<VV> Corvairs and Their Appeal (was lack of)

[cfm]

agreed, great topic...
its not THAT difficult to find mechanics, parts, for the Corvair. come on... If you seek you will find.. The aftermarket parts stores will cater to the demand, and lately parts for classic cars and their demands are in the domestic V-8's of the 60's 70's etc. Anyone who is serious into their cars will seek out specialists no matter what the engine or transmission.
I just spoke to my "everyday" mechanic about my Corvair, and he was not intimidated by it. I mean the suspension is rocket science, neither are the brakes. So yeah, the engine is a little different but at least it doesn't have a radiator to repair, or a water pump to fail, or heater core that goes bad. She's a simple car, period, anyone (even me) can figure some things out. And when I can't, I lean on all of you guys for help, JUST AS any other collector in any other hobby would.
appeal and Corvairs... I'm 35 got into it at 18, loves the big blocks, muscle, etc, etc. but how can a young person get into that expensive game? hardly, for that matter the market has gone so gang busters, that some of the older gents can rationalize the prices they are pushing.
the corvair appeals to me because its not the "norm" and its an affordable, smart hobby, keeps me out of trouble. :)
I associate the Corvair with energy conservation as of late. Gm was innovative but lacked the timing, obviously.
If I were to speculate on the classic car market, my take on it is that the muscle car fad will come and go. And the next generation (us youngings) I think will be aiming at cars like the Corvair, early japanese imports (like Datsun, toyota, etc), and other 70's,80's performance cars NOT associated with Detroit. The appeal in the future might just be that the younger (earthy, green types, save the planet (kind of)) types will embrace early examples of inexpensive, fuel efficient performance cars to preserve and make the classic car market shift again, just as it did from the 50's classics, to the 60's classics. But not it looks as though the shift went back to the 50's recently. And if it doesn't, i don't care, I still like my car.
What kind of demand is there for domestic cars of the 20's, 30's, 40's? I mean your typical restored car of that area might pull in the teens. I know there are some unique ones of course that are the exception to the rule, but that exists in anything really. and many of those seem to turn into rat rods, or hot rods, in lieu of a stock example. Bear in mind, I acknowledge I may have grossly generalized here but the point remains, classic car interests and markets shift interest all the time.
Some of us as owners, just want the respect, some of us want to speculate and believe our time is going to come. Maybe it will, but just being faithful to our hobby and the legacy of the Corvair itself is all I need. We are for the most part, the exceptions, and rightfully so, the Corvair was too.
Chris Mann
69 monza cpe 140/4


"Jeffrey B. Aronson" <jrh at foxislands.net> wrote: Nice thread, everyone. I think what really hinders the Corvair is that 
GM spent too much time marketing it as an economy car. By the time that 
its marketing changed, American sports coupes became associated with the 
higher horsepower pony cars.

So it's hard for the "pose-with-my-car" crowd to get fired up about the 
Corvair. When they're seen with a Mustang or Chevelle, onlookers assumes 
they must have driven them hard when they were younger, or wish they 
grew up with 350 hp cars instead of Toyotas - and the owners preen.

In actuality, everyone of any age with a Corvair is a driver by 
definition - the one defining characteristic of the car is that they 
handle brilliantly. People who don't admire great handling will never be 
attracted to the Corvair, and as enthusiasts, we're better off for it.

Jeff Aronson
Vinalhaven, ME

The most interesting comment comes from Lon Wall in the Corvair Basics 
book. Lon notes that he is "lazy" and "hates to work on cars" (an 
exaggeration, I'm sure). A Corvair will run and run and run with the 
smallest amount of maintenance. No, it's not running well nor is it good 
for the car, but these are not finicky cars. They seem to keep running 
despite neglect. So they're great choices for those owners who just want 
a handsome, stylish car to show off, too.

 _______________________________________________
This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are the property
of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, mailto:vv-help at corvair.org
This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, http://www.corvair.org/
Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs 
 _______________________________________________