CORSA 2012: NECC: Next Year

[Vairtec Corporation]

Terry provides interesting food for thought.

I like the nomenclature, "Corvair Triathlon" but I would suggest that 
along with a new name there is a need for a new mindset. Just as we were 
trying to re-invent the convention this year, we should consider 
re-inventing the signature NECC event.

For a long time the NECC did the track event at Lime Rock in conjunction 
with a judged car show that in some years was serious enough to earn 
entrants credit toward CORSA Senior Division status.  In later years the 
car show became less formal.  In recent years the car show at NECC 
events virtually disappeared.

There is a great deal that can be said about the age of the cars and the 
age of their owners and the diminishing Corvair participation in track 
events.  But the loss of emphasis on the car show and then the loss of 
the car show itself has been self defeating for the NECC.

I would suggest that an annual "Corvair Triathlon" should consist of:

(1) a track event.  Whether it is a high-speed event such as the NECC 
has done for so many years or a reasonably fast autocross such as the 
convention autocross at Stafford Speedway, track events are the 
foundation of the NECC.  However, while some of us may not want to admit 
it, an event like the Stafford Speedway autocross is far more accessible 
to far more Corvair owners, and therefore far more likely to succeed.

(2) a road rally or driving tour.  The road rally at conventions is 
typically the best-attended moving event, and today more and more 
Corvair owners are participating in AACA driving tours. Maybe we should 
take the hint.

(3) a car show.  Car shows are a big part of why people own Corvairs 
today.  The cars are no longer daily drivers, they are hobby cars, and 
hobby car owners like to go to well-organized, well-run car shows.

If we were to situate such an event in New England, I would suggest that 
it become an every-other-year thing, alternating with Bay State's "Fall 
Classic at Clark's."  This would prevent each event from "cannibalizing" 
the other and would in fact allow them to support one another.  This, of 
course, means that we would be planning for 2014, not next year.  (This 
does not mean that the NECC cannot do something in 2013, it just means 
that it ought not be in New England in 2013.)

As an aside, I have not heard about the road course plans that Terry 
mentions at Thompson Speedway, but I will take it upon myself to ask the 
track owner about this.

--Bob