Full circle

casanewt · Post by **casanewt** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:48 pm

Hello! Thought I would start out with an intro. Corvairs have always held a special place in heart. My dad's first brand new car was a 1965 Monza 140 coupe hardtop. Dad was co-oping at GMI (when it was General Motors Institute) in Flint, MI. He used to gymkhana in it back in the day and even did some events on courses they would put together on the frozen rivers near my hometown. That was a few years before I was born, but I grew up riding around in the 'vair until it was sold when we got our first sedan, a two-tone 1978 Caprice Classic. Dad drove it every day up until then and battled all the body rot you will get when it is a daily driver in a place where snow and salt are common on the roads in the winters. Unfortunately, I lost my dad fairly early in life when he passed away in 1991 from a battle with acute leukemia.

Fast forward twenty years to the present & I am settled in Cincinnati, OH with my wife & daughter. Over the last few years I have come full circle and started getting into motorcycles, then sports cars. We've own MINI Cooper S and I even had a 1971 Datsun 510 in the garage a year or so ago. Funny thing was, I would always be looking at Corvairs for sale on Craigslist and reading thru the Corsa website about all the history behind the 'vair. Well, I am only a few hours away from holding a title for a 1965 Monza 140 coupe hardtop that I found locally. I couldn't be more excited. Plans are to give it a full road racer look and get it out on the local back roads to educate the local sports car scene here about just how fantastic these cars are.

Dad @ a gymkhana in the 'vair

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:28 pm

great story, you are going to love it =)

Post by **Gregory_Miller** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:21 am

Welcome aboard, great story, sorry about your dad, it's still got to hurt even this many years later. I still get to enjoy talking to my dad about Corvairs once in a while, it's he that got me started when he got a 68 140-4 speed Monza new.

Chicago Guy · Post by **Chicago Guy** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:32 am

Welcome,

Hope you enjoy it here, great members and posts such as yours here.

Gene

casanewt · Post by **casanewt** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:13 pm

So the Corvair I just bought used to belong to Dave Diedrichs.

The story is that this '65 Monza 140 was modifed back in the early 70's for autocrossing. It has heavy duty springs, Koni adjustable shocks, front & rear sways, the engine was rebuilt with a mild cam, headers & deep sump HP oil pump. After the early 70's it resided in storage for 30+ years, so the body is completely solid. Pics are below. The trim and bumpers are included and in excellent condition. I like the COPO look that it has and will keep going that direction. It was going to be painted EO to match the new wheels, but I'm not sure if I can do that color. I want to rub the original Crocus Yellow out a bit to see how good I can get it to look first.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1060219059 ... oLVltTwvAE

65Ragtop · Post by **65Ragtop** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:31 pm

Welcome to the site. Sweet car, man. Look forward to watching it progress. Our family car was a 63 Spyder as I grew up, it eventually became mine. Funny how that stuff sticks with you.

casanewt · Post by **casanewt** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:44 pm

So I'm looking at the Texas inspection sticker on the windshield from 1981, and on the back it has hand written mileage of 68,000 and a date of like 6-1-81. The mileage on the 'vair presently is 69,700. Wow, basically stored for 30 years. It ain't stored no more! This baby is going to driven & seen!

Post by **Corvair.crazy** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:51 pm

Sweet, I love your sediment. "this baby is going to be driven and seen!"

flat6_musik · Post by **flat6_musik** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:32 pm

Oh wow, cool story! That's neat.....I'll bet your dad will be smiling down on ya now! Oh yeah and welcome to the forums, great bunch here! I like your car.....there's certain colors that really "do it" for me and that yellow is one of them (along with Cypress Green

) Somehow it gives off a serious racer look with those silver wheels....(in my humble opinion

)

Anyhow, keep us posted on your progress, preferably with pics!......I'm glad to see more people coming back to 'vairs. I was out of corvairs from '91 until 2007!

My running joke is that I sold my other classic cars because they were too dependable and boring, I couldn't handle it, and it's true to a certain extent. You can almost buy small block chevy parts at 7-11....where's the challenge?

VairFreak · Post by **VairFreak** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:23 am

casanewt wrote:Hello! Thought I would start out with an intro. Corvairs have always held a special place in heart. My dad's first brand new car was a 1965 Monza 140 coupe hardtop. Dad was co-oping at GMI (when it was General Motors Institute) in Flint, MI. He used to gymkhana in it back in the day and even did some events on courses they would put together on the frozen rivers near my hometown. That was a few years before I was born, but I grew up riding around in the 'vair until it was sold when we got our first sedan, a two-tone 1978 Caprice Classic. Dad drove it every day up until then and battled all the body rot you will get when it is a daily driver in a place where snow and salt are common on the roads in the winters. Unfortunately, I lost my dad fairly early in life when he passed away in 1991 from a battle with acute leukemia.

Fast forward twenty years to the present & I am settled in Cincinnati, OH with my wife & daughter. Over the last few years I have come full circle and started getting into motorcycles, then sports cars. We've own MINI Cooper S and I even had a 1971 Datsun 510 in the garage a year or so ago. Funny thing was, I would always be looking at Corvairs for sale on Craigslist and reading thru the Corsa website about all the history behind the 'vair. Well, I am only a few hours away from holding a title for a 1965 Monza 140 coupe hardtop that I found locally. I couldn't be more excited. Plans are to give it a full road racer look and get it out on the local back roads to educate the local sports car scene here about just how fantastic these cars are.

Dad @ a gymkhana in the 'vair

Great story. When I get my 'Vair, we'll have to get out to some of the Drive-In car shows they have around the Cincinnati area. :goodpost:

casanewt · Post by **casanewt** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:16 am

VairFreak wrote: Great story. When I get my 'Vair, we'll have to get out to some of the Drive-In car shows they have around the Cincinnati area.

Cars & Coffee @ Fuel Coffee every Saturday morning http://cincysportscar.com/index.php?topic=33.0

VairFreak · Post by **VairFreak** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:56 pm

casanewt wrote:
VairFreak wrote: Great story. When I get my 'Vair, we'll have to get out to some of the Drive-In car shows they have around the Cincinnati area.
Cars & Coffee @ Fuel Coffee every Saturday morning http://cincysportscar.com/index.php?topic=33.0

Thanks for the link!

casanewt · Post by **casanewt** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:20 pm

Updated photos now that I got the wheels painted a graphite/bronze color and some of the front trim back on.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1060219059 ... LVltTwvAE#

This photo taken at our weekly Fuel Coffee Cars & Coffee https://picasaweb.google.com/1060219059 ... tSf-bTuIA#

cad-kid · Post by **cad-kid** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:20 am

Welcome and thanks for sharing pics and your great story.

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