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All About Corvairs - READ ONLY

172 messages,  Last post on Apr 13, 2002 at 8:58 AM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet, Coupe, Convertible, Sedan

Messages Page 18 of 18

#163 of 172 by speedshift

Dec 16, 2001 (1:58 pm)

Also maybe an ad in Hemmings or the national Auto Trader. Hemmings is expensive and not for anyone who's in a hurry (lots of lead time before the ad appears) but if there's any serious market for the car it probably reads both publications.
 
My limited experience with club ads is that they make you join the club and pay a year's dues before they run your ad, and then no one calls. The club members I met seemed to know value too well and in fact were usually looking for a deal. But it might be a good idea to just show up at a local club meet.
 
I had a '65 Corsa Turbo from 1970 to around 1986 and for most of those years it just sat because I was tired of it but was sure it would be worth big money some day. Many cars take up valuable garage space because of this thinking.
 
I paid $450 for it and was lucky to sell it 16 years later for around $750 to a local buyer, a retired engineer who tinkered with Corvairs and was apparently not a free spender. That's the problem with off brands--they're not "must have" cars so buyers don't get emotional over them.
 
The fact that you've got a convertible makes things a little better since they have more universal appeal, especially when the weather is good. If you can get it running fairly cheaply I definitely would. That expands the pool of potential buyers exponentially.

#164 of 172 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Dec 16, 2001 (7:11 pm)

No, Hemmings is not expensive at all! You must be thinking of something else there.

#165 of 172 by speedshift

Dec 16, 2001 (7:59 pm)

Hemmings is certainly cheaper and more effective than running a classified ad in a large newspaper for a month but I gave up on the classifieds early on. When I advertised in Hemmings in the early to mid '80s it was way more expensive than what I'd been using before, the Auto Trader and Wheels 'n Deals. I could be wrong but it was something like $25 for the Trader and $100 for a basic Hemmings ad with no boldface or any of the other trimmings.
 
I do think Hemmings is worth the difference for the right car even when it gets you calls from mostly local buyers you theoretically could have reached with the Trader. Hemmings seemed to be a better way to sell a genuinely collectible car while the Trader was better for selling marginal collectibles/used cars. Put another way, Hemmings was no way to sell marginal collectibles, although I certainly tried.
 
Of course that was a long time ago and things may have changed, especially with the Internet.

#166 of 172 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Dec 17, 2001 (9:52 am)

No, you must be thinking of maybe a large photo ad or something. Hemmings ads cost about $12 for 4-5 lines of text for one month.

#167 of 172 Corvair parts ie quad carb 140 heads etc... by boxtrooper

Dec 21, 2001 (11:14 pm)

Hi,
 
I have a garage full of old corvair parts. Some are NOS some are used. Some are interesting like a pair of rebuildable quad carb 140 heads that I traded a large freezer for back in the early 80's and never got around to using. There's a case of NOS secondary carbs to go with it. I think there is a 4 speed transmission only used for training, fully assembled. Much more, lots of odds and ends. One body part NOS the lower body panel I don't remember if its front or rear but it is early model. There should be enough parts to assemble 3 or 4 engines with lots more spares.
 
The garage will be cleaned out soon. I would hate to throw all that stuff away. I could probably make some money with it on Ebay, but would prefer a batch sale to save time and packaging effort.
 
Any suggestions on how to get rid of this stuff so that someone will use it? It would be nice to get a little money for it, but it will be a major bargain for the buyer.
 
Thank You
BoxTrooper
Previous owner of 61 corvair coupe with factory air conditioning.
Previous owner of white with red stripe 1964 Eight Door Corvair Greenbriar Deluxe.
Wish I still had the 1964 Eight Door Corvair Greenbriar Deluxe, only 1200 made.
Previous owner of 63 yellow Corvair van.
Family members owned about 4 other Corvairs all early models.

#168 of 172 Factory A/C ! by isellhondas

Dec 27, 2001 (9:38 am)

Wow...talk about a rare option.
 
I saw a '63 Monza once with factory A/C. I remember looking at the engine for a long time wondering out how they did it.

#169 of 172 Mr. Holland's Opus by storyteller

Dec 27, 2001 (2:43 pm)

Saw this movie last night. It features a Corvair. Early in the movie the protagonist, a teacher, drives a Corvair. His principal jeers at him for driving an unsafe car. He replies that this is all he can afford on his salary unless Ralph Nader wants to buy him something better. The Corvair comes back at the end of the film as a "classic" being proudly driven by his son.
 
Anyone else know of films featuring Corvairs?

#170 of 172 Well... by isellhondas

Dec 28, 2001 (8:33 am)

Ernie Kovacs got killed in one.
 
Rumor was he was lighting up a cigar and lost control. I remember the photo. I think it was a wagon.

#171 of 172 Regarding Ernie by farnsworthy

Apr 13, 2002 (7:14 am)

I used to drive that piece of Sunset Blvd where Kovacs was killed, on my daily trip to UCLA. He may have been lighting a cigar, but there was oil on the road from a previous accident as well, according to the Times. I remember this because I did my daily drive in a '62 Corvair and couldn't help but take heed to the implicit warning.

#172 of 172 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 13, 2002 (8:58 am)

I still miss Ernie. He was a genius among a lot of mediocres,and way way ahead of his time.
 
But I don't blame the Corvair. You've got to respect whatever you are driving and know the car's limitations.

Messages Page 18 of 18

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