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.