<VV> Longest trip in a Corvair? (kinda long)

[Thesuperscribe at cs.com]

Okay, I see that we're including trips taken when Corvairs were almost 
current, so I'll throw in my excursions (if you'll pardon the word) in my '62 Monza 
coupe (Hondouras red with a black interior) while I was in the Army in '65-66. 


In July '65 I drove the 'Vair from Milwaukee to Ft. Knox, Ky., caravaning 
with two Marquette U. ROTC friends (one had a '55 Ford Crestline sedan that had 
taken us to Ft. Riley, Kan., and back the previous summer). Army medics found I 
had high blood pressure and sent me to Walter Reed hospital in D.C. for 
evaluation. I flew from Knox's airfield to Andrews AFB in a Lockheed Super Connie 
hospital plane operated by the North Carolina Air Guard -- a smooth flight -- 
and when I learned that I'd be there for three weeks I got permission to return 
to Knox to retrieve my car so's I'd be mobile while in D.C. I don't remember 
how I got from D.C. to Knox, but....

I drove the 'Vair from Knox to D.C. via U.S. 60 because on the map it 
appeared to form a more direct route than if I had gone north to pick up the 
turnpikes. But, heh heh, the shorter way isn't always the quickest. Hwy. 60 was a 
mostly two-lane trek through mountains. Much of the U.S. at that time was still 
without Interstate highways and if anyone pines for a return to the good ol' 
days of the scenic old roads, they should've been with me on that trip. 

As a Wisconsin boy I had never driven in mountains and was astounded that 
they twisted and turned over and over. I had started out shortly after midnight 
so at first was driving in darkness and sometimes fog, and it was as though the 
twisty pavement was being unraveled before me in some kind of mad dream. 
"When is this road going to straighten out?!" I wondered. It never did until I got 
near D.C., or when I occasionally came on short stretches of I-64 that was 
then being built through this region. Then I would jump on and barrel along at 
80 per, trying to make up lost time. 

Much of the time I was in 3rd gear (of course the Monza had a 4-speed) either 
climbing or drifting downgrade. Some uphill stretches of 60 had passing lanes 
and I recall racing an older red Ford F3 (or somesuch) truck with a 
flatbed/stakeside body; it had a V-8 and we stayed pretty much side by side except in 
sharp corners where one or the other had a shorter path and darted ahead. This 
went on for a half hour. I finally left him behind on a downhill stretch and 
he must've turned off and disappeared. 

When I was released from Walter Reed, I returned to Knox via the faster, 
easier northern route. But I remember nothing about that trip. Maybe the good ol' 
two-laners really were. 

The Army in its wisdom sent this young Armor second lieutenant to Ft. 
Monmouth, N.J., a Signal Corps post where I had a mostly boring desk job at the Army 
Satellite Communications Agency (they don't have any tanks in orbit, so my 
Armor training won't be much help here, I groused). From Monmouth I drove often 
to New York City (for free Broadway shows courtesy of the USO, to Rahway, N.J. 
(for Sunday dinners with an aunt and uncle) and probably a dozen jaunts to 
D.C. (to visit a college friend; I loved Washington as it was in '65-66) and Ft. 
Lee, Va. (to visit other ROTC friends). One buddy set me up with a southern 
belle from Petersburg and we hit it off, so I drove several times from Joisey to 
Virginia to date her. 
 
The northen legs of these trips were always via the Jersey Turnpike where the 
speed limit was 60 but everyone in the fast lane went 75 or more. I tried to 
cruise at 80 and the 'Vair's 102 horses were entirely up for it, but on at 
least two trips I was tailed by a big white Cadillac with burning headlamps 
driven by a mysterious curly headed guy who wanted to go faster. I'd try to outrun 
him but invariably had to let him by.

When I went into the Army the 'Vair had already covered about 45,000 miles, 
and I figure I added 15,000 in all those trips, and it never faltered. By the 
time I was transfered from Monmouth to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, it was 
into the mid 60s and still very reliable. It really was a good car. 

Before shipping out for Vietnam, I sold the 'Vair to a sergeant in the unit 
whose family needed an extra car. He got me to come down from my asking price 
of $1,100 because, "Well, you know, Lieutenant, there's been some bad publicity 
about these cars in that book." I figured that Ralph Nader had cost me about 
$200 (I sold it for $900). 

Before leaving for 'Nam I flew home for a week's leave. The day I returned to 
Fort Sam, unit members were gathered outside our little HQ building and up 
drives the 'Vair, which I had always kept cleaned and shined, but it was now 
dusty and battered. "Oh, my CAR!" I mentally wailed. The sergeant explained that 
his 16-year-young son had been driving the 'Vair when it was sideswiped by 
another car. Sure, I thought. But then, "Well, it's not my car anymore," and I 
forgot about it. 

When I returned home to Milwaukee in July of '67, I had to buy a car and 
considered another Corvair. But I decided, "Naw, I'll get something a little 
bigger and more comfortable." That was a '65 Mustang. So I suppose I was a small 
part of the reason for the Corvair's demise.

--Tom Berg
'64 Monza convertible
Bonsall, Calif.  

***

In a message dated 5/30/2005 3:38:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
whubbell at cox.net writes: 
> 
> About 3600 miles, round trip from Michigan to Yellowstone, Utah, Colorado, 
> etc., in "Jenny", the '65 Corvair 4-door, with my brother Bob, back in 1976. 
> 
> Broke a door hinge at a gas station in South Dakota (replaced with a part 
> from a junkyard in Rapid City), failed oil pressure gauge, ammeter, head 
> temp gauges (all cheap JC Whitney), broke the speedometer cable and ripped 
> off the fuel gauge sending wire going over Beartooth pass (first day it 
> opened - no chains on the car).  Arrived at Yellowstone with the Monza clock 
> 
> as only working instrument!  In Utah lost all power at night on lonely 
> desert road -- turned out to be a loose battery cable.
> 
> The trunk, the folded down back seat and an attached car top carrier covered 
> 
> with a blue and yellow canvas tarp were all filled to the brim with our 
> camping gear, clothes, etc.  We camped the whole trip - sometimes just slept 
> 
> outside the car on the ground, under the stars.  Visited the Badlands, Mt. 
> Rushmore, Yellowstone, Tetons, Several National Parks in Utah, toured the 
> Coors Brewery in Golden Colorado --- all the time while listening to Rock &
> Roll and Country music on a car-powered portable stereo and a couple of 
> smaller floor speakers stuck in the back seat.
> 
> Overall, one of the best trips of my life!!!!!
> 
> Bill Hubbell