Hello, from a new member in the Southwest region of North Carolina. I joined the Corvair Forum a few days ago when I saw an invitation to this site while browsing the CORSA site on Facebook. Although I am new to the site, so far I am really impressed with what I see.My wife and I live in a home that my father built in the late 1980's on the southeast shore of Lake Chatuge in North Carolina. For mailing purposes our home address is in Hayesville NC, but that town is about 9 miles from our home. Our home is about 1/4 mile north of the Georgia/North Carolina border. The nearest town is Hiawassee Georgia, which is 4 miles to the south of us. We are about 100 miles from each of the nearest major cities, which include Atlanta GA, Chattanooga TN, and Asheville NC. We moved here a few years ago from Lebanon, Pennsylvania at my father's request, since he had reached the age of 85 and felt that he could use a little help. Unfortunately he passed away several months after we moved here, but here we remain.
My relationship with Corvairs is a long one. What follows is a brief biography that I wrote, with specific emphasis on Corvairs, and how they have impacted our lives:
Our current Corvair is a 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa convertible. My family has a lot of history with Corvairs, since the time my father first purchased one – a new white 1961 Monza coupe with red interior – when I was only nine years old. Then, in 1965, my parents were considering the purchase of a new Ford Mustang fastback or a Corvair convertible. The Corvair won the day and we ended up with a mist blue 1965 Corsa convertible with 140 hp engine, four-speed transmission, wire wheel style wheel covers and a black top and interior. I was only about 13 years old at the time, but a few years later I learned how to drive in that car and took my first drivers test in the Corvair. In 1969 I spent my summer watching as man first landed on the moon and rebuilding an old 1963 Corvair engine and automatic transmission. My father purchased the car for me so that I could learn how to work on cars. Armed with a shop manual and a garage full of tools I slowly learned how to remove the powertrain, tear down the engine and rebuild it, and after discovering a faulty powerglide transmission, learned to rebuild that too.
In subsequent years I later owned a 1962 Monza, a 1963 Turbo Spyder convertible, and a 1965 Corsa coupe with turbocharged engine. I dated my future bride Tracy in that last car. In 1972 I was married and we celebrated our honeymoon in the 1962 Monza. Toward the end of that year I joined the Air Force, and after graduating from a seven month tech school at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, we returned to California to visit my parents, and my father presented me with a graduation present – his beloved 1965 Corsa convertible!
So in the summer of 1973 my pregnant bride and I proceeded on our first cross-country trip in a Corvair as we drove to Warner Robins Georgia, which was my first Air Force assignment. A few years later, after I completed a one-year unaccompanied tour in Taegu, Korea, we took that Corvair convertible with us to our next assignment near Boston Massachusetts, where I did some restoration work on the car and had it repainted (Red) and had a new convertible top installed. Our next assignment, in 1980, was near Ramstein Air Base in Germany – and we took the Corvair with us. In 1981 we returned to California to visit my parents while on leave, and we obtained a white 1965 Corsa coupe, which we drove across country with our two children and then shipped the car from New Jersey to Germany. So for the next few years we had two Corvairs to drive while we lived near Kaiserslautern in Southwest Germany. In 1983 I was reassigned to a location near Los Angeles. We shipped the Corvair convertible directly to a port in Los Angeles, and shipped the coupe back to New Jersey. From there we drove the Corsa coupe south to Washington DC and Georgia and then across country in August during the hottest summer month, with our two small children tucked into the back seat. No air conditioning, of course!
So over the years we had owned nine Corvairs, and sold the last one in Pennsylvania in the early 1990s. Following our recent 40th anniversary I decided that I wanted to recapture some of our memories by becoming a Corvair owner again. When I discovered this blue Corvair on eBay I decided that now was the time! I love the color and the color scheme is very similar to the 1965 Corsa convertible my parents purchased so long ago. So we sold our 2008 Lexus GS 460 – exchanging that ownership for this 1966 Corvair Corsa convertible. Believe me, there is quite a bit of difference between the 2008 Lexus and a 1966 Corvair! But my wife and I are truly enjoying it, and it is a unique piece of transportation history that is once again a part of our family.
The photographs below provide you with a brief glimpse of our North Carolina home and the 1966 Corvair Corsa I purchased in Florida a few months ago.
- Home at Lake Chatuge (Winter View)
- View of our home from the lake
- View of Lake Chatuge from our back deck
- Pontoon boat view of Lake Chatuge
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible
- Our 1966 Corsa Convertible (Top Up)
1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
I see you have a lot of faith in these Corvairs driving across country many times! I feel better already only driving from Florida to NY. Beautiful house.
Thanks. I have my father to thank for much of the path my life took. He got me hooked on Corvairs when I was a child and taught me much about automotive maintenance and repair. He convinced me to join the Air Force soon after I was married at age 19, and that career path worked well for us (going on 42 years of marriage). He and my mother (who passed away in 1989) built this house on Lake Chatuge when he retired from Lockheed, and when he passed away at age 85 we inherited it -- a far better house than I would ever have been able to hope for as a retired Air Force Master Sergeant!
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