<VV> Rising price of Corvairs

[Shepard Auto]

I didn't realize that I had sold Cal one of his first Corvairs but I remember the car. It was a pretty solid turquoise '64 Spyder convertible. I know it didn't have the correct engine, but I don't remember if it even had a running engine. I wasn't into early models and wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. I think I advertised it in the Communique. I do remember talking to Cal about his business and the fact that he had been into Porsches and had been getting parts for his friends but they got too expensive so he got involved in Corvairs. It was a real family affair with him, Joan and his father in a farmhouse with a real barn which is where I delivered the car.

I got involved with Corvairs in 1965 when a customer traded a '61 4 door to my father to cover the cost of work he did to the car. I used it to drive to College for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. It was in far North New York and it was very well suited to the ice and snow. The only problem I had was trying to steer it when the snow got too deep. It about 1967 I bought a '63 Greenbrier for $150. I put a queen size mattress in the back and used it for camping until 1979 when I scrapped it because of terminal rust. I remember using it to tow the car to Cal.

Since then I have had a lot of Corvairs. I liked in them because they were interesting from an Engineering standpoint and they were cheap. I also had a Corvette ('66) back then but it got too expensive and wasn't as much fun to drive (I also wrecked it). I've never paid what I consider to be a lot for a Corvair (with one recent exception) and I still manage to wind up with more of them than I can use and turn into projects that I'll probably never finish.  Some of those projects are a '66 CORSA convertible I got while I was working in a garage in Estes Park Colorodo in the summer of 1971 (that's another story). One of the owners went to auctions to buy cars to sell and I asked him to buy me a late model Corvair. He got me a rust free 140 convertible for $120, I still own it (converted to a 180) but it needs a total restoration (another story). I flat towed it back to New York with the Greenbrier. In about 1972 I bought a rusted out '66 Corsa 180 coupe for $150 that I used to convert the convertible. In 1979 I was in Dallas, Texas and paid $400 for a rust free '64 Greenbrier to replace the '63. The prices were going up. I still have it. In 1982 I used it to flat tow the CORSA to my current home in Charlotte, NC. 

Since I've been in North Carolina I've purchased several Corvairs where I thought the price was too good to pass up. I got a '64 Greenbrier "Highway Sleeper" camper conversion van for $150 at an auction, a '66 Corsa 140 coupe plus a race engine for $1500 (currently my fuel injection project), a '65 140/4 45K mile coupe for $500, a solid '64 Greenbrier for $400, a Lakewood for $800 (my wife's car), a '63 convertible for $800, I traded a '79 El Camino for a '63 Spyder (I valued each at about $2500) and I got a '63 Rampside 140/PG for $500. About a year ago I traded a core engine (to go in an airplane) for a nice '61 4 door just like my first Corvair and last week I paid $600 for a running '66 Monza converted to a CORSA  140/4 with about $500 of new parts from Clarks. These are all cars that are complete and running and I intend to keep a few and hope to eventually sell the rest if they don't deteriorate to parts-car status before I get around to it. I didn't mention my '52 Crosley Super Sport ($1200, 1973), '56 Isetta Bubble Top basket case ($300, 2001), my wife's '69 Camaro ($5K, 2008) or my Corvair race cars (don't want to think about the $ in them).

I'm currently looking for a place to keep all these projects. I figure if I'm lucky I'll have another 15 years to work on them. My wife is probably right that I'm crazy. 

I'm happy to see that the price of the prime (or supposedly prime) Corvairs has increased along with everything else but I don't think it has kept up with a lot of the other brands (except for aberations like the $115 K Yenko). I hope they do keep increasing in price, that way I won't have to buy any more. Once they get to 5 figures I am out of the market for sure.

Spence Shepard
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