<VV> Was GM cars in Europe

Tue Aug 20 14:38:02 EDT 2013

I do not qualify for your study either! Servicemen in Vietnam were able to purchase cars while there.  I did not because I already had a Corvair and VW.  However, my brother purchased a 69 Dodge Dart GTS and picked it up in Alexandria, VA.  On his way home to Alabama, he earned three speeding tickets and lost his clutch.  Being a country boy, he knew how to shift sans clutch.

There is another Corvair on its way to Germany.  My Greenbrier was recently shipped to Ulli Dittmar of Germany. Did Elvis drive a Army issue Corvair while in Germany? Ray Davis

P Think Green! Please do not print this e-mail unless absolutely necessary.

> From: Sethracer at aol.com
> Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 13:24:20 -0400
> To: ivrbr at yahoo.com; virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: <VV> GM cars in Europe
> 
> Irv - I don't qualify for your study. We weren't able to buy cars and ship  
> them home from Vietnam.<grin> I did, however see a Corvair in Vietnam. It  
> was a late 4-door, painted dark blue with white lettering on the door,  
> identifying it as a Navy vehicle. When I saw it, it was parked in  front of the 
> USO club in Saigon. When I was working in Antwerp, Belgium, in the  
> mid-70's, I learned that GM produced American cars at various  locations in Europe. 
> Corvairs were produced at a plant in Antwerp. I visited the  plant and there 
> was no sign of anything resembling a Corvair. They were, at the  time, 
> producing Opels for the European market and Vauxhalls for the British  market. 
> Before leaving, I had a friend buy the instrument panel and  the MFG ID plate 
> from a 1966, Antwerp-built Monza that I found in  a Junkyard there. The 
> plate was given to Dave Newell for his "collection" And  the 0-200 (KPH) speedo 
> went to Canada a number of years ago. I think I still  have the Kilo 
> Odometer - different gears. I also saw two Corvairs in Belgium, an  early 4-door 
> parked/abandoned by a charter bus company out in the country, and a  running 
> 63-64 coupe that was entering the highway just as I had exited the same  
> highway. I also saw an early-model Corvair on the street in Yokohama, Japan in  
> 1969. 
>  
> As to your premise about the Classic cars in Europe being remnants of the  
> GI purchases? Maybe some are, but the Europeans have been importing Big  
> Iron from the US for many years. The new Autoweek magazine estimated  that 
> between 5000 and 7000 American cars are exported, just to Sweden, every  year! 
> And lots of those are the 50's and 60's cars that you asked about. Germany  
> might be a little more conservative about letting in those cars. I am sure 
> that  there are several of our European Corsa members who will fill you in on 
> the  rules.
>  
> "Hergestellt" means "constructed" or "made" - According to a "web"  
> translation.
>  
> Seth Emerson
>  
>  
> In a message dated 8/20/2013 5:13:02 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
> ivrbr at yahoo.com writes:
> 
> I am  seeking any firsthand knowledge of our Military Vets who were 
> stationed  overseas especially in Germany during the 70s and were able to purchase 
> the  brand new GM cars directly through the Commissary. I recently found a 
> classic  70s car with a " data plate " that says " Hergestellt " GM Corp. 
> USA. I  remember trips to Europe back in the 70s when I was a child visiting my 
>  Uncles/Aunts and Grandparents and seeing American made cars everywhere in  
> Germany (especially spanking new Vettes, Trans Ams and Mustangs  (Autobahn).
> 
> I'm assuming all the Classic American Cars we see now  in Europe came there 
> that way and the GIs sold them when they shipped back  stateside? I'm 
> wondering if the cars were in any way modified by the factory  for European 
> delivery? Interestingly, my brother was stationed in Japan and  purchased a local 
> righthand drive used Honda Prelude. The Navy couldn't  send it back for him 
> as it didn't meet US DOT requirements. Maybe he  should've bought a Muscle 
> car and shipped it back!
> 
> Irv  Brock
> 65  Corsa 
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