<VV> Import Carlisle Report

Mon May 23 00:39:28 EDT 2005

Wow, it sure looks exceptionally clean and straight!  It was a good find, 
for sure, but the yellow parts are awful.  What was the owner thinking?
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Elliott" <Corvair at fnader.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Cc: <RedBat01 at aol.com>; <toschwartz at att.net>
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 10:29 AM
Subject: <VV> Import Carlisle Report

> So you ask why a report on an import car show NOT being marked off topic 
> on VirtualVairs? Well, I'll tell
> you....
>
> First, I drove up my Tatra 2/603 to the meet, it's first extended outing. 
> (For those of you that are
> unfamiliar with it, it uses a rear-mounted aircooled hemi head V8 with a 
> 4speed transaxle with a rear
> swing arm suspension) . http://fnader.com/images/Tatra/
>
> With the exception of a strange grinding noise that the front disc brakes 
> developed, it performed
> flawlessly and got a great deal of attention, with many folks remarking 
> that had GM built a full-size
> Corvair, they were sure it would be similar in concept. (Many "wow, 
> wouldn't Nader have had a field day
> with THIS car" comments as well! )
>
> So then I'm walking along the quattros...and there at the end (parked just 
> at the edge of spectator
> parking) is Tim Schwartz's beautiful Greenbrier which is getting more 
> attention than the cars that are
> actually IN the show! (This is not the first time I've bumped into Tim at 
> a non-Corvair show... he showed
> up with ANOTHER nice 95 at the National Microcar meet in Georgia a couple 
> years ago...where his
> Corvair got high levels of attention as well!)  And Al Lacki was with him, 
> one of the first times I've met Al in
> person. Great to bump into Corvair guys at these types of shows!
>
> In my experience, the import cars guys really do recognize and appreciate 
> the Corvair much more than
> your average American car fan.
>
> Anyway, the REAL story is not about me, but my wife. Some of you may 
> recall that out of the blue  a few
> years ago Marianne decided she wanted a late model Corvair convertible 
> (instead of a late model BMW
> convertible she had her eye on) despite the fact she'd never really spent 
> much time driving my other
> Corvairs. Well, a similar thing happened again...
>
> We're walking through the car corral (where I was meeting a friend of a 
> friend to look at his Ginetta G20
> he had brought up from TN to sell... turns out I knew the guy myself as he 
> was a Berkeley and Mini
> Cooper owner as well...really small world sometimes...) and we walk past 
> one of the nicest VW Westies
> I've ever seen. It was an early model, low bumper '71 model that, except 
> for a recent coat of paint and
> yellow bumpers, was nearly perfectly original in appearance. It bugged me 
> that I knew this VW from
> somewhere, but couldn't place it.
>
> My wife and stepdaughter have a big trip around the US planned for next 
> summer... sort of a month of
> driving around the country together before Katherine heads off to 
> college... and she'd been trying to
> figure out how to do it. Rent a car and stay at hotel? Drive our truck and 
> tent camp, tow a small trailer
> with her '67 vert, etc.  We had discussed an Ultravan (too big), a 
> Greenbriar, etc... but nothing really hit
> her...until she saw this Westy.
>
> Now she had not really considered something like a Westy because of the 
> lack of power (especially in
> the old vans) and the fact she really didn't like the modern ones.  But as 
> we walk around this one, I open
> the engine compartment and IMMEDIATELY recognize where I knew it from... 
> it's John Moody's Westy
> that he bought NEW in Germany, drove around Europe (including the '72 
> Munich Olympics), imported
> and drove here, then professionally converted to Corvair power/PG in the 
> late 80's. I had no idea that
> John had sold it while I was living in the midwest (and it was camouflaged 
> even more by the fact the guy
> had painted the bumpers bright yellow!)
>
> Well, as the seller laid out the documentation John had provided, showed 
> all of the redunant spares and
> manuals John had equipped the van with for reliable touring (John is the 
> consummate engineer) , and
> knowing the performance and reliability that the Corvair drivetrain added 
> to the VW, it became very clear
> to Marianne that this was EXACTLY what she wanted to use for her trip (and 
> likely for more local family
> camping use as well).
>
> After a period of extended discussion between Marianne and Katherine via 
> cell, extended discussions
> with the seller (a professional racing crew memeber), the recognization 
> that he had really not modified
> anything John had done, but only worked on the cosmetics and had only put 
> 4000 miles on it, the deal
> was done... with me _just_ outbidding a classic car dealer that also 
> wanted it (the guy even gave me his
> card to let me know he'd sell it to me... at a profit of course....)
>
> Anyway, the yellow bumpers have to go and the engine could use a bit of 
> detailing, but I'm very excited
> about the new family member! And while I haven't spoken to John yet, I'll 
> bet he'll be happy that the VW
> has returned to the Corvair "fold"...
>
> http://fnader.com/images/VW_Westy/
>
> Guess I'll need to buy some sandals and some tie-dye... ;-)
>
> Bill Elliott
> Urbana, MD
> ps... did I mentioned I scored a premier Fall Carlisle swap space out of 
> the deal as well?
>
>
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