<VV> Greenbrier Hotel--Corvair content

Wrsssatty at aol.com Wrsssatty at aol.com
Thu Mar 19 14:44:16 EDT 2009


As a native West Virginian I can tell you that West Virginians are  
justifiably proud of the Greenbrier resort and understandably concerned with its  fate 
given the current financial hardship.  The Charleston, West Virginia  papers 
yesterday reported that Gov. Manchin had even approached Donald Trump  about 
rescuing the Greenbrier.  
 
Corvair content, "back in the day" the Greenbrier was a favorite haunt of  GM 
executives, etc.  It was at a meeting there that they unveiled one of  the 
first of the Spyder convertibles before either convertibles or the  Spyder 
option was available to the general public.  The car stayed  behind as the property 
of the hotel manager and stayed at the resort for many  years to come.  Allen 
Bristow, in the '90s, acquired that car, which  was still at the Greenbrier, 
and had it painstakingly restored.  You may  have seen it at conventions.  I 
know it was at the '99 Virginia Vair  Fair.  I recall seeing it for the first 
time at that event's Museum open  house (that was when the Corvair Museum was 
in Virginia).  If memory serves  me correctly, Allen had a display with the car 
that featured some photos of the  car's history at the Greenbrier resort.  
Allen also had the car in  Lexington in '04.  He put it in the People's 
Choice/Car Display there as he  felt he hadn't had time to prep it properly for 
Concours.  It's red/red  with distinct white striping over the trunk and hood.  
Also, as the story  goes, our Corvair Greenbrier's name was chosen by Chevy 
management as an homage  to the Greenbrier resort, hence the spelling of the name.
 
~Bill Stanley
**************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store?  Make dinner for $10 or 
less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001)


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