[SCG] Orig. '63 near Hollister, CA

Mon Feb 3 07:37:41 EST 2014

I think we are both right. If you notice, I was speaking in generalities, whereas you are speaking in a specific case. Since you point out in your first sentence about someone given a car and then go on about Missy, I’d think that you’d have to agree that she is not your usual case. Were that she wasn’t, we could stand having a lot more people like her. But alas, as I stated, I’ve seen far too many cases where the car ends up being beaten to death. And my point is that the percentages that she’s another “Missy” are highly against it. Which is why I said that in this case, I’d be proven wrong.

-Mark

From: Ramon Rodriguez III 
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2014 6:13 AM
To: Mark Corbin 
Cc: J. R. Read ; scg-list ; Corvair Guy 
Subject: Re: [SCG] Orig. '63 near Hollister, CA

I agree with Mark for the most part.  If someone is "given" something they typically take it for granted and don't take care of it like they would if they spent their hard earned money on it.   

Now I want to tell you a little about Missy.  When Missy and I started dating she had the typical attitude toward cars.  Though she liked "cool old cars" she was completely unaware of the need to be cautious around peoples beloved automobiles.  Mark, when you met Missy in Detroit she was just in the process of learning to respect these cars.  

Around that time, early in our relationship we picked up a rusty mess of a 63 coupe for ~$300 and put it together and on the road.  This became Missy's daily driver and though there were some hiccups (like overheating an engine due to a thrown belt) in the four years since she has become a Corvair enthusiast in her own right.  She really does not have any grasp on the mechanicals, but she loves Corvairs in general and station wagons and EM coupes in particular. 

Missy is now very anxious to get her second Corvair (a 95% rust free 61 coupe with AC) put together and on the road.  She desperately wants a Lakewood (or 62 wagon), but that will have to wait a few more years.  We have our own little rivalry since she is an EM fan all the way and I still generally favor LM's, though the truth is that I like EM's and LM's more or less equally now.  

My point is that sometimes giving a young lady (or boy) a Corvair will result in a new Corvair enthusiast, but I think there needs to be at least some little inkling of interest and I highly recommend starting with a car that is suitable for a "beater".  They can always upgrade to a nicer Corvair later.  

As far as getting young people into the Corvair hobby in general, I think it's generally custom cars that will attract them.  If I was a person of means I'd put together a cheap Corvair racer and take it to autocross events and let young guys give it a try.  As most of us know, despite not generally being "fast" the Corvair is a whole lot more fun to push through corners than the typical (understeering) modern cars these kids are normally driving.  

Ray Rodriguez III
Lake Ariel, PA

On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 3:07 AM, Mark Corbin <airvair at earthlink.net> wrote:

  JR,

  While I agree in principle with needing young blood in CORSA, my experiences
  tell me that the odds are, in this circumstance, going to be long.

  Back in the '70's Corvairs were just "old cars", and people often used them
  for beaters. The saddest tale is of a 9 year old '63 700 4 door that a
  (literally) little old librarian owned. At 23,000 miles on the clock, she
  decided on buying a new car, and offered it for sale. The car looked almost
  new , but because I couldn't afford to buy it, she sold it to an idiot who
  gave it to his daughter to drive to high school. Within a year, the car was
  junk, and the first thing that got ripped up was the rear air grill. The
  very one that today (and for the last several decades) has been scarcer than
  hen's teeth.

  Also had the same kind of thing happen recently, when a fellow club member
  gave his adult step daughter a nice original LM. She didn't like the car,
  and he eventually took it back. After having to spend several hundred
  dollars repairing her damage, some to irreplaceable, non-reproduced parts,
  he had learned the same lesson.

  Point being is that in this circumstance, the key words are "give",
  "daughter", and "drive". My experience is that, odds are, people that are
  given cars and had not sought them out and bought them themselves, are often
  not as appreciative of their value. Secondly, females are much less likely
  to be automotive enthusiasts than males. And finally, when it's meant to
  "drive", that almost certainly says "beater".  All this adds up to very long
  odds that this case will have a good outcome. Hence my original thoughts.
  Not knowing the Hansens, what am I to otherwise conclude? I just hope I'm
  wrong.

  -Mark

  -----Original Message-----
  From: J. R. Read
  Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2014 4:40 PM
  To: Mark Corbin ; scg-list at tiger.skiblack.com ; wrsssatty at aol.com
  Subject: Re: [SCG] Orig. '63 near Hollister, CA

  Mark,  You know the Hansen's?  What are their ages?

  Even if she is young... We NEED young blood to come to CORSA.  Let's try not
  to make assumptions and chase them away before we know the facts.

  Later, JR

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Mark Corbin" <airvair at earthlink.net>
  To: <scg-list at tiger.skiblack.com>; <wrsssatty at aol.com>
  Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 3:05 PM
  Subject: Re: [SCG] Orig. '63 near Hollister, CA

  > Yea, before she trashes it. It seems that the quickest way to ensure a
  > car's
  > demise is to sell it to some joker for his kid to drive to school. Seen it
  > happens way too often. Which is why I just slam the door in their face.
  > Done
  > it many a time, never regretted a one.
  >
  > -Mark
  >
  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: wrsssatty at aol.com
  > Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2014 3:39 PM
  > To: scg-list at tiger.skiblack.com
  > Subject: [SCG] Orig. '63 near Hollister, CA
  >
  >
  > Someone on FB posting under the name Ki Hansen near Hollister, CA posted
  > on
  > the CORSA Facebook page that he bought his daughter an original '63 Monza
  > coupe, 41,000 miles.  If there's anyone near there who could do so, it
  > should be documented.
  >
  > ~Bill Stanley
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