<VV> SEMA show / Hershey - Vair content now! + Corvair Ranch

[Alan and Clare Wesson]

I was also pretty unsurprised at the lack of turnout at Hershey this year - 
I reckon that on Wednesday and Thursday it was about 20% down. Friday was a 
bit better, but by Saturday it was getting thin  again. Most people seem to 
go there in large RVs or with covered car haulers behind large pickemups, 
and I have to say that if I owned a vehicle that did 6 mpg and gas was $4 a 
gallon I would probably stop at home too - although by the time I left gas 
had dropped to $3 a gallon (25% in a week - incredible!).

And the number of cars there that had cards in the windshield saying stuff 
like 'must sell car or house; can't live in car so it must go' was really 
amazing. If I had had more funds myself (the pound dropped 25% against the 
dollar in the 2 months prior to Hershey, which was annoying!), there would 
have been some amazing bargains.

There were even some Vairs there, although no stunning bargains. I have 
always been amazed at the low number of Vairs for sale in the corral, on 
show in the concours, and the low number of people selling parts for them at 
Hershey. I have never been able to fathom out quite why this is, unless it 
is simply that our Corvair vendors serve the cars so well that the parts 
simply aren't rare enough for people to need to buy or sell them at flea 
markets.

And talking of our Vendors, I called in to see Jeff at Corvair Ranch on the 
way up there, and it was really great to see him again (I think it's about 8 
years since I last called in!). What a guy! And what an amazing collection 
of parts cars. He made me very welcome, and I recorded an 'English 
gentleman' voicemail message on his daughter's cellphone, which should give 
her friends a laugh ('Ms Stonesifer's butler regrets that Ms Stonesifer is 
unable to respond to your call at present, but she wishes you to know...' 
(etc.)).

I was also pretty impressed at Jeff's shop - as a fellow restorer, but 
generally on a much less ambitious level, I was impressed at the nature and 
quality of the work I saw going on! Jeff is the only Corvair vendor I have 
so far managed to visit, although I have met Lon Wall and Cal Clark at the 
NC Fall Affair. One day I would really like to visit Mr lclc's shop, but as 
he does not live in a direct line between Greensboro, NC and Hershey, PA, 
this could be a problem...

Cheers

Alan




----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Sethracer at aol.com>
To: <kaczmarek at charter.net>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:38 AM
Subject: <VV> SEMA show - Can you believe - no vair


>
> In a message dated 11/11/2008 5:53:53 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> kaczmarek at charter.net writes:
>
> You  should have been at SEMA in Las Vegas last week.
> ALL the tire companies  pulled out.
>
> One of my company's biggest competitors, Soffseal rubber,  that had a 
> space
> twice the size of Steele's, decided they couldn't afford  to send out 
> their
> personnel and equipment, and their space was also  empty.  Very odd 
> indeed.
>
> Hank
>
>
>
>
>
> Almost all of the big tire companies that normally are there, were  there,
> Hank, excepting Michelin. Which ones were you referring to? There were 
> lots of
> them there. I saw the Steele folks. I was going to drop by and tell them 
> what
> a good job you are doing, but they were too busy when I went by. The  show
> looked as crowded as usual to me. There were a few holes in the booth
> landscapes, but not many.
>
> I stopped by the Toyo, Kumho, Yokohama, Nitto, Pirelli, Cooper,  General,
> Dunlop, Sumitomo, Falken, Continental  booths - Michelin  was not there - 
> and
> BFG, a Michelin subsidiary also was absent - but they  weren't there last 
> year
> either! The thrust of the show is mainly to sell to  dealers, after all.
> Goodyear and Firestone/Bridgestone have their dealers. -  Seth
>
>
>
>
>
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