[NoVa-Corvairs] Corvair Underground News

[A. J. Paluska, Jr]

From: corvairs <corvairs at pacifier.com> Subject: <VV> CORVAIR UNDERGROUND
1974-2009 

CORVAIR UNDERGROUND 
1974-2009 

It would be trite of me to say that this is the hardest letter I have ever
had to write. It would be trite and, well, untrue as well. All of us have
had negative events in our life, some worse than others. On a scale of
negativity this letter ranks pretty high, but I?ve seen worse. 

In 1974 I was young and stupid. I started a part time business that, by any
rational measure, looked like an eccentric lark. For reasons I still don?t
fully understand that excursion blossomed into a full fledged mail order
business. 

When my 2nd wife and I separated in 1982 I almost lost the business. But I
kept stubbornly plugging away and, with the help of Linda (whom I married in
1983), managed to rebuild the Corvair Underground into a legitimate
International player in the Corvair parts market. 

35 years is a long time for any business to last, but very little lasts
forever. 2009 marks the year that Linda and I will begin to liquidate our
corporation. We?ve seen and had to make many changes in the way we?ve done
things. That?s how you survive 35 years. 

But the past 3 years have been just a bit much. First we tried to sell the
business for somewhat less than it was worth. Then we tried to sell it for a
lot less than it was worth. Then we almost gave it away. In every case the
?serious? buyers passed up on a real opportunity, mostly because of a lack
of funds. 

I have had health problems before, but my heart/stroke surgery 2 years ago
really threw a monkey wrench in everything. Add that to failed attempts to
sell, losing my key employees in the process, and a general downturn in the
economy has made the going rough. Truthfully I promised Linda Winter before
last that we would not struggle through another Winter (Our traditionally
slowest time of the year). And here we are. 

It?s time for me to do something else. What that is, I have no idea. But I
do know that it?s time to wind this business down. 

Our intention is to have Corvair Underground closed by late Spring of this
year. Whether that will be possible or not remains to be seen. Even though
our operation is considerably smaller than our ?heydays? of the past 35
years, there is still an unbelievable amount of inventory here. I would
still claim that we are the second largest inventory of new and reproduced
Corvair parts in the world. We also have about a quarter mile of shelving
and a lot of other equipment and stuff. 

Is there a buyer out there? Time?s running out. I may have to dump all this
stuff on the open market and though ?garage? sales. Not really looking
forward to that. 

If you have even a passing interest in our clearance make sure you?re signed
up for our electronic NEWS. It?s free and easy. Just log into our website at
www.corvairunderground.com. That will be the primary way I will be
announcing open house sales dates and other breaking news. 

So far as continuing to take and process your mail orders - that will not
change at all. A number of our reproduced items will NOT be replaced and
some inventory that requires large purchase commitments will not be replaced
either. In the meantime we?ll keep processing orders for the foreseeable
future just as we have since 1974. 

Has Corvair Underground been a positive force in the Corvair parts market
these past 35 years? Well, the age of self-promotion of my business has
ended for me. Other people and history will answer that question,
eventually. 

Lon Wall



A. J.