<VV> 1960 SUPER MONZA SHOW CAR

[Tony Underwood]

At 01:07 AM 2/13/2007, Charles Lee at Proper Pro Per wrote:
>Is this the car that someone found in a used car lot, when Bill 
>Mitchell's (?) wife traded it in on a new car ?
>
>Sounds like an urban legend, but I remember something like that.
>
>Dave ?  Are you there ?  Do you recall that story ?
>
>I think it was a pearl pink convert,

That would have been "Pinky", a 1960 prototype convertible.


>with dual turbos,


No turbos on Pinky.   It was pretty much a stock 1960 Corvair except 
for the top and associated odds and ends...  AND a three-speed 
prototype automatic transmission.


>and the sheet metal was so thin it was difficult to restore ?


Word I got was that Pinky eventually found itself bought by someone 
who was going to try and fix the car but it was too rusty and "too 
far gone" and it was parted out.    Pinky was assembled with the same 
sheet metal stampings that other '60 Corvairs got.   In fact, *both* 
concept Corvairs, the Super-Monza and Pinky, started out as 700 model 
production Corvairs... at least I'm fairly sure Pinky was originally 
a 700 production Corvair.  The Super-Monza was for sure.    They both 
came off the assembly line and went to the "shops" for modifications.


>It was also longer, extended for more rear seat room ?


Far as I know, Pinky was a stock '60 'Vair in all ways except for the 
mods to accept a convertible top assembly, which did NOT share parts 
with the production ragtop that showed up in '62.    Stock length, 
stock wheelbase, stock driveline *Except* for the transmission 
(transaxle?).    The photos I have of Pinky display no mods to the 
length or track of the car that I can see, nor did I find any info 
regarding such mods.

...anybody out there know for sure about Pinky being stretched?


>Long time ago, so who knows ?  Maybe I'm thinking of a different car ?


Pinky also didn't stay pink.   It ended up as a daily driver after a 
while, in a GM official's driveway.   It was also "updated" with 
sheet metal in the nose and other trim to maintain a "current" 
appearance, which means Pinky no longer looked like a '60 'Vair.   It 
was also repainted a different color.   It ended up changing hands as 
time passed and suffered from a bit of wear and tear as well as 
attrition from the elements (rust).     After parting the car out, 
the last owner scrapped the remains, I was told.


Too bad...  I'm sure that no matter how rough the car actually was, 
today someone would have snapped it up and spent whatever was 
necessary to restore it and stick it in the museum beside its 
sister-ship, the Super-Monza.    Myself, I'd be curious to know what 
became of the running gear, which evidently did survive and some of 
which ended up in the Communique classifieds.


Now:   SOMEBODY please correct any errors I may have made.     All 
this was dredged up from bits and pieces of memory.


tony..