<VV> Story of "Lisa" 1964 Monza Coupe.

[Ignacio Valdes]

This just in, here is some more of her story from Cemre Durusoy.

Hello Mr Valdes,

Thank you for forwarding me the Story of “Lisa”. Very happy to hear she’s
alive and well. I was hoping she would be well taken care of. If it’s not
too much trouble, would you mind sending a photo?

I can fill in some of the details of the story between 1997 and 2001. I
copied Wesley Heiss on this email as  His family owned Lisa as well as a
bunch of other Corvairs some running some not. Lisa was in a state of
disrepair and we rebuilt Lisa’s engine together in the summer of 1997 in
Connecticut. We also did the two tone paint job with spray paint! I imagine
we put in the rings you mention but the technical details elude me. It had
around 41K miles on it when we resurrected her.
We drove it down to Houston at the end of the summer when I enrolled at
Rice University. We were both students there. I had Vermont plates on the
car because I went to college in Vermont and was easier to keep the
registration there, but didn’t actually drive down from Vermont.  I don’t
recall how Lisa ended up with Wes’ family but the name Mary Baran sounds
familiar. Sorry to hear she passed.

That’s about all I know.

All the best,
Cemre


On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Ignacio Valdes <ivaldes at hal-pc.org> wrote:

> If this is her then she passed in 2009
>
>
> http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/hoytco0/obit.cgi?user=148853Harding&printIndex=1
>
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 1:36 PM, Ignacio Valdes <ivaldes at hal-pc.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Found the attached original bill of sale. I had the details wrong. Lisa
>> was originally purchased 12/16/1963 at Town & Country Chevrolet Company
>> Post Road Westport, Connecticut by Ms. Mary A. Baran DOB 6/23/1922 (forgive
>> me Mary for publishing your DOB) who then resided at Woodbury Avenue in
>> Norwalk, Connecticut making her about 93 years old now. Original title cost
>> $8. If anyone knows if she is still living tell her her Corvair is doing
>> well. Ms. Durusoy brought her from Vermont. So somehow Lisa ended up in
>> Vermont before coming to Houston. -- IV
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 1:18 PM, Ignacio Valdes <ivaldes at hal-pc.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I haven't checked in on Ms. Durusoy in awhile, she looks successful:
>>>
>>> http://archdrsy.com/author/Cemred/
>>>
>>> and has a twitter feed:
>>>
>>> https://twitter.com/archdrsy
>>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 1:12 PM, J. R. Read <hmlinc at sbcglobal.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sounds like a KEEPER after all.  Thanks for the story.
>>>>
>>>> Later, JR
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ignacio Valdes via VirtualVairs" <
>>>> virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>>>> To: "Virtual Vairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2015 12:55 PM
>>>> Subject: <VV> Story of "Lisa" 1964 Monza Coupe.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  The story of "Lisa":
>>>>>
>>>>> I have the original bill of sale for 1964 Monza Coupe "Lisa" somewhere
>>>>> in
>>>>> my papers. The car was purchased in Illinois by Mary Baran (not sure if
>>>>> that is the exact spelling of the last name) who if she is still alive
>>>>> must
>>>>> be in her 90's now. The bill of sale had her date of birth which is
>>>>> how I
>>>>> know her approximate age. The car came to me in Houston when it was
>>>>> owned
>>>>> by a Rice University architecture student Cemre Durusoy who drove it
>>>>> daily
>>>>> and from whom I purchased it approximately 2000-2001 when she
>>>>> graduated.
>>>>> Ms. Durusoy called her "Lisa" because there was one of those meeting
>>>>> name
>>>>> tags stuck to the dash with Lisa on it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Between 1964-2000 I do not know its history. It had a fair amount of
>>>>> rust
>>>>> and mismatched interior and hood when I received it. The front cross
>>>>> member
>>>>> has a big plate of steel welded to it to the center so I think it was
>>>>> in
>>>>> rust country for awhile. A lot of welding, Clark's interior, door, hood
>>>>> swap and "lagoon aqua" paint job made her look new again. Someone had
>>>>> gone
>>>>> through the engine and put in Viton rings.
>>>>>
>>>>> So my well-maintained "new" car a 1997 Honda Civic got rear ended a
>>>>> month
>>>>> ago and is getting fixed. I've been driving Lisa daily now since then.
>>>>> The
>>>>> neighborhood and nearly everyone else thinks it is cool.  It is the
>>>>> only
>>>>> antique car in the parking lots of work and church and gets lots of
>>>>> smiles
>>>>> and curious questions. My children like riding in "Daddy's old fun
>>>>> car."
>>>>>
>>>>> -- IV
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>>>> http://www.avast.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>