Flynn’s Flyin’ Four-Doors

Here’s a somewhat unusual photo – a 1960 Corvair sedan leading three newer and ostensibly faster cars on the track at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

The photo was taken in 2002 and we post it here because the car’s owner and driver will be at Sturbridge, and if history is any guide he will be at the wheel of an early model four-door.
　
This 1960 Model 700 sedan is an unrestored original, including the original Tasco Turquoise factory lacquer paint. Geoff Flynn, who lives in the Albany, New York, area, bought the car from the family of the original owner. It had 49,000 miles on it, and had been sitting in a garage for 27 years before Geoff bought it.
　
Geoff then made up for the car’s years of inactivity by putting it on the track, in stock form, at Lime Rock and Pocono. Of course it was never the fastest car on the track, but Geoff had more fun extracting maximum performance from a modest car than most people have driving high-powered machines.
　
Geoff says, "This was, hands down, the most solid feeling, smoothest running, quietest Corvair I owned. Right down to the exhaust system, every component on this car was correct, original or an exact reproduction."
　
Geoff later "updated" to this car, shown on the Lime Rock track in 2006.

The car was sold originally by Roosevelt Chevrolet in Jackson Heights, Queens. Geoff bought it from the original owner with 41,000 original miles. After Geoff was done making period-correct modifications to the car, it went from a base engine with a 3-speed to a high-horsepower engine with a 4-speed, with a bunch of tweaks to the brakes, suspension and steering. It ran not only at Lime Rock, but also at Mosport and BeaveRun.
　
Anyone who saw Geoff drive either of these cars will understand that early model Corvairs can move!
　
In the photo below Geoff is on the track for the autocross during the CORSA convention held in Buffalo, New York, a few years back. This year’s autocross will take place on a similar oval track, and we expect to see Geoff there in an early model sedan!

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).

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...