HACOA Corvair Owner's Meet recalls the past

Many years ago, Vickie Ireland purchased a pea green ’60 Corvair sedan from the Hover Motor Company used car lot. It was all of $75, and really wasn’t much of a car. It had several problems, for which she brought it back to get help. One time, the steering wheel came off in her hand while she was driving it to lunch.  Young Jim Hover took a shining to the girl, and began leaving notes on the windshield of the Corvair as it was parked around Manitou Springs.  Eventually, Jim and Vickie would get married and have two kids—a result that I’m especially pleased with, because I was one of them.

I’ve told the story of how my folks met before here, but it seems appropriate again today after stumbling on the Heart of America Corvair Owner’s Association get-together in Kansas City, Kan.  There, parked in the corner, was a Corvair identical to my mom’s car—the very reason for my existence.  My mom always says she liked that little Corvair, but I doubt at the time she ever thought it would turn up in a car show.  And it was just one of several very nice little rear-engine Chevys at this informal event.

If there were ever a dazzling Corvair, this is it.  The owners brought this bright red ’65 Monza convertible down from Des Moines, and it was striking.  Silver interiors weren’t originally available in these, but this one had a perfect, factory-looking silver interior that was sewn from ’65 Riviera vinyl.  The chrome IROC Camaro wheels gave the exterior just a little more zing.  When it comes to slightly modified Corvairs, they just don’t get much better than this.

This Monza coupe was also quite stunning.  I think these Corvair coupes like this have some of the best looking tops ever grafted onto a car—just look at those lines.  The bright blue interior didn’t hurt either.  This looks like a nice, cool environment to spend the afternoon.  Of course, air conditioning would be nice, but that icy blue, airy cockpit might trick you into thinking its cooler than it really is.

Corvairs are more than just cars.  There was also a pickup and a Mystery Machine-themed van at the show while I was there.   The panel van was known as the Corvan 95, the passenger van was called the Greenbrier Sportvan, and the pickups were called the Loadside or Rampside, depending on whether or not they had the big fold-down side ramp. Yeah, they were a little strange and underpowered, but they had a tremendous amount of room in the back, and continue to have sort of a cult following to this day.

 

We actually were trying to go to the Basehor Boys car show, but we ended up getting there too late.  On our way home, we stumbled upon this event by accident.  Unfortunately, they were also wrapping things up, so I know we missed out on some cars that had been there earlier.  I’m still glad that we got to see what we got to see, though.  And you can see them too.  Check out the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.

Also, if you would like to read my history of the Corvair, click this link.