<VV> Longest trip in a Corvair? (kinda long)
Thesuperscribe at cs.com
Thesuperscribe at cs.com
Tue May 31 09:44:05 EDT 2005
Okay, I see that we're including trips taken when Corvairs were almost
current, so I'll throw in my excursions (if you'll pardon the word) in my '62 Monza
coupe (Hondouras red with a black interior) while I was in the Army in '65-66.
In July '65 I drove the 'Vair from Milwaukee to Ft. Knox, Ky., caravaning
with two Marquette U. ROTC friends (one had a '55 Ford Crestline sedan that had
taken us to Ft. Riley, Kan., and back the previous summer). Army medics found I
had high blood pressure and sent me to Walter Reed hospital in D.C. for
evaluation. I flew from Knox's airfield to Andrews AFB in a Lockheed Super Connie
hospital plane operated by the North Carolina Air Guard -- a smooth flight --
and when I learned that I'd be there for three weeks I got permission to return
to Knox to retrieve my car so's I'd be mobile while in D.C. I don't remember
how I got from D.C. to Knox, but....
I drove the 'Vair from Knox to D.C. via U.S. 60 because on the map it
appeared to form a more direct route than if I had gone north to pick up the
turnpikes. But, heh heh, the shorter way isn't always the quickest. Hwy. 60 was a
mostly two-lane trek through mountains. Much of the U.S. at that time was still
without Interstate highways and if anyone pines for a return to the good ol'
days of the scenic old roads, they should've been with me on that trip.
As a Wisconsin boy I had never driven in mountains and was astounded that
they twisted and turned over and over. I had started out shortly after midnight
so at first was driving in darkness and sometimes fog, and it was as though the
twisty pavement was being unraveled before me in some kind of mad dream.
"When is this road going to straighten out?!" I wondered. It never did until I got
near D.C., or when I occasionally came on short stretches of I-64 that was
then being built through this region. Then I would jump on and barrel along at
80 per, trying to make up lost time.
Much of the time I was in 3rd gear (of course the Monza had a 4-speed) either
climbing or drifting downgrade. Some uphill stretches of 60 had passing lanes
and I recall racing an older red Ford F3 (or somesuch) truck with a
flatbed/stakeside body; it had a V-8 and we stayed pretty much side by side except in
sharp corners where one or the other had a shorter path and darted ahead. This
went on for a half hour. I finally left him behind on a downhill stretch and
he must've turned off and disappeared.
When I was released from Walter Reed, I returned to Knox via the faster,
easier northern route. But I remember nothing about that trip. Maybe the good ol'
two-laners really were.
The Army in its wisdom sent this young Armor second lieutenant to Ft.
Monmouth, N.J., a Signal Corps post where I had a mostly boring desk job at the Army
Satellite Communications Agency (they don't have any tanks in orbit, so my
Armor training won't be much help here, I groused). From Monmouth I drove often
to New York City (for free Broadway shows courtesy of the USO, to Rahway, N.J.
(for Sunday dinners with an aunt and uncle) and probably a dozen jaunts to
D.C. (to visit a college friend; I loved Washington as it was in '65-66) and Ft.
Lee, Va. (to visit other ROTC friends). One buddy set me up with a southern
belle from Petersburg and we hit it off, so I drove several times from Joisey to
Virginia to date her.
The northen legs of these trips were always via the Jersey Turnpike where the
speed limit was 60 but everyone in the fast lane went 75 or more. I tried to
cruise at 80 and the 'Vair's 102 horses were entirely up for it, but on at
least two trips I was tailed by a big white Cadillac with burning headlamps
driven by a mysterious curly headed guy who wanted to go faster. I'd try to outrun
him but invariably had to let him by.
When I went into the Army the 'Vair had already covered about 45,000 miles,
and I figure I added 15,000 in all those trips, and it never faltered. By the
time I was transfered from Monmouth to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, it was
into the mid 60s and still very reliable. It really was a good car.
Before shipping out for Vietnam, I sold the 'Vair to a sergeant in the unit
whose family needed an extra car. He got me to come down from my asking price
of $1,100 because, "Well, you know, Lieutenant, there's been some bad publicity
about these cars in that book." I figured that Ralph Nader had cost me about
$200 (I sold it for $900).
Before leaving for 'Nam I flew home for a week's leave. The day I returned to
Fort Sam, unit members were gathered outside our little HQ building and up
drives the 'Vair, which I had always kept cleaned and shined, but it was now
dusty and battered. "Oh, my CAR!" I mentally wailed. The sergeant explained that
his 16-year-young son had been driving the 'Vair when it was sideswiped by
another car. Sure, I thought. But then, "Well, it's not my car anymore," and I
forgot about it.
When I returned home to Milwaukee in July of '67, I had to buy a car and
considered another Corvair. But I decided, "Naw, I'll get something a little
bigger and more comfortable." That was a '65 Mustang. So I suppose I was a small
part of the reason for the Corvair's demise.
--Tom Berg
'64 Monza convertible
Bonsall, Calif.
***
In a message dated 5/30/2005 3:38:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
whubbell at cox.net writes:
>
> About 3600 miles, round trip from Michigan to Yellowstone, Utah, Colorado,
> etc., in "Jenny", the '65 Corvair 4-door, with my brother Bob, back in 1976.
>
> Broke a door hinge at a gas station in South Dakota (replaced with a part
> from a junkyard in Rapid City), failed oil pressure gauge, ammeter, head
> temp gauges (all cheap JC Whitney), broke the speedometer cable and ripped
> off the fuel gauge sending wire going over Beartooth pass (first day it
> opened - no chains on the car). Arrived at Yellowstone with the Monza clock
>
> as only working instrument! In Utah lost all power at night on lonely
> desert road -- turned out to be a loose battery cable.
>
> The trunk, the folded down back seat and an attached car top carrier covered
>
> with a blue and yellow canvas tarp were all filled to the brim with our
> camping gear, clothes, etc. We camped the whole trip - sometimes just slept
>
> outside the car on the ground, under the stars. Visited the Badlands, Mt.
> Rushmore, Yellowstone, Tetons, Several National Parks in Utah, toured the
> Coors Brewery in Golden Colorado --- all the time while listening to Rock &
> Roll and Country music on a car-powered portable stereo and a couple of
> smaller floor speakers stuck in the back seat.
>
> Overall, one of the best trips of my life!!!!!
>
> Bill Hubbell
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