw! Looking back, I probably should have cut out more metal -- I didn't want to be greedy since the 'Vair pictured here has become sort of a communal car (I'd make a good Marxist, though I'm loath to work on a state-owned potato farm). (Click here to see what I cut out!) Eventually I went back to retrieve the passenger door from this car, since it was nice and straight (as opposed to the one on my 'Vair which has a fair amout of bondo in it).

I was alerted to this 1964 Monza Coupe (110hp/3 speed) by my eagle-eyed colleague, Mark, who spotted it only a mile or so from our office. It was just sitting there, parked in someone's driveway. It's complete, though pretty rotted (the floorboards are rather Flintstones-esque if you catch my drift). As I was photographing it, the owner's next door neighbor approached me and asked, "so you like Corvairs, huh?" Is Jackie Mason funny?! So this fellow goes on to tell me that the owner pulled it out of a bog and wants to do a full restoration. I left my business card and some info on the Northern Virginia Corvair Club.

Some months back, while driving my '65 Corvair , I stopped in a Vienna, VA gas station when an older guy in a red Cadillac Allante pulled up next to me and told he owned something like a dozen Corvairs. He didn't stick around long, however. Recently (February, 1999) I was driving along in Vienna and spotted his Allante -- next to the '62 Corvair Greenbrier van shown here! I didn't see any other Corvairs on his property, though I was loath to trespass. The Greenbrier seemed complete and solid, though with typical rust; it probably hadn't moved in a few years.