<VV> Corvairs in the News

[Scott Morehead]

Lynden event celebrates 50th anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvair

MICHELLE NOLAN - FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD 

LYNDEN - Jim Veale remembers the day in 1986
when he saw a 1962 Corvair on sale for $300 as he drove along Mount Baker
Highway.

He was 18, just out of Ferndale High School, and seemingly way too young to
remember the 1960s heyday of the innovative Chevrolet car. But he grew up
tinkering with his grandfather's several Corvairs, sometimes dubbed the
"poor man's Porsche," and he knew he had to have that car.

Veale, now a 41-year-old mechanic at Hinton Chevrolet-Buick, still has that
Corvair, polished to a fare-thee-well. He owns two other Corvairs as well. 

PHILIP A. DWYER | THE
BELLINGHAM HERALD

Two of Veale's cars will be among as many as 50 Corvairs on display Friday, Oct.
2, when Hinton and the North Cascades Corvair Club celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the day the Corvair was unveiled. That was 12 years after Hinton
began selling cars in 1947.

Nearly two million Corvairs were sold during its 1960-69 run.

Lynden's Ron Scholten, 72, who was a Hinton salesman when the Corvair first
appeared and still works part time there, will help with the celebration. The
party will be coordinated by Galen Laird on Hinton's end.

Question: Jim, what made the Corvair so cool?

Answer: It's one of the first American compacts, the first mass-produced
American car with an air-cooled rear engine design, and it's turbo-charged.
It's known as a "flat six," since it has three cylinders on each
bank. A lot of people don't realize how many different types of Corvairs were
produced. There were station wagons, vans and pickups.

Q: Did your friends give you a hard time about owning a car first bought by
parents of baby boomers?

A: Not really. I just wanted something completely different, something unique.
Friends would just sort of look at it and ask me, "What kind of car is
this?" My generation had no clue what kind of car it was.

Q: Were you the only kid you knew with a Corvair?

A: I had a buddy, Ray Langley, who also had a Corvair. He still has the car
he had when I was 18. Now he has another Corvair, too, and he'll be here at
Hinton to celebrate the anniversary.

Q: Ron, what are your memories of the public's reaction to the Corvair?

A: The public thought it was great and liked the new design. It was
air-cooled, so you didn't need a radiator or antifreeze, and there was no
drivetrain.

Q: When Ralph Nader wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed," attacking the
Corvair in the 1960s, what was the local reaction?

A: People disagreed with that. The people who had a Corvair here were
satisfied.

Q: Ron, could you imagine that, 50 years later, you'd be part of a Corvair
celebration?

A: I wouldn't have thought I would, but it really is a privilege to be here
during the anniversary of the Corvair.

Michelle Nolan is a freelance writer.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

What: Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the Chevrolet
Corvair.

When: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2.

Where: Hinton Chevrolet-Buick, 8139 Guide Meridian, in Lynden.

Extra: Dozens of Corvairs will be on display, with help from the North
Cascades Corvair Club, and refreshments will be available.

Details: 354-2129.