<VV> rental Corsas and April's communique

[Wrsssatty at aol.com]

I don't want to start one of those I-got-my-communique-and-you-didn't  
threads, but...
 
I got my communique and was intrigued by the letter from Bob Brought of  
Greenville, SC about the '65 Corsa he acquired recently bearing a Hertz sticker  
in the window.  He queried whether rental Corsa turbos were available back  in 
the day.  Well, there's an Ed Wood movie from the era entitled "Orgy of  the 
Dead."  Some of you, no doubt, know that Ed Wood was famous for really  bad 
sci-fi movies from the '50s.  His most infamous was "Plan Nine From  Outer Space" 
considered by some to be the worst movie ever.  In the '90s an  eponymous 
biopic about Ed Wood was released starring Johnny Depp and Martin  Landau.  What 
you might not know is that by the '60s Ed Wood was making  soft core, nudie 
horror pics hence "Orgy of the Dead".  The film is so tame  by today's standards 
it could probably be shown on network television.   Anyway, there is a '65 
Corsa convertible prominent in the first scene of the  film.  A few years ago, a 
friend of mine attended one of those  sci-fi/horror film conventions where 
has-been C-list actors appear and sign  autographs for a few bucks.  Someone 
(not Ed Wood) prominently associated  with the film was at the convention and, 
for my benefit, my friend asked him  about the provenance of the Corvair in the 
film.  We were hoping it had  belonged to Ed Wood.  What a great story that 
would have been!  Alas,  we were told that the '65 Corsa convertible in the film 
was just a rental car  they had secured for the day's shoot.  I don't know if 
it was  turbo-charged.  Maybe if I watch it again I can figure that out.   
Anyway, if what we were told is true, it would appear that one could, indeed,  
have rented a Corsa from a rental car agency in 1965.   However, I  note that 
the Hertz sticker in the photo submitted with the letter to the  communique's 
Open Forum bears an 800 number.  I do not believe that 800  numbers existed in 
1965.  In fact, Wikipedia (I don't want to start one of  those 
you-can't-trust-Wikipedia threads, either) says that "Toll-free calling  originated on May 2, 
1967 by AT&T."  An April Fool's joke?   Who knows!
 
~Bill Stanley
**************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store?  Make dinner for $10 or 
less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001)