<VV> Ultravan sighting

[Christopher Ziebell]

A few months ago, I was visiting a friend in LA, and we were hiking through
Griffith Park when I spotted one on the side of the road.  It was not in
good shape at all, had a lot of rust, and had some plywood where the floor
should be.  I'd never seen one in person before, so I walked around it a
time or two to see if there was an emblem or something to confirm for me
that this was an ultra (not that anything else really looks like that).  I
guess I made the owner a little nervous, because him and his guest put out
whatever that foul smelling stuff was that they were smoking, and sat in
their seats as if they were driving, even though they were sitting still.

 

So, I approached the driver's side window and tapped on the glass.  He took
his left hand off the wheel and rolled down the window. "Is that a Corvair?"

 

You should have seen them light up!  They started talking all about it and
explaining to me what Corvairs were and so on.  We must have chatted for 1/2
hour.  I came back to that spot about an hour later, at the end of my hike,
but they were gone.

 

I wonder if that's the only one I'll ever see "in the wild."