Jay Leno Greets the Sturbridge Convention

A surprise at Sturbridge was that Deputy Chairman Ray Bombardier arranged for Jay Leno to send a video greeting, which was shown during the banquet.  No one, except Jay, Ray, and a tiny handful of others, knew about it ahead of time.

To say that it was a hit would be an understatement.  If you were not at the banquet, here is the video that Jay sent:

Our thanks to Ray Bombardier for making this happen, and to Jay Leno for his enthusiasm for Corvairs and cars of all types.

We Get Letters

Convention Chairman Brian O’Neill received the following note recently:

I was at the [Sturbridge Host Hotel] last week and everyone was talking about what a great event you guys put on! I'm really good friends with the chef and he couldn't stop talking about your show. I'm glad everything went well. Sorry I couldn't be there to see it come together. Take care. I hope our paths cross again one of these days.

Best Wishes, Bill Trzpit

Bill Trzpit was the manager at the Sturbridge Hotel Hotel before taking a position at the University of Massachusetts earlier this year.
　
And Convention Deputy Chairman Ray Bombardier received this note:

I enjoyed talking at the dinner and speaking with all the Hemmings' readers – I had a blast. And the car show was spectacular. You guys put on a great convention.  Please extend my gratitude to the other members of your club.

Regards, Richard Lentinello

Richard Lentinello is the Editor-in Chief at Hemmings Motor News and was our guest speaker at the convention banquet. His talk was riotously funny and highly entertaining.

How Many?

One of the goals of the Northeast Corvair Council when planning the 2012 CORSA Convention was to amass one of the largest gatherings of Corvairs, if not the largest, in one place since the cars left the factory all those years ago.

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!

Car Display Awards

At the Sturbridge convention, the peoples' choice awards for the Saturday "Car Display," the big Corvair car show seen in the photo at the top of this blog, were framed color certificates intended to be different from the traditional-style trophies presented to the participants in the formally-judged Concours held the day before.

We freely admit, these awards were inpired by similar awards we had seen at another group's big annual car show.  But when a sudden heavy rainstorm caused the awards presentation to be moved hastily from the front of the hotel to a hallway inside, not everyone got to see what these awards looked like.  Here are representative samples:

Open Wide and Say AAHHHH

A lineup of Corvair Station Wagons at Sturbridge.  Corvair wagons were manufactured only for the 1961 model year and a portion of the 1962 model year.  For so uncommon a car the turnout at Stubridge -- this isn't all of them -- was excellent!

Concours RESULTS

The results of the Sturbridge Concours d'Elegance are now posted on the convention web site, here.  Just scroll down the page slightly to get to the links for the results for not only the concours but for the other events, too!

The photo above shows just a portion of the concours field, which was the lawn alongside Cedar Pond on the north and west sides of the Sturbridge Host Hotel.  The photo below was taken from one of the guest rooms on the second floor of the hotel.

As you can see the weather was overcast but the sun popped out from time to time and only a light drizzle fell for just a few minutes near the end of the judging.

Best-of-Show... Times Two!

At Sturbridge, the William Mitchel Best-of-Show award was claimed by Connecticut’s Mike Kovacs and his 1969 Fitch Sprint, with a score of 98.33.

While this in itself is a remarkable achievement, far more remarkable is that Mike also won Best-of-Show at the 1984 CORSA convention in New Jersey, with a score of 96.85... with the same car!

28 years later and the car not only wins again, it scores better!

Mike purchased the car in 1978 and at that time it required a total restoration that took several years. The color chosen was a bright GM green. The car was then trailered to New Jersey for the 1984 convention, its first show. As at Sturbridge, both the autocross and the road rally preceded the concours and during the autocross Mike forgot to replace the oil cap. This drenched the entire engine compartment in nice clean oil. A spray can of Gunk and a garden hose fixed that problem and the car went on to win Best in Show.

Here is the car at that time:

A few years after that the paint started to fail. Apparently the body had not been properly prepped for the primer by the body shop and the paint started to flake off to the bare metal. Disgusted by this development, Mike covered the car and left it in the garage.

Several years later Mike then decided to try again. This time he stripped the paint inside and out and used an epoxy primer and yellow base/clear coat paint and did it himself. The car then earned a Silver award at the Lake Placid convention and a Gold at the Carlisle convention, and Mike showed the car at many local events over the following years.

When the 2012 convention was announced, Mike decided to give the car a mini-restoration from top to bottom. This took the better part of two months, doing a little at a time. He entered the car in the Concours just to see if it could get a senior division ranking again. Mike was very pleasantly surprised when the car scored 98.33 points.

Here’s is the car as it looks today:

The equipment in the car includes a quick shifter, quick steering, wood steering wheel, long range driving light, 904 fastback, Sprint insignia, HD convertible springs, HD shocks, rear rubber Aeon springs, power antenna, AM /FM/CB/8 track radio, oil pressure gauge and voltmeter. The engine was bored .060, balanced rods and forged pistons, .032 clearance squish area, 10/10 crank, OT20 cam, modified carburetors, electronic ignition, Vega clutch. Transaxle is a 3:55 positraction with 205/60-13 tires. Mike says it isn't fast, but it is quick. It’s not too shabby, either!