<VV> A Visit With Phoenix Charlie

[vairtec at optonline.net]

>From the December issue of the NJACE "Fanbelt" newsletter: 
------------------

The Low-Down on Phoenix Charlie
(An NJACE Member’s Perspective)
By Steven J Calandra

During my recent trip to Phoenix, Arizona, I chose to go where not too many men have gone before… to see firsthand what all the hubbub was about on the CORSA Communiqué's Open Forum regarding Charlie Dye and his oddly worded advertisements.

After searching for contact information, I got up the nerve to call him, introduced myself as a Corvair enthusiast and asked if he would mind my stopping by to chat awhile. I must say, he was very pleasant and friendly.  We talked at length about parts, repairs, and exchanged a few Corvair breakdown stories.

I asked him about the strange wording on his ads in the Communiqué. He told me he felt going into too much detail would increase the cost of his ads so he chose key words in his description.

While many of us might believe it is better to run one big ad instead of many short cryptic one over and over again under different headings, I decided not to get into that debate because I would rather be tolerant of his point of view and know him as a friend rather than antagonize him.  Who knows, I might need parts from him some day.

I must say he seems like a fairly generous guy to me, he gave me a nice pocket planner, a copy of the Corvair Junkyard Primer and a sample of some of his rust free sheet metal (the rear section of a belly pan for a late model which fit neatly in my suitcase and passed security on the flight home).

Charlie lives in an average house.  His property is not cluttered with Corvairs and parts (like mine), but is kept at a yard about 20 miles away from his home. He’s not some weirdo eccentric waving a commie flag nor do I get the impression that he’s a rip off artist like a
couple guys in the repair and parts business, (who shall remain nameless because we all know who they are). He’s just a 70 year old guy that has a lot of car stories to tell, just like most of us.

It is my opinion that we all need to take the time to understand him.  Think about how you’d feel if you were him the next time you read more scuttlebutt about him.