<VV> VirtualVairs Digest, Vol 61, Issue 115

[Phil Brandt]

Subject: Vair parts picking out of the past; junkyards I have 
known........................

Talk about "dumpster diving"!  When I assigned to the right seat of A-model 
F-111s at Nellis AFB in 1975, I used to visit various nearby Las Vegas junk 
yards on a regular basis.  One day I went to one looking for a part for a 
'64 fourdoor that had recently joined my fleet.  Didn't find the part but 
spied a large pile (literally; it was about twenty feet in diameter and at 
least five feet high)  of Vair parts.The junkyard owner told me I could have 
everything in  the pile for $50!   I took a quick mental inventory and drove 
away in my Chevy wagon to rent a 16' U-Haul trailer. When I got the stuff I 
wanted back to my on-base house, there were some TEN engines, five trannys 
and a group of smaller suspension and miscellaneous parts.  Five of the 
engines were visibly damaged, so I took them to the shredder and more than 
recouped my initial investment. Over the following year I let a couple of 
the engines go in trades, and kept much of the rest.  To this longtime Vair 
owner, it was like Christmas and Easter all wrapped into one.  Later I 
visited another junkyard (near to the one from which I had gscored the parts 
pile)and related the good deal I had gotten at the other yard.  The yard 
owner with whom I was talking then informed me that the parts pile in the 
other yard was/had been HIS!  I left it to him and the other owner to work 
things out. As far as I was concerned, a deal was a deal...............

Phil Brandt
Austin, TX
CORSA since '71

Original Message]
>> From: <rbuckridge at comcast.net>
>> Subject: Re: <VV> Corvette vs. Corvair
>>
>
> The Corvette vs. Corvair argument is also a two way street.
>
> A friend of mine met a guy who was selling a lot of NOS Corvair parts. 
> When
> he inquired as to the price of the Corvair items, he got the "make me an
> offer on the package lot" as a reply. My friend made him a low ball offer
> to see where the guy stood and figured the bargaining would now start. To
> his surprise, the guy said, "sold".
>
> They completed the deal and as my friend was about to leave, the seller
> informed him that all the parts came out of a dumpster. He had been
> dumpster diving for Corvette parts at a recently closed dealership and 
> also
> pulled out the "other" NOS parts thinking that someone would be 
> interested.
>
> The seller placed NO VALUE on the Corvair parts and would have let ALL the
> parts go for ANY offer, as all he really wanted was the Corvette parts. So
> here is a time where the Corvair guys benefited from the Corvette guys.
>
> Roy - Bayshore
>