<VV> arrogance WAS tele column

[kenpepke at juno.com]

Mark has always stood by his own feelings and has also always acknowledged the right of others to have their feelings.  All is well with that but, there can come a time which one becomes arrogant in their judgment of the arrogance of others.

Past experience tells me Corvette guys and gals are generally 'old car people' just the same as Corvair fans. Most have an interest in Corvairs and many have a Corvair.  And there are quite a few Corvair owners that have a Corvette as their second car!  Corvette people value parts and pieces so they swap and sell just like the rest of us if there is a market for their items.

Both Corvettes and Corvairs come from pretty humble beginnings even though early Corvairs certainly did better in the market place than did the Corvette.  They are both unique vehicles and I do not believe anyone would deny Corvair is even more unique than Corvette.  Some would even claim, because of passenger space, Corvairs are more family friendly.  Corvettes did cost more new and they do cost a lot more to restore BUT they are worth a whole lot more once done.  Spending more for parts can now be seen as good business sense.  

The question then becomes WHY so much difference in value?

The national organizations of Corvette groups has to be a major factor.  Back in the day when these organizations were founded a concerted effort was made to create judging procedures and establish judging awards which provided certificates of authenticity.  It took a great deal of study and record keeping to establish those high standards with which Corvettes are judged ... Today a Bloomington Gold Award or an NCRS Flight award provide a  prominence which adds to the real market value ... and saleability ... of the vehicle.

Corvair, without the benefit of such an organization and with no universally recognizable national awards, lag behind in market values.  That can be OK because it allows the vehicles to be available to more people.  On the other side of the coin, it also makes less business sense to invest in a really proper restoration even though today, through the efforts of Mark Elis, Dave Newell, and others much more information is available.  
Ken P


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airvair at earthlink.net wrote: [in part]


Second, what's worse is that many Corvette people disassemble them, use
only the parts they want, and then THROW AWAY THE REST. This has caused not
only the entire assembly market to dry up, but also made any
repair/replacement parts impossible to find. This has proven particularly
devastating for finding any late style parts to repair or upgrade existing
cars, and particularly concours-intended cars ...

... As I've said for years, many Corvette people have more money
than brains. That fact makes them arrogant. They feel that they have an
absolute right to own anything they want. All they have to do is simply
keep bidding up the price until their opposition/competitor runs out of
money. And it's that arrogance that offends me the most.

I've also often said that Corvettes are too rich for my blood. So I
appologize to everyone for not being wealthy enough to outbid Corvette
people on some things. I accept that this is a free market economy. So be
it. But I won't appologize for resenting their arrogance, or their
callousness and disregard for Corvair history. And my Corvair hobby.

-Mark

   

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