We believe that we have succeeded. The numbers have been crunched, by both CORSA Executive Secretary Harry Jensen and NECC data guru Al Lacki, and they agree: The total number of individual Corvairs officially registered for the convention was 200 on the nose!
We are aware that there were additional Corvairs on site at times, typically driven to the convention by owners who visited for a short time but who did not register. So we are comfortable saying that the total number of Corvairs that gathered at Sturbridge was more than 200, but 200 is the official count.
One can’t just look at the event registration numbers, which were 154 for the Car Display, 72 for the Road Rally, 56 for the Autocross, and 54 for the Concours, and add them up. Because an individual Corvair could be entered in any one, two, or more of these events, the registration database was mined to identify each distinct vehicle. Further, the Road Rally allows conventioneers to participate in a non-Corvair if they choose, so those cars have been excluded from the tally.
Similarly, the total number of people in attendance is not simply the sum of individual and family registrations. The official number of attendees is equal to the number of name badges issued, which at Sturbridge was 794.
Just as there were Corvairs on site whose owners did not register, there were additional Corvair owners who visited without their Corvair and without registering. So we know that the total attendance during the convention was substantially greater than 800. But the 794 name badges issued is the official attendance figure.
These numbers for cars and people is an outstanding result when the focus is an automobile that last rolled off the assembly line more than 43 years ago. Enthusiasm for the Corvair remains healthy!