<VV> Corvair and the gals

[N. Joseph Potts]

Some cars acquire reputations (among, by, and for men, of course) as "chick
magnets," so called. Application of this idea to the Corvair always seemed a
bit hopeful, to me, but women DO like the CAR, not necessarily the lonely,
lustful guy driving it.
     Certain other cars are MARKETED TO, possibly even in some superficial
ways DESIGNED FOR women, as can be detected in the manufacturer's
advertising, among other ways. A clever ad for the Mustang taking off on
"Sex and the Single Girl," was "the Six and the Single Girl," I remember.
Volkswagen's ads for the Karmann-Ghia seemed noticeably slanted toward women
(I had a K-G - great car for this man, too). And another air-cooled,
rear-engined car, the Corvair, always seemed to have advertising that gave
women at least equal time with the men. I think the appeal was there, and
the manufacturer capitalized on it. The cars always seemed a little lighter
on power/performance and longer on economy, reliability, and style relative
to cars aimed at men.
     If this is done with the old-car hobby, it would be done around such
cars, I should think.

Joe Potts
Miami, Florida USA
1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org]On Behalf Of Wrsssatty@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 10:40 AM
To: virtualvairs@corvair.org
Subject: <VV> Corvair and the gals

<<I married a gal that had a 1962 Corvair >>
<<My wife  also had a new 1962 Corvair when we got married. This is all her
fault.>>

This brings up an interesting observation.  The Corvair, when it was  new,
did seem to have a special appeal to women. GM seemed to acknowledge this
at
times in their advertising, at least for the early model.  I got into
Corvairs
when my big sister, straight out of college, bought a '63 Monza coupe  as
her
first car.  She told me later that she wanted something affordable  and so
many of her friends had VWs she wanted something else just to be  different.
Not
having to worry about anti-freeze or trouble with  a radiator and hoses also
appealed to her (remember cars weren't as  reliable then as they are now).
The light steering and easy  maneuverability into parking spaces also
appealed
to her.  She liked that  with the smaller size she could easily wax it in an
afternoon.  I remember  her using silver fingernail polish (hey, it was the
sixties!) to touch up nicks  in the car's Satin Silver finish!

Anyway, perhaps we could put this observation to good use even today just
as
GM did way back when the car was new.  Perhaps we could ponder a way to
reach out to women as potential new CORSA members.  Maybe we even ought to
think
of selling the Corvair to women.  I'm sure there are young women out  there
who would like to express their unique personality with a similarly unique
car.
 In some cases it might mean emphasizing different aspects of the car  and
the hobby.  Maybe some of you shade tree  mechanics could make  known your
availability to help out with some maintenance or repairs.  You  could even
charge
enough for your services to afford your own Corsa dues  for a year or two!

Just a thought.

Bill Stanley