Lord's of the Car Hoards Corvair episode backstory

[Scott H]

On March 18, 2013 I received this email through our Corvair clubs website. They knew they were contacting a CORVAIR club.

The company I am working for NERD TV - http://www.nerdsite.co.uk are casting for a new car series for one of the major US broadcasters and I was hoping you might circulate this email to anybody you think might be interested or might know somebody that would. (the more people I get this out to the better!)

Essentially we are looking for people who have an ‘out of control’ car collection, ideally 20+ vehicles that are in various states of repair. We have two experts (one being a very famous west coast customizer) that would visit the collection and value certain cars as they are currently and also what it would take to restore them. They then negotiate how best to restore a certain car for the owner....using other parts and cars from their collection. The collection will fund some of the work but there will be a full team working to restore and customise in a 24 hour garage. The whole process would take a number of weeks with incredible results.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in or somebody you know might be please pass on my email. The next phase would be that we send out a questionnaire for them to fill out.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have. The email address to direct people to is cars@nerdtv.co.uk or they can reply directly to keith@nerdtv.co.uk

We are based in London but the series is for the US. I am due out there in the next couple of weeks so he's looking to meet people that might be suitable in the coming weeks.
There might be somebody that you guys know involved at your club who might be keen or they might know just the person. All is kept in the strictest confidence.

We have a man on the ground in San Diego currently if there was somebody that fit the bill we could arrange a meeting. At this stage I am contacting as many clubs as possible so sorry if it comes across as a mass mail but if you reply to me I will send a personal reply.

Many thanks,
Keith.

I posted it on here viewtopic.php?f=80&t=5431&hilit=discovery
My friend Kregg came to mind immediately, he had 25 Corvairs and none of them were really drivable. I told him about the show and he was interested, he said let's make the Corvair famous! I wrote to them and the show wrote me back quickly and said they were interested and wanted Kregg to fill out their questionnaire and to send in pictures of the collection. Here are the pictures I sent in.

[Scott H]

Soon after that the show called and wanted to schedule a time to come and see the collection for themselves. This visit was on March 26, 2013. Here is a few pictures of that first visit.
In the pictures below you can see they spend allot of time looking at the red van. The premise of the show is the owner could pick his favorite vehicle in the collection to have it restored. Kregg had wanted them to do Beth's convertible. His second choice was the teal Lakewood. Remember in the show when Kregg talks about his memories of driving many miles across the country in a Corvair with his Dad. That memorable trip was in a Lakewood. The producers pushed to do the van instead and struck the deal with Kregg to do the convertible if he proposed to Beth on camera. Kregg had been talking to me off and on for a couple years about when and how to proposed to Beth. He wanted it to be a big deal so the opportunity to do it on national TV appealed to him.

[Scott H]

The show likes what they saw and they commit to doing the episode on Kregg and the Corvairs.
Here is the second visit on April 16, 2013 when the initial filming begins.

[Nickshu]

Scott....Let me get this straight.... So the Corvair community (ie: you) hands them their first show on a silver platter and they turn around and stab us in the back with an hour of Corvair bashing and vagina car comments? Says a lot about their character..or lack thereof.

Anyway cool pics!

[Scott H]

The third visit is March 15-18, 2013. Most of the filming takes place in the next three days. This is the first time the hosts and the "cleanup crew" are at the house.

After the second visit the TV crew was supposed to give us a few months before they came back. We, (Kregg and I and a few other Corvair friends) had planned to go through everything in the yard before that day came. That didn't happen, they called and said the episode had been pushed forward and they were to start filming immediately. We had very little time to organize anything on our end. I made some quick phone calls to try to get some Corvair people here to get some of the cars and parts into their hands. With only a days notice several of them took time out of their schedules and showed up to buy some parts and cars. Those sold that day were the '66 Red on Red 140 Corsa, the Teal Lakewood (both bought by a friend in Vegas. The Teal Lakewood became his father/son Drag car project and is coming along nicely from what I am told), the '66 Monza coupe (bought by an SCC Club member), the '65 corsa vert (was bought by flat6_musik). A few other people from our club were filmed buying parts to. None of that footage was used in the show. Not that it needed to be but it would have been cool to see. In the episode they introduce a guy who is in charge of selling the cars and parts. As far as I know he sold only one car. That was the '65 aqua sedan and it was sold on eBay (tough job lol). My point, we could have done a lot more in getting the parts and cars into more Corvair people's hands had we had more time. Despite the lack of time given to us, no cars or parts were scrapped that shouldn't have been, with the exception of the brown van. That was a nice body and it was supposed to be sold but the "cleanup crew" stuffed the forklift legs through the windows then picked it up and ripped the roof off. We screamed at them to stop but it was too late. That one hurt!!!

Just a side note to clarify things... I am writing this because the show was not at all what we thought it was going to be and I want the real story to be told to at least us Corvair folks. I am not writing this back story out of any agenda or hurt feelings. The real story would have made a FAR better episode and I don't understand why they didn't use it. Anyway, back to the facts and pictures.

[Nickshu]

Woah the wrestler dude is huge! Didn't look that big on the show but in those pics he looks like he could have picked up a couple of those Corvairs and carried them out himself.

[Scott H]

Scott....Let me get this straight.... So the Corvair community (ie: you) hands them their first show on a silver platter and they turn around and stab us in the back with an hour of Corvair bashing and vagina car comments? Says a lot about their character..or lack thereof.

Anyway cool pics!

Yeah that pretty much sums it up Nick. I was talking to Kregg tonight. We are both baffled by how the show went.

From the VERY BEGINNING they told Kregg they would restore TWO cars IF he proposed to Beth on camera. That was the deal. Beth knew nothing of it though so the reaction of her at the end is all real. I don't know why they didn't make a bigger deal of that part? What a tear jerker and great TV that would have made!

The drama about Kregg calling Rick and demanding the convertible back AFTER they fixed it up to flip and Chuck throwing a fit over it is totally bogus. That part actually does anger me a bit because Kregg PAID for the parts that went on that car out of his OWN POCKET! Kregg bought the wheels and tires, the exhaust system, etc. The show painted it and installed everything, cleaned up the engine, cleaned up the interior and replaced somethings on it to make it safer to drive. Why would they contrive a scenario that makes Kregg look bad when it was part of the deal from the beginning to give Beth her car back and also why would you make Kregg look bad when he is footing the bill on allot of HIS OWN car?

This is the "Valentine car", a 1968 Monza 140/PG convertible. They called it that because Kregg and Beth really did go and buy this car on Valentine's day for her. It really did sit for well over three years. It was an automatic and he bought it for her so she could be involved with his Corvair hobby too. She was very emotional when they asked her to let them flip this car to finish the van. That was all true. You can see the sadness in the pictures of her saying goodbye to it. She watched and walked with it as they took it and loaded her baby onto the trailer. We were all very emotional during this part because we could see how much it hurt her to let it go. They told Kregg to try to keep the secret going and not let her know she was getting it back. BUT if she got too upset he was to let her know. She did well and the secret stayed with all of us until the very end.

[Scott H]

This is the second of the "Hero" cars, The "Patina Car". This was a very cool car. I wanted it (I loved the patina of this car and I have several "artsy" photos of it). It was a '66 500 with a 110/3 spd tranny. They called it a shell (which implies no running gear). If you are savvy Corvair person and I know you guys are, you noticed it sitting there normally as they dismissed it and said it wasn't worth .02 cents. Late model Vairs don't roll well without running gear and the rear wheels would be all cambered out if you tried to roll it, so as it sits in the show its obviously NOT just a shell. What they didn't say is the car was a runner. I know, I have driven it inside Kregg's yard to move it out of the way. It had a rebuilt engine in it. The car had rust issues yes, the floors were rusty and the roof as they stated in the episode, but it was savable IMO. They didn't say or show the damage to the side of it they caused when they moved it. They put a large dent in the passenger rear quarter panel (see pictures). A month or so later I saw this car at California Corvairs during his open house in 2013. I asked Jeff about it and he said he was going to cut it up and scrap it. This one may have been lost, I'm not positive, but hopefully if it was, it went to save several other cars and keep them on the road.

[UNSAFE]

No offense to Kregg is intended Scott but I find your story about the show to be much more interesting than the Show itself

Great pics too !

[bbodie52]

I agree. Unfortunately the show producers — in their effort to develop a somewhat artificial and fictional "human interest" story — managed to turn off much of the audience. The reaction to the show seems to be overwhelmingly negative and so far they seem to have lost this audience. Perhaps the Discovery Channel has come to believe that their target audience is one that would be attracted to the likes of American Chopper and the Senior vs. Junior disfunctional family motif. Or the Jesse James Monster Garage type of programming. NO THANKS!!!

[Scott H]

Here is "Hero van" that becomes the chopped Greenbrier. Even though the red van looks better in the show it was so rusted that the front doors no longer would open. You can see in the show them trying to kick open the drivers door of it. Kregg would climb over the seat to get in and move the van around the backyard until he removed the motor and used it in another Vair. Back in the day Kregg drove the red van for many years and had lots of good memories in it. The camper van was in bad shape but had rust free doors and was originally bought to use to repair the red 64 van. Then Kregg found the white '64 van and it was rust free. The plan was to use all the parts from the red van to complete the white van. Unfortunately with Kregg's time schedule he never got the projects off the ground.

[bobw]

This is a much better and more informative story than the one that was on TV. I'm amazed at how fake the show was. And the hosts were idiots.

[paulsgt]

That Rick Dore guy is a spoiled brat 'artist'. A I think they could have done more interesting things to the van without chopping the top. I'll give the show another chance before I give up on it. Is there going to be another Corvair-themed episode?
As CORSA president I'll take the exposure. I think people can tell that Rick Dore is an idiot. The wrestler dude can't be all bad. He was driving an Isetta. How cool is that? Stereotyping would say he would be driving a Camaro or something.

Thanks for the back story Scott.

Paul Sergeant
CORSA President
Near Jefferson City, MO

65 Monza Convertible
66 CORSA coupe (140/4 - 28,000 mile original)
61 Pontiac Tempest Safari wagon

[ricknorris]

18 Mar. 2014 Lords of the Car Hoards in my not so humble opinion.

Well,
I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch this new show which aired here at 10: PM.
Lucky for them it follows Fast and Loud, one of my favorite and most popular car shows at the moment.

My first impression is, It sucks dirty canal water! This gambit has been done, re-done and overdone.
A two bit small time “rassler” and a noted car customizer, Rick Dore who must be down on his luck and needed the money to participate in this mindless charade.

As was expected they showed no respect or knowledge of the Corvair and parroted the same misconceptions about “Cuzzin Ralphie” being responsible for the demise of the car.
The shows formula is a boilerplate stamping of all the other “car shows” right up to the pull away crane shot end of scene sun going down and lights being turned off.
Same ridiculous schedule, running out of money cliff hanger, same bullshit drama as in slamming and kicking inanimate objects. Question: Do you kick a punching bag or punch a kicking bag?
Also includes at least one unfortunate looking person who’s talents are always in question but, turns out to be a genius or idiot savant, I’m not sure which.
As expected the day is saved, a “customized” car is delivered to the oohs and ahhs of the crowd and a tear is shed for a happy ending and the promise of a wedding after a ten year wait.

I’m not real clear on the clinical definition of a hoarder be it cats, garbage or cars but, that guy appeared to fit the current definition. We Corvair folk tend to see those (Corvair hoarders) as preserving
The parts and pieces that keep our favorite brand alive. Of course we have all encountered the guy who will not give up any of his stash because he is going to need those parts later.
A note here, there is NO way I could ever have that kind of parts hoard in my back yard! The by laws prohibit it and the neighbors would sue the snot out of me, not to mention I would end up single as he was!

The customization of any Corvair is a difficult thing at best. It’s hard to improve on those classic lines. As you all know I am not a purist here and I like different things but, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I actually liked the small 2” chop in the vans roof. The classic custom touches like twin frenched antennae and the air scoops on the sides for the engine were very old school but in my opinion okay.
Not too sure about the gold metal flake paint though.

Rick Norris
1st CORSA President, 1971
http://www.corvairalley.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hurricane WV

1965 Corvair Monza Vintage Race Car
1967 Corvair Monza Convertible
Corvair powered Dune Buggy

[ricknorris]

Thank you Scott for the back story. It was more interesting than the show.
Rick

[Scott H]

Thank you Scott for the back story. It was more interesting than the show.
Rick

You guys are very welcome. Thanks for reading it.

Kregg and I really did have high hopes of getting the Corvair name out in the mainstream and showing people how great these little cars really are but obviously that didn't happen.