<VV> First Corvair

Jeffrey B. Aronson jrh at foxislands.net
Wed Oct 24 18:50:23 EDT 2007


What a great thread!

My first Corvair was a '64 Monza 110 4-speed, purchased in the summer of 
1968. I lived on Cape Cod, MA, and a client of my father's was a Buick 
dealer who had taken the car in on trade. As a student at the University 
of Vermont, I had struggled with the cost and challenge of keeping 
British cars running in daily use in Vermont's winters and springs. I 
just didn't know enough then to do much maintenance on the cars. Neither 
my Morris Minor nor my Truimph Spitfire were winter troupers. So when it 
came time to buy another car, I sold the Spitfire for $250 and bought 
this $450 Corvair from the dealer.

It had 40,000 + miles and felt awfully big to me (I know I scraped a 
post because it seemed so wide), but it started every day and needed 
only one repair - the generator bracket gave way and required a 
replacement unit. It never even threw a belt or lost a belt! I loved the 
manual top, found the 4 speed a bit looser than the Spitfire's but 
enjoyed the reliability {the Spit came with a hole in the bell housing, 
so I should have suspected some rough use}.

In late '69, my draft board set me aside "in case of national emergency" 
and let me go to grad school instead. So the Corvair got packed up and 
took me to Ohio where it ran flawlessly some more. One weekend, I felt 
very, very homesick and drove straight through to Cape Cod - shocking my 
folks. I spent part of a day walking the beach and then drove it back to 
Ohio. The following year, my then-fiance announced she really couldn't 
drive the car [most of the time she just rode around in 2nd gear] and 
couldn't I get something else? Lust won over and I wound up with a VW 
instead.

What I always remembered was the lines of the EM with the top down, the 
steady ride and the fun of oversteer - better than the swing axle 
handling of the Spitfire.

I stayed with British cars only until this September when I purchased a 
$500 '66 Monza 110 hp 4 speed Coupe. I'm only the second owner; the 
first owner had it purchased new for her by her father in 1966 and gave 
me the receipt to prove it. $2275 for car, the push button AM radio and 
the spare tire lock. In 1966, my Morris Minor cost me $250, all I could 
afford. Funny, $500 was all I could afford last month :).

Jeff Aronson
Vinalhaven, ME
 



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