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Summer Joy   Do you remember the joys of summer? The Augusta Chronicle is asking for area children age 10-17 to help us see summer through their eyes. See if your child can participate in our Kids Photography Project.

Brent Gissiner of Canton, Ohio, drives his 1963 Corvair Rampside Pickup from the judging area Thursday during the senior division judging at the Corvair Convention in Lake Placid, N.Y. Gissiner, like other Corvair lovers, drove his Corvair to Lake Placid. Other Corvairs go through various stages of judging on the speed skating oval that was used in the 1980 Winter Olympics.AP Photo/Jim McKnight

Star-crossed Corvair finally gains respect

Web posted June 21, 1997

Associated Press

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Listen closely as the sleek Corvairs motor around the Olympic speed-skating track, you might just hear them whisper: What goes around, comes around.

Nearly 1,000 Corvair enthusiasts descended on this Adirondack Mountain resort Thursday to show off their odd-looking cars and give the infamous model the kind of respect that eluded it in the 1960s.

``Once you see how they handle, they kind of get into your blood,'' said Jim Benak of Burbank, Ill., who with his wife, Barb, owns two '66 Corvairs.

The annual Corvair Convention, which runs through this weekend, allows owners to take part in a restoration contest, rallies, a parade and endless talk about The Corvair. More than 200 of the star-crossed, rear-engine cars are in town.

The Corvair was buried by the rise of the muscle car and by a 1965 book on auto design flaws, ``Unsafe at Any Speed.'' The expose - written by a then-unknown Detroit lawyer, Ralph Nader - said the Corvair had steering and control problems. The charges stuck, and the car's name became mud.

At the convention, Mr. Nader is persona non grata.

``I don't want to pick on him too much,'' said Ray Fallot of Louisville, Ohio. ``You know, he is the great protector of everyone. Well, I don't need any protecting.''

The Corvair dates to 1960, Chevrolet's economy-line answer to the popular Volkswagen Beetle. The cars shared some distinctive features, most significantly an air-cooled engine placed in the rear. But the Corvair was bigger and sleeker than its German cousin.

The low-slung car with four front headlights became a popular seller. The line eventually included convertibles, vans and pick ups (complete with a gate on the side).

It looked like nothing else General Motors put out at the time and it caught the imagination of people like Al Rich of Charlotte, N.C., who has immaculately maintained his father's '64 Monza.

Rich shined up his car in loving detail readying it for competition.

``My wife's jealous of it,'' he said.

The Corvair hit a bumpy road in the mid-'60s, when Ford came out with the Mustang - a car inspired by the success of the Corvair, according to mechanic and Corvair historian Larry Claypool.

The sportier Mustangs - available with V8 engines - began outselling Corvairs. And soon, Chevrolet began planning a more powerful car, the Camaro.

Corvair production ceased in 1969 - but not Corvair interest.

The Corvair Society of America now boasts about 5,500 members, and part of the attraction is the price. Restored models can run as low as $3,000, lending credence to the nickname ``poor man's Porsche.''

Enthusiasts are also bonded by a sense of vindication, a feeling that time has proven their car worthy, after all. Corvair innovations like unibody construction were later adopted by other cars. And government road tests later found the Corvair handled well too.

And maybe the biggest coup of all: A 1991 Corvair convention was attended by Nader, who cracked a few jokes about his infamy with the group.

``It was fun,'' said Mike Seversin of Madison, Wis. ``We got him to sit in a Corvair and we got pictures of him.''