<VV> Fwd: What's it worth?

judynrandy at comcast.net judynrandy at comcast.net
Mon Jan 5 20:08:50 EST 2015


. 

----- Original Message -----

From: judynrandy at comcast.net 
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org 
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 1:27:44 PM 
Subject: What's it worth? 

"What's it worth? " is a 'relative' term.  It all depends on what you want.  Throughout the course of the many cruise-ins I go to every summer, that is what I tell the interested person who questions me about my car.  I tell them, "the first thing you need to do is determine "what do you want and why do you want it?"  All of my Corvairs are daily drivers and everything about each car is approached from that angle.  What's it worth?  To me,  a great running daily driver Corvair is priceless.  And I, for one, am thankful the value hasn't gone up.  That means guys like me can afford to own and drive one.  If you want a car for value, buy a '57 Chevy ragtop and leave the 'vairs alone.  I bought my first Corvair in 1981.  A '65 Monza ragtop with 95/pg.  I drove it all over the USA until an older fella pulled out in front of me.  But I was hooked. It had 55,000 miles on it and I paid $800 for it.  In 2008, after my wife Judy's heart transplant, when I could own old cars again, I asked the Lord for a white '63 ragtop with red interior, low hp engine, and gas mileage gears. (3:27's)  Long story short, a little later I went to a local GM dealer for something, and guess what I just happened to notice hiding under a ton of grime in a back corner of their shop?  You guessed it.  As an added bonus it had 48,000 miles on it and came with a power top!  Last driven in 1981!!  I paid $2000 for it even though it needed a ton of TLC and paint. To me it was a steal!!!   In 2009 I found a '65 Monza 4dr with 45,000 original miles on it. Also, last driven in 1981!!!!  Stored in some warehouse somewhere all those years.  A true little old lady and old man car.  I found the paperwork in the glovebox to prove it.  And what did I pay? $900!!!  As a mechanic by trade, I thoroughly go over each vehicle guaranteeing that it is mechanically sound, safe, and roadworthy. Then drive the wheels off of it.  My crowning achievement along those lines is our '60 700 4dr. with 69,000 miles on it.  But it sat somewhere a long time. We nicknamed it "Rusty".  I upgraded it to include a 4spd trans/ '64 diff, Spyder dash, and a '64' 110 w/headers.  It is a blast to drive and I enjoy it immensely!!  Now I can truthfully say...."Car payment?  what's a car payment?"  and "crank sensor? what's a crank sensor?"  I have no idea how much was actually sunk into each vehicle. But I do know that it was FAR LESS than a car payment every month!!!  To me, the fun factor is what it's all about.  The only large investment in any of them was a couple grand for a paint job for the ragtop. (half the white lacquer paint had fallen off) The other two are both original.  To date, from 2008, I have driven over 96,000 miles between the 3 of them.  I'm going to keep on driving them until my health fails or I can't get the parts anymore. Again, what's it worth?.......... as I said,.......to me, they are priceless!!!      LONG LIVE THE CORVAIR!!!!!!!! 
  
Randy (Cap'n) Hook 
'60 700 4dr  '64'110/4spd 
'63 '500' ragtop 110/pg 
'65 Monza 4dr 84/pg 



More information about the VirtualVairs mailing list