The official blog of the 2012 International Convention of the Corvair Society of America, which took place in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, July 25-28, 2012. Presented by the member clubs of the Northeast Corvair Council.


Scroll down to see the latest posts, and check the Blog Archive (at the lower portion of the right-hand column) to look up specific posts.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Another Dead Lion *

Recently we reminded our blog readers of the deadline for the advance registration discount (read that post here.)

The new deadline is for advance registration, period.

If you are submitting your convention registration in advance, it must reach the CORSA office by the close of business on Thursday, July 19. Whether you submit your registration online, by mail, by fax, or by carrier pigeon, if it arrives in the CORSA office after July 19 it will just sit there – the staff is coming to Sturbridge.

Of course, this does not mean that you must register before July 19. It only means that after that date you should register on-site, in Sturbridge. Still, advance registration is greatly appreciated by the convention committee because it helps us prepare for the number of people who will be there.

Don’t delay! Register now!

* There is a connection to be made between the Corvair and the use of "Dead Lion" as a pun on deadline. Do you know what that connection is? If you do, send us an email here. First correct answer gets credited here on the blog!

Update 7/13/12:  We have a Winner!

In our post above we asked you to tell us the connection to be made between the Corvair and the use of "Dead Lion" as a pun on deadline.

John Gephart, from Mission Viejo, California, was first with the correct answer. Dead Lion for Breakfast was Ernie Kovacs’ nickname for his 1950 Philadelphia TV show Deadline for Dinner.

John wrote to us, While enjoying the convention blog I saw your reference to Ernie Kovacs’ old Philly TV cooking show Deadline for Dinner which he nicknamed Dead Lion for Breakfast. The connection being Ernie Kovacs and his untimely death in a Corvair.

I have yet to attend a CORSA convention. Shortly after I bought my ’65 Monza ‘vert in Connecticut the convention was a few miles from where I grew up in California. Now that the convention is in Sturbridge, I have recently moved back to Southern California. One of these years I may be on the correct coast.

Decades after Kovacs’ death, muckracking journalists would attempt to blame the Corvair for Kovacs’ crash, but his widow, Edie Adams, would hear nothing of it. She correctly pointed out that at the time of the crash Kovacs was burning the candle at both ends, was sleep-deprived, hung over, was trying to light a cigar, was speeding, and it was raining.

Nonetheless, his was the highest-profile Corvair crash, and it was nothing less than a tragedy.

Kovacs had chosen to drive the Corvair, a 1961 Lakewood wagon, that night, so that Edie would have use of the couple’s other car, a Rolls Royce.

If you don't know who Ernie Kovacs is, Google and Youtube are ready to educate you. You can search for Ernie Kovacs, or Percy Dovetonsils, or the Nairobi trio...