Happy New Year, 50 Years Later

The new year is here, and with it all the excitement and anticipation of a fresh start.

2012 is not only the year in which the Corvair Convention comes to Sturbridge, but it also marks the 50th anniversary of a high-water-mark in Corvair history: The 1962 model year was the Corvair’s largest-selling year, more than 300,000 vehicles in all.

What is also distinctive about the 1962 model year is that the greatest selection of body types was available that year. Only in 1962 did you have a choice of 2-door, 4-door, station wagon, convertible, Greenbrier van, Corvan panel van, Rampside pickup, or Loadside pickup.

Also in 1962 you could, for the first time, choose a Fitch Sprint, a Corvair modified by John Fitch and available through select Chevrolet dealers.

At the convention we plan to have on display the Fitch Sprint that is owned by the Corvair Preservation Foundation. But if you own a Fitch Sprint – no matter what year – we encourage you to bring it to the convention. Wouldn’t it be cool to have the largest-ever gathering of Sprints in one location?

In fact, we encourage owners of all 1962 Corvairs to bring their cars to the convention this July. More 1962 Corvairs were sold than any other year – let’s see if we can get more 1962 Corvairs at the convention than any other year!

Peace on Earth and Good Will to All

During this holiday season, people of all faiths and beliefs share a common wish. It is that all find peace and good will for themselves and their friends and family. On behalf of all the officers, directors, representatives and members of the Northeast Corvair Council, may this holiday season and new year bring these blessings to all.

--Brian O’Neill, NECC President

( The Corvair Christmas card shown above is from Corvair owner Sarah Regnier’s beautiful photography blog, Camera Takes Photos. )

A New Rampside

The progress that Cal Clark is making in the restoration of his Rampside is sufficiently impressive to justify our calling it a "new" Rampside.
　
From the earlier posts on this blog you can see how thoroughly Cal dissected the body, excising all vestiges of any rust, and installing new metal extensively.
　
Here we see that paint being applied to the restored body shell. The original fleet orange is gone, replaced by a rich deep red with a contrasting white stripe.
　
Note, by the way, how that stripe extends onto the door jamb. Your blog editor and Cal had discussions about where the stripe should stop, and apparently, the end of the stripe varied from year to year. On your editor’s 1964 Greenbrier, still wearing its factory-applied paint, the stripe extends only partially into the door opening. Other Corvair 95 vehicles examined by Cal had the stripe extending more fully onto the door jamb. Cal has applied the paint in the manner he believes to be the most accurate reflection of what would have been done when his truck was new.
　
You can see this truck, and many more, in Sturbridge this summer!

Baltimore to Sturbridge

Tom Hughes, in Baltimore, Maryland, has for quite some time been maintaining a weblog which chronicles his adventures in keeping Corvairs on the road for his daughters and himself. It is titled “Corvair Fleet Management,” and a link is provided below.

Tom sent us this photo and the accompanying note:

I've been working on my daughter's '61 Monza club coupe for the last year. In addition to replacing much of the flooring and all of the rocker panels, I've done rust repair on fenders, I've changed the exterior paint color from black to Black Cherry Pearl, the interior from red to black, and rebuilt a 95HP engine for it. I recently finished the paint work and am finally working on reassembly.

Since it will be nicest one in the fleet, I'm going to ask her if I can drive it to the convention.

Because dad is doing the work, we hope that daughter will say ‘yes’ to his request.

In reading Tom’s blog you will learn quickly that he is not doing the work in some big fancy shop, just a simple older residential garage and driveway.

Find the Corvair Fleet Management blog here. Click on the image labeled “Ringo” to read about this specific car.

Monza SS at Sturbridge

Mel Francis, from Wisconsin, has confirmed that the stunning Monza SS replica is coming to Sturbridge!

If you are not yet familiar with this car, the quick story is that Mel and his partner, Dick Reinders, took it upon themselves to produce a modern replica of the achingly beautiful Monza SS show car – and they succeeded!

(Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

We have provided a link below that will tell you much more about this car, but in a recent note Mel tells us:

“It will be our first Convention with this car, since we missed the last two, during the build.  I'll be putting it up on 12-inch tall display blocks when we show it, so anyone can check out the underside details, if they're interested.

“But we'll also be putting some miles on it around town, giving a few test drives.

“We plan on getting a time in the autocross, just to establish a baseline comparison with the other modified cars.”

Wait a minute… a few test drives?  Count us IN!

Your blog editor was fortunate enough to get a ride in the original Monza SS some 25 years ago, courtesy of GM, and cannot wait to get a ride in this new one!

UPDATE:  You can learn at lot more about this car here.

UPDATE:  Timothy Shortle, who lives in beautiful Durango, Colorado, posted this note concerning the Monza SS replica:  "This is worth going to Massachusetts for by itself. I saw this car in Detroit at the Homecoming last summer. "Unbelievable" is how I would describe it.

The See-Through Rampside

Our latest photo of Cal Clark's Rampside restoration project.  There is a lot of truck missing!  (Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

But the good news is, all the missing parts and pieces have been replaced as of this writing, and the truck is getting ready to appear at the Sturbridge convention.

We'll have more photos of the progress in the weeks to come.  How's your Corvair project coming along?  Tell us about it, and send pictures to us here.

We'll be the Judge of That!

A message from 2012 Convention Concours Chairman Ken Schifftner:

We are in the process of recruiting judges for the Concours d’Elegance to take place during the 2012 CORSA Convention next July in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. We will be needing judges and back-up judges. Since we don't know how many vehicles may enter the Concours, we need to have some extra judges just in case. Volunteers are needed.

The Concours judges just judge for condition and cleanliness... they do not judge for originality or any other standard... If you haven't done this it is a great experience. You can do it even if you have a car in the Concours, you just won’t be judging your own vehicle or those in your vehicle’s class.

By late December I must send a list of names of potential judges to Don Wagner who coordinates the judges. Don then mails a form to these folks. This form asks them what areas they might want to judge (interior, wheels, trim, undercarriage, etc.). You just fill out the form and send it back to Don. Don then sends a return letter to you.

At the Convention, there will be a Judge's Meeting where the details will be provided. If you are a novice, you'll be paired with a "veteran" judge. You may or may not be called upon to judge... depends upon the number of vehicles.

If you are interested, please send your name, address, phone number, email address to me and I'll compile the list for Don. Please respond by the email link here.  Thank you!

Old Car, Young Owner

This 1960 Corvair 700 sedan will be at the Sturbridge convention, and it will be approaching its 53rd birthday at that time.

It’s a relatively early production car, built in the summer of 1959. It’s owner, on the other hand, is a relatively late production, born several years after the last Corvair came off the assembly line.

The car belongs to CORSA Eastern Division Director Jason Cesana, who reports that he never intended to buy such a car but now that he owns one he loves it.

Jason tells us that "I was looking for a late model coupe. I never really liked the style on the earlies and wanted the sportier looking late model. I put down a deposit on a bad-looking ‘69 but it needed everything right away. The car ran but smoked, the paint was gone, and the interior was hardly there. The owner wanted $1000 for it.

"I went home and was looking on Craigslist and lo and behold there was a new ad. I called the guy up and in a week I was the proud owner of the ‘60.

"I was new to the hobby so I didn't realize what I really had. It was not until after I did some research that I realized that this car was an "early" early!

"Now my opinion on earlies versus lates has sort of switched camps!"

Come to Sturbridge this July to see this old Corvair and to meet its young owner.

Another Thanksgiving Tradition

It is Thanksgiving Day, and as we write a New York City radio station is broadcasting Arlo Guthrie’s original Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, as has been done every year since it was first aired in 1967 – when Corvairs were new.

If you are an aging hippie or just a fan of the infectiously catchy tune that backs up Guthrie’s famous monologue, there are plenty of relevant sites to visit while in Massachusetts this coming summer.

One of them is this church in Great Barrington, the church at which the original "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat" took place.

You could also visit the site of Alice Brock’s actual restaurant, in nearby Stockbridge. Walk right in, it’s around the back, just a half-a-mile from the railroad track.

Where Thanksgiving Began

As Thanksgiving 2011 approaches, we are of course reminded of the special significance the holiday has in Massachusetts, and how you can visit some historically important places during your Massachusetts visit in 2012.

The Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in late 1620, and today’s Thanksgiving tradition stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag natives to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.　

　The First Thanksgiving, 1621, painting by J.L.G. Ferris (1863-1930)

While in Massachusetts this coming summer you can visit Plymouth Rock, along the coastline between Boston and Cape Cod, where folklore has it that the Pilgrims on the Mayflower first landed.

Another modern Thanksgiving tradition is the "pardoning" of the White House turkey in Washington. (No wisecracks, please, about how many turkeys there are in Washington.) In the photo below, President John F. Kennedy is pardoning the 1963 turkey, only a matter of days before his fateful visit to Dallas.

　
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is located in Boston, a city that is a must-visit while in Massachusetts. If you want to further immerse yourself in the history of the Kennedys, you can visit the Hyannis Port Historic District along the Nantucket Sound waterfront on Cape Cod.  You could even go to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, an utterly charming island village adjacent to Chappaquiddick Island, where Senator Ted Kennedy’s infamous and deadly auto accident took place.

There is a wealth of history and tradition to be explored in Massachusetts. Don’t forget to allow extra time during your convention vacation to fully enjoy all these distinctive attractions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We Do

It has been quite a few days since our last post, due to business committments, but today is Friday and the work week is almost done.

As we write there is a meeting taking place at the Sturbridge Host Hotel.  Among those in attendance are convention chairman Brian O'Neill, convention promotional coordinator Al Lacki, CORSA executive secretary Harry Jensen, and CORSA convention coordinator Larry Claypool.  For Jensen and Claypool it is their first visit to Sturbridge, but of course it won't be their last as both will be back for the convention in July.

Tomorrow (November 19) there will be a larger meeting to include many more persons from the NECC convention committee.  It takes a lot of good volunteers to conduct a CORSA convention and the NECC is fortunate to have a lot of good volunteers.  If you would like to join these volunteers and help make the convention the success it is sure to be, contact us here.

In the meantime, here's a wedding photo, taken on the hotel lawn where our Concours d'Elegance will take place next summer:

If this location is good enough for a wedding, it will be a great place for our concours!

(Thanks to the Sturbridge Host Hotel and Snap Shots Unlimited for the photo)

Michigan in 2013!

Congratulations to the members of the Western Michigan Corvair Club, who will be our hosts for the 2013 CORSA Convention, one year following the gathering in Sturbridge.

Where will that convention take place? This video should answer the question!

It’s never too early for convention planning, and you can plan on meeting members of the Western Michigan group in Sturbridge, where they will have information available on their convention and the locale.

We should note that the Corvair Society of America received convention bids for 2013 from the Chicagoland Corvair Enthusiasts and the Circle City Corvair Club of Indianapolis, as well as the bid from the Western Michigan Corvair Club. Goes to show that Corvair enthusiasm remains strong in the midwest!

(By the way, the person who put the Nicholas Brothers' video on YouTube got the song title wrong.  It's "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo," not "a Girl from Kalamazoo.")

Room at the Inn

As of November 1st, 2011, more than eight months ahead of the convention, more than 50, yes, 50 rooms have been reserved at the Sturbridge Host Hotel!

There appears to be little doubt that rooms at this convention will be sold out, so you may not want to wait much longer to make your reservations.

Fortunately, even when the Sturbridge Host is fully booked, there are plenty of other hotels in the immediate area.  But that doesn't mean that you should wait -- Sturbridge is a very popular summertime vacation destination, and so chances are good that those hotels will be sold out, too!  We suggest that you make your room reservations sooner rather than later.

An earlier post on this blog reviewed what you need to do to make your reservations either by phone or online, and that information is also available on the convention web site, here .

Of course, some people want to know the convention schedule before they make their plans.  The convention schedule is posted on the convention web site, here, and as more schedule details get filled in we will be updating that schedule.

Keep John Fitch in Your Prayers

John Fitch, known to Corvair enthusiasts as the creator of the Fitch Sprint Corvairs, is well-experienced in life-threatening battles, having raced during racing’s most treacherous era and having served with distinction as a P-51 Mustang pilot during World War II. But now Fitch, a Connecticut resident who has been looking forward to visiting the 2012 CORSA Convention in Sturbridge, is in a life-threatening battle once again.

At 94 years of age and still active in the automotive community, in recent days John has suffered serious medical complications. Having spent just over two weeks in his local hospital, bouncing from the Medical/Surgical Unit to the ICU, he has been transferred to a hospital in Hartford, where the region’s best doctors are. He is eating well, and sleeping better, and his indomitable spirit tells us that he has every intention of surviving this.

Many of us on the Northeast Corvair Council’s convention committee have known John Fitch since the NECC first started staging events at Lime Rock Park, just down the street from John’s home, in 1974. His Fitch Sprint Corvairs recognized the GT potential of the Corvair even where General Motors did not, and his Corvair-based Fitch Phoenix remains a distinctive icon. To this day John defends the Corvair against the unfounded criticism it received, and as noted above he has been looking forward to attending the 2012 CORSA Convention.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, as he continues his gallant fight for life.


UPDATE November 10, 2011: 

At 94, John is still taking a lot of "Adventures on Wheels." Transport between hospitals... gurney rides... to using his IV pole as a walker!

He is now reading the Wall Street Journal daily, walking twice a day, always a little further, and complying with his treatment plan. Glad to say, his own body is healing many of the issues.

He is looking forward to leaving the hospital soon, and upgrading to a rehab center close to home. And he wants very much to return home, as he has "plenty of work to do!"

Looks like his old P51 Mustang, the "Angel on our Shoulders" did not forget him!

This is great news for one of the last and greatest of "The Greatest Generation."

Your prayers and good wishes are working!


UPDATE November 22, 2011:

John Fitch is now in week six of his recovery. "Recovery" is the right word because that is the path he is on. Yesterday he walked three times, up from two and a little further! He is refusing pain meds because they dull his thinking and, as me says, he has "a lot of work to do!"

He finally has new hearing aides (from the VA) so he feels much better and is now a part of the hearing world. He is still in Hartford Hospital, but it is expected the he will be able to move to a rehab facility near his Lime Rock home.


UPDATE December 13, 2011:

To recap: Two months ago, just three days after driving his Fitch Phoenix on the track at Lime Rock, John Fitch suffered a collapsed lung. This, unfortunately, was followed by an onset of pneumonia. A late-night transport to Hartford Hospital, for more intensive care, proved to be the correct decision.

During the first day at the hospital, John was going through a very hard time. The family came, and the little toddler, granddaughter Gwendolyn, and grandchildren Mercedes and James came into Grandpa's room... three little Magic Wands! John’s eyes flew open and he smiled hugely and proudly.

Day to day, progress was made, and last Monday, he was finally without any health support, and functioning on his own, well enough to be discharged from the hospital, and return to his home neighborhood, for rehab at a facility in Salisbury, Connecticut.

He has a beautiful, private room, and the entire residence is beautifully decorated for the Holidays, and the meals are very good. John does not eat in his room as he prefers to get dressed, and meet some old friends, and make new ones at mealtime.

He is even visiting the chapel, which is quite lovely and serene. He is ready to have some changes in his life, so he is now sporting a goatee!

He is doing his re-hab, and complying with his program, all with the hope of returning to his Lime Rock home in the coming weeks and visiting the Sturbridge convention in July.


UPDATE January 25, 2012:

Yet another "Adventure on Wheels" for John Fitch.. And his family!

Having made excellent progress in rehab at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, near his home, he was due to be discharged earlier this month. In preparation for that, he had asked to have his Mercedes brought to the facility, and it was parked in the first parking space, in view of the main entrance. John was not given the keys, but plans were made for him and an assistant to begin packing his clothes, gifts, paperwork, etc., into the car.

They day before they were to do this, John was seen on the security video walking himself out of the building, without a word to staff, or anyone else. He walked straight to his car without any difficulty (after using a wheel chair for the past several weeks) and drove off!

He went to the nearby McDonald's, and then took himself out for a drive, on a beautiful day... without anyone knowing. By that afternoon, family and friends were all out looking for him and a "Silver Alert" was issued.

While everybody looked everywhere and everyone called everyone, the day was turning into evening and was growing more dark and more cold. But then, about eleven hours after slipping out of the care facility, he strode into the lobby of the historic Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and booked himself a room.

The front desk clerk realized that it was quite unusual for a older gentleman to check in, alone, without any belongings, and notified the police. He was transported to the local medical facility where he spent the night, and he was driven back to Nobel Horizons by noon the next day.

His Mercedes was retrieved and brought to the garage at his house.

He was discharged later that week and, returned to his cherished Lime Rock homestead, now compete with two "live in" gentlemen to see that his needs are met.

This latest adventure put all of his loved ones and his many friends in a serious state of alarm and concern. However, the independent spirit that John Fitch has always had is still clearly present!


UPDATE September 4, 2012: 

Having celebrated his 95th birthday in August, John Fitch was able to attend the Labor Day weekend Vintage Festival at Lime Rock, where he was able to spend time with special guest Sir Stirling Moss.  In the photo below, Don Klein (left) chats with Fitch (center) and Moss (right).

Peeking under the Rampside

Here are two more photos of Cal Clark's Rampside in the early stages of its restoration.  Every removable part has been removed!

Cal will have this Rampside at the Convention in July, fully restored and resplendent in new paint.  We know this because the restoration process has moved well ahead of what is shown in these photos.  We will be posting more photos in the weeks to come.

Are you restoring a Corvair to bring to the convention?  If so, send us some photos and information.  You can reach us by email here.

The Passing of a Great Friend

It came in a telephone call – the news that Ward Bourgondien passed away today, following several years of the quietest and most dignified battle with cancer ever witnessed.

Ward was thoroughly dedicated to the Corvair hobby, and in a thoroughly selfless way. He had no personal agenda, caring only about what was best for the organization and its members.

He had been a strong supporter of the 2012 Sturbridge convention, even traveling to Sturbridge (a looong way from his home) to assist the organizers. He also remained a trusted advisor to the convention chairman, offering honest and constructive opinions, always in a positive spirit.

Our community is poorer for his passing.

How to Remember the Dates

If you have trouble remembering the dates of important things, such as the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction, the Indianapolis 500, or the AACA Fall Hershey Meet, what you need is one of Hemmings’ high quality collector-car calendars for 2012.

You especially need it because the dates of the 2012 CORSA Convention are shown on these calendars, right where they should be, July 25-28.

That’s right, the Hemmings’ folk have kindly included the CORSA Convention on their 2012 calendars, honoring a submission from the NECC in the summer of 2011.

Nine different calendars are available, including, of course, their iconic "Abandoned Cars" calendar. They can be ordered from the Hemmings web site here. Don’t wait, these calendars usually sell out while the new year is still new.

In addition to all of vital information included on these calendars (Chevrolet Corvair debuts, October 2) there is plenty of room for you to write in information of lesser importance, such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Jag You Are

Why is there a picture of a Jaguar here? Because this picture shows just a portion of the area that will be utilized for the Concours d’Elegance during the 2012 CORSA Convention.

The Sturbridge Host Hotel is located on Cedar Lake, and the shady lawn alongside the lake will be our Concours site. The hotel has been host to gatherings of Jaguars, of Oldsmobiles, and more, and virtually all these groups have displayed their cars by the lake, as we will.

The lawn wraps around the hotel on the west and north sides, with picnic tables, a gazebo, and plenty of room for our Concours cars. What’s more, when the Concours is over there will be no need for car owners to move their cars – the cars can remain in place, safely away from "civilian" traffic, through the big Saturday car show.

Big Saturday car show? Yes, the convention schedule has the Car Display, the big peoples' choice show of all Corvairs, taking place on Saturday, the last day of the convention. Plan on your Corvair being a part of this show!

Richard Lentinello at Sturbridge

There's a lot of buzz in the Corvair community right now because the December, 2011, issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine is a special issue commemorating the Chevrolet centennial, and the Corvair comes in for many positive mentions.

Among these are the words of Editor-in-Chief Richard Lentinello, who writes,"If I won Powerball tomorrow, the first car I would go out and buy would be a Corvair.  Not a Ferrari.  Not a Porsche.  A Corvair."

Richard Lentinello's affinity for the Corvair is well-known to long-time readers of Hemmings publications -- and that's why earlier this year the organizers of the 2012 convention invited him to be our guest speaker at the convention banquet on July 28.  That's right, Richard Lentinello will be our guest at the convention and he will share some of his insights into the car hobby in general and Corvairs in particular.

When making your convention plans, be sure to include banquet tickets, as this will be a can't-miss evening.

While Richard Lentinello will be our guest speaker, he won't be the only special guest on hand at the convention.  Watch this blog for news and information about more guest visitors.

Judges for the Concours

It is never too early to begin recruiting judges for the Concours d’Elegance to take place during the Sturbridge convention. We will be needing judges and back-up judges. Since we don't know how many vehicles may enter the Concours, we need to have some extra judges just in case. Volunteers are needed.

The Concours judges just judge for condition and cleanliness... they do not judge for originality or any other standard. If you haven't done this it is a great experience. You can do it even if your have a car in the Concours, you just won’t be judging your own vehicle or those in your vehicle’s class.

What happens is that in late December I must send a list of names of potential judges to Don Wagner who coordinates the judges. Don then mails a form to these folks. This form asks them what areas they might want to judge (interior, wheels, trim, undercarriage, etc.). You just fill out the form and send it back to Don. Don then sends a return letter to you.

At the Convention, there will be a Judge's Meeting where the details will be provided. If you are a novice, you'll be paired with a "veteran" judge. You may or may not be called upon to judge... depends upon the number of vehicles.

If you are interested, please send your name, address, phone number, email address to me and I'll compile the list for Don. You can respond by mail or email, your choice. Thank you!

Ken Schifftner
210 Indian Hollow Court
Mahwah, NJ 07430
Phone 201-236-0786
Fax 201-529-0252 FAX
E-mail here

On Track?

A popular question at this point in the convention planning is, will there be an NECC-style road course track event in conjunction with the 2012 convention?

The Northeast Corvair Council, which is an association of CORSA Chapters in the region, was formed back in the 1970s for the purpose of conducting weekend gatherings centered around on-track driving events at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park. The NECC began conducting similar performance-related events in conjunction with CORSA conventions over a decade ago.

These events do not take place every year and not with every convention, instead taking place where there is a suitable facility close to the convention site and where the local convention committee supports the idea.

Unfortunately, for 2012, there will be no such event. The principal reason for this is that there is no suitable facility available. Lime Rock Park, a beautiful facility and the closest to the convention city, is way too costly. The NECC ran at Lime Rock annually until being priced out of the place a few years ago. And trust us, we are talking waaay too costly.

Other options were considered, such as New Hampshire Speedway, which has a very nice road course, and even Watkins Glen, but neither of these facilities offered the right mix of location and price.

An additional factor is that when the NECC has conducted track events in conjunction with past conventions, the track event was the only thing the NECC was doing. Here, the NECC will be doing the entire convention and as a result its full resources are needed in Sturbridge.

Even without a road course track event in 2012, the convention will offer something for every Corvair-related interest, including high-speed performance. Convention plans at present include conducting the autocross on an oval race track, as was done at recent conventions in Cedar Rapids and Buffalo. So there will be an opportunity to wind out one's Corvair.

By the way, there used to be a well-regarded road course at the Thompson Speedway in Connecticut, only an hour’s drive from Sturbridge. But that course, shown in the photo below, has been decommissioned for decades and what remains is now part of the oval track’s pit and paddock area. The Thompson road course was the first permanent road course to be used by the SCCA, back in 1951. Wish it was still there...

Rampside on a Rotisserie

What we see in this photo is a somewhat unusual Corvair 95 Rampside pickup, stripped of all removable parts and mounted on an automotive "rotisserie" in the early stages of a restoration project.

We are featuring it here because the owner of this Rampside expects to have it, fully restored, at the 2012 CORSA Convention in Sturbridge. Plan to come see the finished product!

What makes it somewhat unusual? Well, for one, the original orange paint that you see here is a fleet color. But more interesting is that this truck belongs to and is being restored by Cal Clark of Clark’s Corvair Parts in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

Cal has owned this particular truck for more than 28 years now. Persons with long memories (and copies of old Clark’s Corvair Parts catalogs) may remember this truck appearing in one of the catalog photos depicting the construction of one of the Quonset hut-style buildings for the business many years ago.

In the weeks to come we will be adding more photos of this project to this blog. In truth, as we write this in October, 2011, the truck has already progressed quite a bit further than this photo shows. It is being restored to stock configuration but the original fleet color will not remain – Cal is painting the truck a deep red, a color preferred by his wife, Joan. Smart man!

How about your Corvair restoration? If you are preparing a Corvair for the 2012 CORSA Convention in Sturbridge, send us some photos and tell us about it – we might feature it here on the blog!

The Convention Logo

For the 2012 logo, we turned to vintage car enthusiast and professional graphic designer Tomm Scalera of the Graphic Angels Design Group in South Orange, New Jersey. Tomm took the ideas and suggestions from many NECC members and turned them into this:

Click the logo for an enlarged view.

It’s no surprise that Tomm produced such a terrific convention logo. He’s a Corvair lover at heart and it is very likely that you have seen some of his work previously without realizing it.  For example, here are just a few of his commercial logo designs:

In addition to logo design, Tomm does advertising layouts, catalog and web designs, product packaging, and more. Here are some more samples of his work:

But the proof of Tomm’s passion for vintage automobiles is best found in this image on the Graphic Angels Design Group’s own web site:

And then there’s this, an image he produced for the New Jersey Association of Corvair Enthusiasts some years ago:

If you are in need of professional, proven graphic design services, check out the Graphic Angels Design Group at http://www.graphicangels.com .

The Hotel is Ready to Take Your Reservation

The Sturbridge Host Hotel is now accepting room reservations for the 2012 CORSA Convention. You can make the reservations by way of telephone or by way of the hotel's website. The toll-free reservations number is 800-582-3232 and our group's online code is 1207CORVAI.  (Yes, there is no R at the end.)

It's probably easier to make your reservations by phone, but because I'm a web-page junkie, I used the hotel's website instead.

To get the special CORSA room rate (of $99 per night), you have to take some special steps when you make your reservations online. Here is how to do it:

Log onto the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center home page at http://www.sturbridgehosthotel.com/ .  Find the "Fast Reservations" section, which is located on the left-hand side of the web page. The "Fast Reservations" section has data entry fields for "Check-In," "Adults," "Children," and "Nights," and these fields are pre-populated. Ignore them. Simply click on "Go."

The website will now direct you to the reservations web page. Near the top of the reservations web page, you will see a horizontal bar with a number of hot links, including links for "Home," "Standard Rates," "Corporate Rates," "Groups," "Travel Agents," etc. Click on "Groups."

A pop-up will appear. It will prompt you for an "Attendee Code." Enter 1207CORVAI in the Attendee Code and click on "Sign In."

The reservation web page will then update itself with dates, rates, and room selections for the CORSA Convention. Our special room rate is available for any date between 7/22/2012 to 7/31/2012, but you can choose your own arrival and departure dates simply by clicking on the calendar shown on the left-hand side of the reservation web page. After you make your selections, click on the "Continue This Reservation" button on the bottom of the reservation web page. The web site will confirm your reservation and provide you with a confirmation number. As always, it's best practice to print out the confirmation for your records.

I was pleasantly surprised that the reservation system did not ask me for a credit card to back up my reservation. Just to make sure, I called the hotel's front desk (using the hotel's toll free phone number). The lady at the desk assured me that my online reservation had been accepted and that I will have a room at the hotel next July.

--Al Lacki

We're on YouTube

The 2012 CORSA Convention is on YouTube!

Or, more accurately, the Convention's promotional video, prepared by Jim Forgey, is on YouTube.  Check it out:

Too late!  Now that the convention is over, we have removed the promotional video from YouTube.  Sorry!

Welcome!

Welcome to CORSA 2012, the official blog of the Corvair Society of America's 2012 International Convention, taking place July 25-28 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  Check this blog periodically for news, updates, and general information in the months and weeks leading up to the convention.

The Corvair Society of America (CORSA) was founded in 1969 to preserve and enjoy America's most innovative production car, the Chevrolet Corvair.  Visit CORSA at http://www.corvair.org/

The convention is being organized by the member clubs of the Northeast Corvair Council (NECC), an association of CORSA chapters in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, founded in 1974.  Visit the NECC at http://www.neccmotorsports.com/