<VV> Corvair Value - Jay Leno "influence"

[Jim Houston]

  What he said!

Jim Houston

On 9/5/2010 10:49 AM, Tony Underwood wrote:
>>
>>
>> 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..
>
>
>
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