<VV> Corvairs on Fire (was: today's newb question)

[Robert Marlow, Vairtec Corporation]

At 06:10 PM 6/9/2007, Melissa Layman wrote:

>One of my favorite doctors at work thinks my car is great, but is 
>worried.  Apparently he remembers the Corvair as a car that caught on fire.

This question is timed nicely with Ray's post about the dumb things 
people say about Corvairs.

Without any statistical information with which to support me, I'd say 
that the Corvair's propensity to self-combust is just about the same 
as that of the general automobile population, especially that of cars 
the same vintage as Corvairs.  As a Corvair enthusiast since October 
of 1959, I have not become aware of any undue number of them burning.

They do burn, of course.  There was a dramatic Communique cover photo 
some years back, and over the years I've heard of a few others going 
up in flames.  But not in any numbers that would make the car stand 
out as "a car that caught on fire."

But, this does present an opportunity for me to tell my favorite 
car-fire story.  It took place at a race track, in the 1960s.  My 
father and a friend observed one competitor wrapping a fuel line with 
white cloth medical adhesive tape.  Y'know, the ubiquitous tape found 
in everyone's medicine cabinet back then and used to repair the 
eyeglasses of the nerdy kids.  Anyway, my father and his friend said 
nothing to each other, just rolled their eyes and shook their heads 
in wonder, and moved on.

Sure enough, during the race, the guy's race car burst into 
flames.  He stopped the car and bailed out, and the fire crew blasted 
it, and the driver's sneaker-clad feet, with their 
extinguishers.  Seeing an opportunity for a safety lesson, following 
the race the driver was asked by my father's friend, "Well, Phil, did 
you learn anything today?"

"Yes," replied Phil.  "Next time I gotta use more tape."

--Bob