<VV> Dave Newell weighs in on the Japanese Corvair

[wrsssatty at aol.com]

I reached out to Dave Newell about the Japanese Corvair.  His response appears below my signature line.
~Bill Stanley
<It's an ID tag for a Corvair (or any 
Chevy or Holden) sold in Japan by Taiyo Automobile Company Ltd, one of the Chevy 
distributors in Japan in the 1960s. The tag would identify the car as one of 
Taiyo's, for warranty and after-sale service.
 
There were several GM distributors in Japan in the '60s: Yanase, Taiyo and 
Seibu, all publishing their own brochures. Yanase goes back to 1916 as a 
Chevrolet distributor in Japan and continued until 2002 when their rights were 
transferred to GM Japan. But they're still a megadealer there. Corvairs were 
sold in Japan from 60-69 and at least one '69 was imported.  
 
I first heard about this car back in 2006. The car's owner, Mike Miller, had the 
tag translated by a friend and so did Kent Sullivan. The three unstamped pads at 
the top of the tag are for model #, Control # and  and Vehicle number. October 
1964 would be the "Receiving" date but I'll bet it's the delivery date. The 
translations varied some. Mike believed that the car was purchased used in Japan 
by US serviceman Calvin F. Kennedy who had it shipped back to the US.
 
The line on the plate in large bold font is the Taiyo Automobile Company name, 
and the five lines below it are addresses & phone numbers for their branches in 
Tokyo (sales), Tokyo (service), Nagoya, Osaka and Yokohama 
 
I was never able to get an answer from Mike or Ned about any other differences 
in the car, especially if it had a metric speedometer or not. I'm not aware of 
any other differences in Japanese-sold Corvairs. Some Chevys, notably 67-69 
Camaros & 68-69 Chevelles had to have extra amber turn signals installed on the 
front but apparently Corvair lighting passed Japanese laws as-is. The Fisher tag 
shows that this car had the seat belt delete option.
 
The VV post about the car asked if the tag would 
increase it's value. A kilo speedo might add a little interest but otherwise I'd  
say no, I don't think the tag would.

[As for] my 
ancient book's article about foreign Corvairs[, m]y article didn't include Japan 
because the article was primarily about Corvairs assembled overseas. I've never 
found Japanese sales figures for any Chevrolet models sold in Japan.

I have three different '64 Japanese Chevy brochures, from Taiyo & Seibu, and 
several '63s from Taiyo, Seibu & Yanase. Plus various others from 62-69 but so 
far haven't unearthed any from 60 or 61 though I have Japanese car magazines 
with Corvair articles from those years.>