<VV> Corvair Value - Jay Leno "influence"

[Tony Underwood]

>
>
>
>Anyway, explain to me why a Corvair - any Corvair, except, maybe, the Monza
>  GT or SS - should bring more than $10,000. Would the person who pays more
>than  that be more likely to join a Corvair Club, or bring their car out to
>a meeting,  or autocross their car -(showing it's better traits)?  I only
>hope  they lose their shirts on the deal - again, not speaking of the
>cheerleader,  here - just the speculator.
>



I keep noticing people at local shows who bring out cars that are 
never seen except at those shows.   Not just Corvairs but other marques.

I saw one guy with a meticulously detailed vintage Packard who was SO 
proud of the car but never even started it, just wenched it onto and 
off of the enclosed trailer it rode around inside, to and from.   I 
asked him if he ever actually drove it anywhere and he said 
"Never.  If I drive it anywhere it will lose value."

I simply said "OK" and smiled and moved on.

In my opinion, his car is a worthless collection of shiny parts which 
serves no useful purpose other than to be shown off like a trophy 
wife, with no reason to exist other than to please its owner and 
acquire monetary net value among those who would never drive it in 
the first place.   It has ceased to be a car and is now a piece of 
unwearable jewelry that stays under lock and key 95% of the time.

And that's sad.

My hat goes off to the fellow who owns that million-dollar '63 
Ferrari 250 GTO who races it in vintage car races in Britain and runs 
it HARD, stating up front that those cars were intended to be raced 
not hoarded and he runs it with full intention of winning every race 
in which it participates.   If it doesn't win, "...It's not going to 
be because the car was mollycoddled."   I watched one race on tv in 
which this same car ran, and it ended up swapping some paint in a 
tight corner with another vintage racer (Maserati, I think) which, 
with the same determination as the GTO's driver, insisted upon 
getting through the corner first.   The GTO was on the outside and 
came out on the short end of that stick and ended up sliding off the 
track and into a ditch and got bent up.   Afterwards, comments were 
that the car would get replacement sheet metal and restored and raced 
again, because "That is its purpose.  Anything else is a waste of its 
existence."

I also still remember the local chapter member here who drove a 
modified white '65 Monza coupe (license plate "65 Z-28") to the 
Asheville convention and entered it in Concours in 'Modified' class 
and got 2nd place... and all he did was hose it off after pulling 
into the host motel parking lot.

Sure, it's not a 75 year old Packard but it did still provide driving 
enjoyment as well as taking home a trophy from the Nats.


I'm not really condemning anybody who builds (or buys) a Hanger 
Queen.   I just have a differing opinion and viewpoint of what a 
vintage car is supposed to be.   A lot of those cars in some shows 
won't even run; pushed to where they're shown and then pushed back 
into car carriers.  (Not the cars at Pebble Beach- THEY have to drive 
through the reviewing stands ;) )


The Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay" in the Smithsonian aerospace museum wing 
at the airport is fully functional, operational, airworthy, and 
flyable.   It was not intended to be a hanger queen although its 
actual chances of being flown anywhere are slim and few and far 
between.  But, it CAN be flown anywhere, having been not just 
cosmetically restored but FULLY rebuilt, avionics, mechanicals, 
everything.   Like those cars at Pebble Beach... ;)   It's all in the 
eyes of who did the work and what they expected of the end result.

If I was somehow in a position to INHERIT a vintage show car that was 
worth a small fortune but was not roadworthy, I'd not rest until it 
WAS.  Such a non-operable showpiece would hang in my craw, simply 
because it was in my opinion incomplete unless it worked.


Sure did go off on a tangent here... when the topic was, for all 
intents and purposes, "Is any Corvair worth 10 grand?"   Sure, 
certainly, to someone somewhere.  But not to me because I can't 
afford to drop 10K on a Corvair no matter if it was '69 #6000.   Oh I 
would if I could.   If I could afford it I'd pop 10K easy for Allen's 
Stinger... which IMHO is sure worth a good bit more.  ;)

But I bet that car gets driven.

Here's to driving through the reviewing stand at Pebble Beach... ;)



tony..