<VV> Mike McKeel

[airvair]

I've probably known him longer than just about anyone in CORSA. Met him
at the first convention in Chicago in '71. I was in my '67 convertable
(which I had just bought Easter weekend that year (and STILL have),
cruising up thru the hotel parking lot on my way to the autocross. This
guy's walking down the sidewalk, and stops to ask if I'm going to the
autocross. I said, "sure, hop in." No sooner than his butt hits the seat
than he cries out "This car's got AIR CONDITIONING!!!" It was the first
a/c Corvair he'd ever seen. (We still laugh over it.) I found out that
he lived only three hours away from me in Michigan, and we've been
friends ever since.

Mike's indeed a great guy. One of the best Corvair mechanics above
ground, even if he's (literally) half-blind. You can always recognize
him at conventions, as he's usually working on someone's car. Walks
around with a ball cap bill pulled over his face and long sleeves on
(sun protection) in the heat of the summer. Oh, yes, he has his
idiosyncrasies (don't we all) and they're maybe not as obvious as
Charlie Dye. But as he and I are fond of saying, there isn't a Corvair
person out there that isn't at least one brick shy of a load. LOL!

Incidentally, if any of you would like a project car or need parts, he
specializes in LM a/c and 4door cars. But you'll probably have to travel
to Gaston (just outside of Muncie), Indiana to pick them up. His place
has more Corvairs on it than (in my estimation) the Corvair Ranch, but I
haven't been able to talk him into starting a mail-order business.

It's great to see him get some publicity. One good reason for watching
PBS.

-Mark Corbin

Corvair6t5 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Just to give you all a heads-up who know Mike McKeel, a local PBS station
> did a short feature on Mike for the show "Across Indiana". The camera crew
> joined us on our fall tour through southern Indiana and Kentucky. Click here to
> view: _http://wfyi.org/wvx/AIND.1705.3.wvx_
> (http://wfyi.org/wvx/AIND.1705.3.wvx)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Pat B.
> Circle City Corvairs, Indianapolis
>