<VV> Re: Longest Trip in a Corvair

[Turbovert at aol.com]

5,069, miles according to MapQuest, is the distance from Farmington,  
Michigan to Anaheim, California, to San Francisco and back to Michigan via  Yosemite, 
Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore.
It was the summer of 1960, and my Dad had purchased what had to be one of  
the first Corvairs off the line at Willow Run, the previous October 2.
I was freshly graduated from 8th grade, and for 3 weeks, my little  brother 
and I saw the USA from the back seat of a 700 4door.
Dad had purchased an aluminum pop-up tent/trailer called a "Heilite", which  
had one swiveling wheel, and 2 1-inch ball hitches. If anybody out there  
remembers these, please get ahold of me offline. 
If the curiosity about the "car with the engine in the back" wasn't  enough 
to start a conversation at the campgrounds and gas stations, the trailer  was a 
sure bet (he hated backing up trailers).
 
We crossed the Great Plains, Rockies, and when it came time to cross  the 
Mojave Desert, Dad could hardly contain himself. He was so excited to be  
crossing the desert in an air-cooled car. He had made the trip earlier in life  in an 
old Plymouth that couldn't go 40 miles without overheating.
Nevertheless, we had the canvas waterbags slung from the side-view mirrors  
like a lot of other people still did then, just in case we got thirsty.
We covered the distance to Disneyland in less than a week, drove up the  
Pacific Coast Highway to visit relatives in Sonoma, and headed back east, via  
every National Park we could find.
I honestly cannot remember one single problem with that car on that trip,  
and it was the beginning of a long string of Corvairs and camping trips   with 
the family that I will never forget.
 
Mike Harrison,
Farmington MI
'65 Turbo/Vert "RALFWHO"