"My first involvement with Corvairs was in the fall of 1961. While stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia a close friend bought a 1962 Corvair Spyder. I was always at the Phoenix Alabama drag strip with my 1957 Ford. I asked Andy to bring his Corvair one weekend and race. The first weekend he took home a trophy and I was hooked on Corvairs. I received orders to be sent to Hawaii. When I arrived in Hawaii my unit was shipped out to the Far East for 3 months. We returned to Hawaii and I bought a 1952 Chevrolet cpe, I could not find a Corvair except for new ones and I was short on cash. When Barb arrived in Hawaii I found a used 1961 Corvair 500 cpe all dressed in black with gray and black interior 80 hp 3 speed. Car had good fuel mileage; gas in Hawaii was .57 per gallon back then. Sold this car and went to Vietnam for a year. I returned to the states in December 1966 and Barb had bought us a nice new family car a station wagon Falcon. We put both girls through college, did the boat thing from 1974-1999, sold the boat so I could get a Corvair. Searched on line and found a 1964 Spyder red conv in Rochester, called Tom in Chili and he told me I didn't want this car as he had to work on it all week so the guy could drive it on the week ends. I bought Tom's 1966 monza (Canada) car #771 built in Oshawa in early fall 1965,this was the last production year for Corvair in Canada. Just 37 years since my first Corvair. I have worked over 30 years as a fleet manger / diesel mechanic. I also worked as an ammonia refrigeration engineer for the same company. My strength in the mechanical field was rebuilding big bore diesel engines mostly Cat and Mack, I also rebuilt 5, 6, 10 and 13 speed transmissions and not to be left out rear ends in the 23000 to 44000 pound range. I like our trips our club takes most of all, tons of fun driving a Corvair on the road. Car shows come in second for me, way too much cleaning getting ready for a show. Winter is the worst time as I have to put my car away in a small garage about 5 miles from home, no room or heat to work on the car."

Dave and Barb with the 1966 Monza

The 1966 Monza

The 1961 500 coupe in Hawaii