<VV> "They Care about Corvair" - all

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/29/2005 5:20:53 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
sheridanma at adelphia.net writes:

There is  a nice article in today's Columbus Dispatch. It was pointed out to 
me at  the barber shop. Here is the link, but if you want to read the rest of 
it,  they want $4.95. I just stole that section from the barber  shop:o).




They didn't mention anything so I copied it:
 

 
They care about Corvair
Maligned 1960s compact car still loved by collectors 
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Mark Ellis 
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH 
 


1960 Chevy Corvair   
Among the casualties of the 1960s were the flattop haircut, the  Nehru jacket 
and the Chevrolet Corvair.  
Of those, only the Corvair has a national preservation society, formed in  
1969 as sales dimmed to 6,000 and the marque went meekly to its graveyard.  
The Corvair Society of America has 5,200 members, including 29 loyalists in  
the Mid Ohio Vair Force.  
A few of the collectors took a recent trip from Columbus to Portland, Ore.,  
for a national convention. They went by train. But they don’t think the  
rearengine Corvair was "unsafe at any speed," as it has become known. The car is  
seventh on the www.forbes.com list of "ultimate dud cars"and was nominated as  
‘‘worst car of the millennium" by columnist Ray Magliozzi.  
"Most of us are very proud of it," said Bob Martzo, 69, of Reynoldsburg. "I’m 
 perfectly willing to give someone a ride in my car and show them how it doesn
’t  roll over."  
Rollover was a problem highlighted by consumer advocate Ralph Nader in his  
1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, but the scale of public opinion may have been  
tipped by hype.  
Sure, the first chapter is called "The Sporty Corvair: The ‘One-Car’  
Accident," but that’s the only chapter on the Corvair, and it recounts how  General 
Motors corrected the problem for 1964 models (prompted by dozens of  
lawsuits).  
The car was also knocked for a rigid steering-wheel column that could impale  
drivers and an exhaust system that allowed noxious gases to seep inside.  
"I liked the styling," Martzo said. ‘‘I think it was very advanced for its  
time."  
He bought his first in 1964. He drove it until 1970, and, well, "Actually I  
blew the engine on it."  
The next year he bought a used 1966 Corvair Coupe. He still has that and two  
others — a 1961 Greenbrier window van and a 1965 convertible.  
Steve Krzykoski, who collected "14 or 15" Corvairs in the 1970s, has two left 
 (1962 Monza station wagon, 1965 Corsa Coupe). About a quarter of collectors 
have  Corvairs that still run, said the Dublin resident, 62.  
"It was just a totally different engineering approach to the automobile," he  
said. "It was kind of the American Volkswagen."  
Some of the cars tended to leak oil and smoke, and body rust "was a big  
problem," he said. "Like any car in the past, it just got old and did strange  
things.  
"I’m not sure the public remembers it that much."  
end of article 
I hope you enjoyed some of it. Dud Car? - Hey - Car talk is a comedy  show! 
Seth  Emerson
Sethracer at aol.com
C's the day! Corvair, Camaro,  Corvette