<VV> Last convertible? Dave Newell weighs in

[Wrsssatty at aol.com]

I received the following remarks from Dave Newell regarding # 5997's (now on 
eBay) claim to being the last convertible.  He has given me permission to 
share it with Virtual Vairs.
 
~Bill Stanley
 
<  
Bill...
Thanks for your interest in this '69 convertible on eBay. It may possibly be 
the last Corvair convertible, but it hasn't been proven to be, to my knowledge.
 
I know this car well and I was the first to photograph it. I went to see it 
shortly after the second owner, Laurie Bissig, called Mark Ellis. This was 
after we had published the second edition of our "1969 Corvair Fingertip Facts" 
book, and although we didn't write up this car in our 2003 '69 Roster & Update 
Supplement, Mark did write about it in his Sixty-Niner newsletter for the '69 
Corvair Group.
 
When Laurie called Mark, she didn't know what she had. It was just a nice '69 
Corvair convertible that she had bought from the original owner in Berkeley. 
When she gave Mark the serial number, he was blown away. And so was Laurie, 
now that she knew she owned a special Corvair.
 
Yes, it's number 5997. And your memory is pretty good about 5988. I also went 
over to that car "museum" in St Louis, where it was for sale along with 
everything else they had in there. It was Glacier Blue, and they were hyping it as 
the last Corvair convertible. Even though we didn't know about 5997 at the 
time, Mark and I knew the owner had no basis for that claim other than hearsay. I 
think that the local Chevy Zone Office may have told him it was the last Vair 
convert they got, and it probably was. But since there were thirteen Corvairs 
built after it, one of them almost had to be a convertible.
 
When 5997 turned up, Mark ended up breaking the news to 5988's owner that his 
was definitely not the last Corvair ragtop. Needless to say he wasn't too 
thrilled.
 
Eventually, Dave Trull of Stockton bought 5997 from Laurie, and we all had 
high hopes that it had found a home for a long time. Dave is a friend of mine, 
and he loves Corvair history so it was a fitting marriage. I'm sorry to see 
that he's put the car on eBay for sale. 
 
But I have to tell you that there isn't any solid proof that 5997 is the last 
Corvair convertible, at least that Mark or I know of. Dave states in his 
listing that "This car has been acknowledged as the last Corvair convertible 
built", which is news to us. In fact, I've told Dave that there's no real evidence 
to confirm that 5997 is the last convertible, and I'm really sorry to see him 
promote the car as such.
 
What it comes down to is this: We know 5996 is a Monza coupe. And Dave's 
convertible is 5997. We do NOT know what 5998 was. 5999 was purchased by retired 
GM VP Harold Boyer (not given to him, as Dave relates) and belongs to the 
Corvair Preservation Foundation. And 6000 was a Monza Coupe, which by most accounts 
was destroyed by GM.
 
So the key, then, is 5998. I've never heard any rumor that it was also 
destroyed by GM as Dave states in his listing. Nor has Mark. I doubt that very much
 
Mark and I believe that 5998 was probably not a convertible. We'd like very 
much for 5997 to be the last convertible, but we can't confirm that it is. 
Until someone comes up with a verified VIN for 5998, a picture of it ahead of 5999 
on the assembly line that can be confirmed, or some other positive proof, 
Mark and I can't say what it was for sure. 
 
So even though we think 5997 may be the last Vair ragtop, we can't back up 
any claim that it is until something definite about 5998 turns up..
 
Back in 2004 Mark published a picture in the Sixty-Niner that we received 
from the son of Joe Casey, who was in charge of the Corvair line right up to the 
very end. The photo was taken on the last day of production, and Joe recalled 
that it was shot before the press was to arrive for the last Corvair 
"ceremony" at 2pm. It shows what could be 5999 up in its assembly cradle, with a coupe 
on the ground in front of it. IF, and this is a mighty big if, you assume that 
5999 IS the car in the cradle, then 5998 would be the coupe in front of it. 
Mark stated in his caption for the photo that this "would confirm that 5998 was 
a coupe". But it would only confirm that if you assume that 5999 is the car 
in the cradle, which is speculation. 
 
I talked with Mark about it tonight, and he agrees. This photo becomes even 
more speculative because Joe had no idea of exactly when the photo was taken 
that day. It could have been taken anytime that morning and the cars shown might 
have had much earlier VINS.
 
That photo is the only hint about 5998 that we've ever seen.
 
Yes, 5997 is very likely the last Corvair convertible, but so far it remains 
to be proven to our satisfaction.
 
Dave>




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