<VV> the "next generation" of Corvair enthusiasts

[Russ Moorhouse]

I have to agree with MikeH's comment on not speaking for all kids.  You not 
only can't tell what a kid is going to like in the way of a car, but you 
also may be surprised what they may decide on when they get older.  In their 
teens though their 20's and even longer for some of us, our likes in cars 
can change overnight, depending on what new thing you may have seen and just 
have to have.

In 1990, my son was 17 and wanted a car.  His friends were driving anything 
from a new V8 T bird, newer BMW's, Cameros/Firebirds/Mustangs and pickup 
trucks, but he wanted a 73 VW Bug.  From the time he was little he liked VW 
Bugs.  You could take him to the toy store and show him all these other nice 
cars and big firetrucks and he picks out a Bug everytime.  I have no idea 
where he got this love of Bugs, we never owned one.  He bought this nice, 
original 73 Bug and proceeded to turn it into a junker in 4 years.  The back 
seat was one huge speaker, the vibration from it would cause his battery to 
go bad within a month.  He spent $1100 for a highly modified motor and 
within a week of installing it, it was ruined, due to the carbs he had on it 
leaking gas into the oil and seizing the engine, but he learned things as he 
went.  From there he bought a souped up Mustang convertible, which I warned 
him about buying.  I told him that unless you know the former owner and what 
he has done in the way of modifications, you're asking for trouble.  It 
didn't take long to figure that out and he got something else.  I can't 
remember all the cars he's had, but at that point, car stereo was more 
important than anything else during that phase.  At some point he came back 
to VW Golfs and Jettas.

He's now 35 years old and he and his wife still have VW's, even though he's 
a Nissan salesmen.  He has a new 2007 Jetta GLI and his wife has a couple 
year old Passat Wagon.  He has past beyond the stereo stage and is content 
with the systems that now come with the cars.  His one project, that he is 
doing out of shame for how he treated his first Bug, is doing a full tear 
down and rebuild of a '56 ragtop VW.

Kids are still the same.  Some want something different, be it a Corvair, an 
old VW or whatever.  They will do things to that car, we wouldn't approve 
of, but they too age, their tastes change, and they may later in life decide 
to get an old car like they had  for their first car and by then because 
their outlook on things have changed as the have aged, they may decide it 
would be nice to have an old Corvair or whatever like they had, but this 
time restore it to stock.  I know I would love to have my 1958 Colonial 
Cream (YELLOW) Impala, that I nosed and decked and painted a dark teal 
green.  I beat the crap out of that car, but of the 33 cars I have owned 
it's the one I wish I still had.  Too bad they are out of the range of my 
pocket book, however it would be restored to the way it was, rather than 
what I did to it.  BTW it only had a 6 cylinder and a 3 speed.  It was the 
only one I ever saw with a six, but it was still a babe magnet, more so when 
it was yellow than green.


Russ Moorhouse
'65 Corsa coupe 140 HP
Group Corvair Member
Corsa Member
Kent Island, MD


...........Original Message ....................

Ray, I appreciate your comments on this but honestly, and no offense 
intended, you do not speak for all "kids".  There's no way anyone speaks for 
all of any demographic.  I'm sure there are a lot of kids that like what you 
photoshopped, I'm no kid but even I liked it, but there are plenty of other 
"kids" who like other things.  Every generation has had their hotrodders, 
their drag racers, their road racers, their cruisers, their stereo fanatics, 
their whatever.  The younger generations are no different.  ..........

mikeH
old and busted in VA