This page contains material from the July 2002 newsletter

EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday July 3rd, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet, Lomas & University THIS MONTH: New Members Sylvan Zuercher Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher June Meeting Notes Jim Pittman Billiken Mark Morgan June Board Notes Jim Pittman Driver's Seat Robert Gold Calendar of Coming Events Everybody CNM Ladies Anne Mae Gold Christmas Party Plans Rita Gongora Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman For Sale, Trade or Wanted Everybody Tri-State Report Steve Goodman Letter from The Wiz Glenn Masopust Miatas and Other Sports Cars Jim Pittman COVER: Above: Del's Monza in Progress Below: 1996 Mazda Miata on NM 217 === NEW MEMBERS Sylvan Zuercher Kevin & Leslie Sullivan 1609 California St. NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Ph: 266-1328 Kevin & Leslie have an Ultravan purchased from Jim Craig's collection at Joshua Tree, Ca. The Ultravan is equipped with a 95 HP engine and has made several trips around the state, the latest involved driving up to Ruth's cabin in the Pecos. It has been reported that there was no difficulty experienced in the climb to the cabin. Is there a possibility of an hill climb challenge to Richard & Gayle Finch? Interesting thought! Richard, any comments? Could this lead to a whole new line of driving events? CNM extends a warm welcome to Kevin & Leslie! -- Sylvan === Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: Tarmo Sutt 2002-May Terry Price 2002-May Richard Finch 2002-Jun Mark Morgan 2002-Jun Joe Ashton 2002-Jul Anthony Couture 2002-Jul Rick Covington 2002-Jul Richard Foster 2002-Jul Robert Gold 2002-Jul Steve Gongora 2002-Jul John Mattern 2002-Jul Roger Chavez 2002-Aug Steve Johnson 2002-Aug Bill Reider 2002-Aug John Stichman 2002-Aug Sylvan Zuercher 2002-Aug Debbie & Ron Deck 2002-Sep Robert McBreen 2002-Sep Lydia & Lee Olsen 2002-Sep If your membership is due or has expired, please send your dues to: Wendell Walker, CNM Treasurer, 301 Utah Meadow Rio Rancho, NM 87124 Note: the Club will mail in your National dues when you renew, but only if you send us the renewal form from CORSA Communique! CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's home page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~casa === JUNE MEETING NOTES Jim Pittman The meeting was called to order by President Robert Gold at Galles Chevrolet on Wednesday 5 June 2002 at 7:30 pretty sharp PM. Secretary Chuck was elsewhere, so your editor took notes. President Robert first of all asked if anyone wanted to know why, as he mentioned in his newsletter column, the president of the Car Council asked him to leave the Los Lunas car show. Robert said he was merely trying to reserve a place for John Wiker, and the NMCCC president took umbrage at that, saying it was against the rules. Whatever. Robert said despite this spat, the car show was a good time, there were a lot of cars; the location was conveniently near a shopping center; there were cars there that we don't usually see at car shows. A negative point: there was no shade at all. Guests and new members - Kevin Sullivan introduced himself and his wife Leslie. They have just purchased an Ultravan. This news resulted in much enthusiasm by the members present and I believe Kevin and Leslie joined CNM before the meeting was over. No one objected to anything in the minutes published in the May newsletter, so they were approved. Our treasurer, Wendell Walker, reported. We had $37.28 in the Wells Fargo account and $5011.03 in the GMAC account for a total of $5048.31. I didn't get whether this sum was before or after the Care & Feeding books were paid for, but Wendell can tell you if you need to know. Mark Martinek provided our NMCCC meeting report; they have some $ 6,858 in checking some $14,000 in CDs and no idea what to spend it on. Most of the meeting focused on the Los Lunas car show. Also mentioned were upcoming events in the Santa Fe area, including the Fourth of July On The Plaza car show. Mark asked if anyone who would not be going to the Flagstaff convention would volunteer to attend the next NMCCC meeting and take notes; John Wiker agreed to go; it's on Wednesday 19 June. Sylvan mentioned that Mike Franklin has a Corvair for sale. It was supposedly stored on a ranch in west Texas for 20 years. It's partly a 1964 convertible and has duals. It has home-made upholstery, a 1962 dash and emblems, with the Monza emblems upside down. The engine is a '62 or '63. The seller wants $5,700.00 for it. Check it out at the Mild-to-Wild Shop. Steve Gongora said a man contacted him with a car that was restored in Las Vegas. It has pieces missing. He wants to get out of it what he spent. Check with Steve if you find this story irresistable. Steve also mentioned that Wendy Walker was featured in a Rio Rancho newspaper article. He got permission to put the story on CNM's web site, and also made photocopies which he passed out. The reporter, Gary Herron, saw Wendell driving his 1964 convertible, found out where he lived and went to interview him. Your editor asked how many members had viewed Tri-State photos on the CNM web site; many said they had; thanks to Steve for putting them there. Mark Domzalski reported that the incoming Western Director (that is, Dennis) came to visit and Mark gave him a pile of paper. Mark, to his great relief, has been deleted from the CORSA BOD e-mail list. There was something about the next CORSA Communique being printed on a different kind of paper, so watch your mail to see if this is an improvement or a disprovement. Old Business A list for signing up to go to Ruth's cabin in the Pecos for the June campout was circulated. Ruth said, come any time you want. We can't go onto the national forest but we can go to Ruth's cabin. No fires. New Business This coming weekend is the campout at Ruth Boydston's cabin in the Pecos. (Wait, we just covered that under "Old Business" didn't we?) The CORSA National Convention at Flagstaff is this month. Will any members caravan? Where will they meet? Do those who volunteered to help with registration need to schedule who will work when? Robert said that the next meeting was July 3rd and asked if this date (the evening before the Santa Fe Plaza Car Show) would be okay for a meeting? No one thought not, so July 3rd it is. Then, Robert said, our Route 66 clean-up will be the following Saturday, July 6, at 9:00 AM. Ollie is expected to be prepared to tell about his voyage around the Horn if anyone asks. Steve Gongora asked: Who is going to the Thursday July 4th car show on the plaza at Santa Fe? A sign-up sheet was circulated. Wendy said that we should leave from our usual meeting place just north of the Bernalillo/Placitas bridge over I-25 at 6:00 AM in order to get there early enough to get a good spot and avoid the dumpster. Tarmo said the event is a nice opportunity: there's breakfast, nice cars, interesting and interested car owners; they are "real" local people who live in Santa Fe instead of tourists. There should be a lot of interest in our cars. Bill Reider said, just as he was leaving the Tri-State, Debbie gave him some 1999 CORSA membership rosters. We raffled them off. Having no further business and no planned program, about 8:06 PM President Robert prepared to call for the meeting to be adjourned; your editor/temporary secretary, in a mood to tell his friends about a really neat car, said he'd wind up the meeting with a version of his sports car story. The meeting was adjourned and the Mazda Miata story was told. Parts of it, no doubt, were true. Other versions may be found on his web page or possibly elsewhere in this newsletter. === JUNE BOARD MEETING NOTES Jim Pittman President Robert Gold being out of town, the meeting was called to order at 5:15 by Anne Mae Gold. Also present were Steve Gongora, Sylvan Zuercher, Larry Blair, Jerry Goffe and Jim Pittman. Minutes from last month were approved. There was no Treasurer's report (Wendell Walker was not at the meeting) but later it was determined in a phone conversation that our bank accounts are solvent. (Wendell remarked, however, that the checking account has been gradually declining for many months and occasionally it has been necessary to shift funds from our savings account to cover expenses.) Old Business The campout at Ruth's cabin was a lot of fun although there were not many in attendance and we couldn't have a campfire. Our new members, Kevin & Leslie Sullivan, drove their Ultravan right up to the cabin. We discussed why the attendance was light; we thought it was a good time for the event in order to avoid August rains, so we don't want to change from June for next year. But, next year's committee will have to decide. New Business The trip to Flagstaff for the convention was discussed. Some members are trying to get together to caravan. Some will leave on Monday, some on Tuesday. Meeting place: the Winrock Inn or at the top of Nine Mile Hill or at I-40 and Rio Grande Boulevard. Sylvan described Dave's Corvair van, completely rebuilt. It's very nice, said Sylvan. The trip to Santa Fe for the Fourth of July car show was discussed. We'll meet at the Bernalillo bridge (Placitas/Cuba exit) at 6:00 AM so as to get to the Plaza by 7:00. An early arrival may help keep us out of the garbage bin parking slot. The Route 66 Cleanup was discussed. It will be the Saturday after the Santa Fe car show: July 6th. We'll meet at the usual spot on NM 333 just east of the city. We said we'd meet at 7:00 AM to avoid some of the July hot weather - but, check with Ollie at the meeting. We discussed programs at future meetings. Sylvan can do "hot tips" at the July meeting. Or, "hot tips for cool cars" as Anne Mae said. It will be a follow-up to the carburetor tune-up class conducted by Bill Reider at Del Norte High School, said Sylvan. No other important topics of a business nature seemed to present themselves, so we adjourned the meeting at 5:58 PM and various groups continued their discussions of important Corvair topics. === FROM THE DRIVERS SEAT Robert Gold I write this column after returning from a pleasant stay at Ruth Boydston's cabin in the Pecos. The annual CNM campout, though not heavily attended, was still a great time. A crisis involving the development of my wife's plot of land resulted in her leaving for the Pecos a day early and that left me to hitch a ride with Wendell Walker. I want you to know I usually overpack for a trip. But this time I decided to travel light and I figured what I brought, a small suitcase, a small cooler and a jacket would fit just fine in whatever Wendell decided to drive. For those of you who don't know, Wendell has an extremely eclectic collection of cars. I showed up at the designated meeting spot to discover a flashy red sports car, specifically a Pantera, parked on the side of the street. And as Arlo Guthrie put it in his song, Alice's restaurant, I realized at that moment I was to be subjected to blind justice. In this case justice was telling me that I didn't have a chance in Hades to fit my luggage in that machine. I transferred my possessions into two shopping bags feeling much like a street person. What followed was somewhat of blur. Even counting our detour due to an accident I arrived at Ruth's cabin far ahead of the time I normally get there in my classy Aerostar van. So, for a short time during the trip up and back I got to sample the feeling that those jet setters feel when they tool around in their fancy wheels. I want to thank Wendell for his good company and kindness in transporting me and to thank Ruth Boydston for hosting the weekend (and sending that cherry cheese cake down to me - I ate the whole thing!). Another thought occurred to me when I thought about packing for the trip up to the Pecos. What occurred to me is that way back in my youth I used to carry a briefcase to work. It was a high class way I thought to transport my sack lunch to work and it also provided some space to hold on to important documents that needed my attention. What it eventually became was a portable attic stuffed with paperwork I would never get around to looking at. So you ask what does that have to do with Corvairs of New Mexico? Well... as President I now have a brief case that I carry to the meetings. I thought it would be a handy way to carry the gavel and a book that I could write notes in when I attend the monthly membership and Board meetings. The case is now completely full of all manners of stuff. Most of which I should toss since the paperwork refers to events that have long since taken place. One constructive thing I did do was to copy the information that Joel Nash gave me on my Transvair. I got around to doing that after being given the stuff months ago. I may even remember to give it back to Joel at the next meeting. Speaking of the next meeting, I want to remind everyone that we will be meeting on July 3. There was some thought about waiting 'til the next week to meet since the 4th is the day after, but most folks said that they could make the meeting on the 3rd. I hope that makes sense. If not, just look at the calendar Jim Pittman has in the newsletter. After mentioning Jim Pittman it occurred to me that I should thank Jim for his impromptu talk on the joys of owning a sports car. I think we all have stories of how we went on a journey of discovery concerning cars. I mentioned in my first column how I had been impressed by an article in Hot Rod about the mid-engine Corvair, and upon my move to New Mexico many years later, took the opportunity to buy one (or two, or three, or maybe 5!) Moving right along, at the meeting in May I suggested that we might use the CNM newsletter as a means to tell our worst Corvair stories. I thought we could call the column, "Corvair Catastrophes". I know that probably everyone has a tale to tell about how their trusty car let them down and got them through a tough time in one manner or another. I would encourage the members to jot those stories down and send them on to Jim Pittman for inclusion in the newsletter. I have one story that includes such elements as an ice storm in Kansas, an overloaded Corvair, and a jacknifed travel trailer. Sounds interesting doesn't it? That might be the one I pick to send in. Then there's the one about the politician, the banker and the duck -- no I guess that's not the story I should tell -- never mind. The days are counting down to the National Convention in Flagstaff. My wonderful wife will be taking on the responsibility of setting up a caravan to the convention for the CNM group. I talked to some folks about it at the last meeting and we think that an early start on Tuesday, June 25th would work out well. I guess we need to decide what an early start means. I'll be driving my little-used black 64 convertible while the rest of the clan will be driving in support in a shiny rental car. I can't wait. Lastly, I want to mention that the Route 66 cleanup has come around again and is scheduled for Saturday morning, July 6. We had a great turnout at the last cleanup and let's keep up that good work. See you there. I guess that's it for now. See you at the next meeting on Wednesday, July 3. -- Robert Gold === ============================================================================ C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S ============================================================================ | | | | | J u l y | A u g u s t | S e p t e m b e r | | | | | | : 1 2 3 4 5 6 | : : : : 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | | 28 29 30 31 : : : | 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | 29 30 : : : : : | | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 3rd Jul 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Thu 4th Jul early! Santa Fe Plaza - breakfast, car show, parade, etc. Sat 6th Jul 9:00 AM Old Route 66 Cleanup - date tentative - see Ollie Sat 13th Jul 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - the Golds' - Albuquerque Wed 17th Jul 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 26th Jul 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sun 4th Aug ........ NMCCC All-Club Picnic - Elks Lodge Wed 7th Aug 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 10th Aug 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - the Domzalskis' - Placitas Wed 21st Aug 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 23rd Aug 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 4th Sep 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 14th Sep 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - TBA Wed 18th Sep 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 20th Sep 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CNM LADIES -by- Anne Mae Gold This from Ruth: Our campout was a great success. We had our new couple, Leslie and Kevin drive the only Corvair here. They drove it right up to park in the driveway by the cabin. Of course it was an Ultravan! Del and Kim had the backyard all to themselves, in their new tent. We had beautiful weather. We could all eat in the dining room away from the flies, had more food than we could eat. In total we had ten adults and two lovely children. Can't wait for the next one! Love you all, Ruth. This from Anne Mae: Dear CNM readers... our June get together was lightly attended, but a heck of a lot of fun! It turns our that Leslie, one of our new members is a quilter! She actually finished it too! We didn't dig my outhouse, but the land was all torn up. Kim and Dell had the adventure of having Sara sleep in their new tent with them. She seemed to do real well. Thank you K and D for giving her that great adventure! Kim also brought up a great card game called Sequence that we had a great time playing. We missed those of you that didn't attend. I know you would have been there if it were possible, we had you in our thoughts! Thank you Mike and Brenda for coming up, we wished you'd been able to stay the night. The next CNM gathering on July 13 will be at our house (Gold home)... 1301 Valencia Drive NE. That's north of Lomas, south of Constitution, three blocks west of San Pedro. Valencia does not go through to Lomas so turn on Marble (first street north of Lomas) and go east to Valencia. On August 10 we'll meet at the Domzalski's home. They are out in Placitas, so maybe we could carpool out there. Give a call if you're interested (268-6878). On September 14 we'll be meeting at the Stickler's cabin. The month of October is open. In November we'll meet at the Goff home. The month of December is open. So let me know if you want to carpool or host us one of the open months. I hope you all come out for some cool watermelon and ice tea in July. Until then I hope you drive safely to all you CNM and non-CNM events. Keep cool and keep in the groove baby! -- Anne Mae Christmas Corvair Brunch -by- Rita Gongora We are getting ready early this year: the Christmas Corvair Brunch is on track! It will be on Sunday December 1, 2002 at 11:00 AM at the Kirtland AFB Officers' Club, the same location as last year. It will be okay to arrive after 12:00 noon. When you go to the Wyoming gate to KAFB be sure to have your driver's license, proof of vehicle insurance and the vehicle registration. For more information, call Rita: 292-5570 / 256-0551. === Seven Years Ago July 1995 - Volume 21 - Number 7 The cover showed a patriotic 13-star flag which had the stars made of Monza emblems and the stripes made of Greenbriers. President Larry ran the meeting. Treasurer Will counted up to $1296 in the bank. Our recent audit of the books found no discrepancies; caution, however; the audit was NOT conducted by a major national auditing firm. Bill reported on Car Council activities and plans. We had new Clarks catalogs. Jerry said those who went to the Red River Tri-State missed a really nice Museum car show. Corvair belt buckles were on the way. Larry reported that he took the wheels off one of his Corvairs and was promptly busted by the city zoning people for having a junker in the front yard. Billiken and Bill the Cat drove 26.6 hours to New Mexico and had to stop in Clovis. We had several tech tips from other clubs: Fuel Pumps, No Oil Pressure, Emergency Brake Cable Removal, No Fuel or Spark, Water Hose for Corvairs, Pitfalls of O-Rings. (Water hose for Corvairs?) An article from an Iowa CORSA member told about working in an aluminum foundry, casting Corvair engine parts. Fourteen Years Ago July 1988 - Volume 14 - Number 7 The cover showed a 1965 sedan; new Corvair folks may want to know, how do you know it's a 1965? We had $596 in the kitty. The museum car show was nice; Larry's 1964 convertible Spyder took first place. Jerry provided a video of the trip to Canon City, Colorado, to attend the Tri-State there; Tom Martin further reported on the event. LeRoy said we'd have an auction in Jul and listed items. Sylvan announced an Econo/fun Run to Las Vegas in September. Twenty-one Years Ago July 1981 - Volume 7 Number 7 The happy CNM dragon led a patriotic Fourth of July parade and a Corvair convertible was the featured car. We had our meeting in the parking lot at Ed Black's but the weather was suitable. LeRoy reported on the recent car show, the recent auction, and the recent Los Alamos slalom. Robin DeVore told us about TRW lifters that are a smidge too long, but you could set your valve lash two turns past zero to compensate. Richard Twilley gave us a table of MPH vs. RPM for different tire sizes and rear axle ratios. Twenty-eight Years Ago - July 1974 What the Club did at our fourth meeting has been lost to history. === * * * * * * * FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED * * * * * * * FOR SALE: 1995 Caravan Voyager. 70,000 miles. Mechanic's special (has a bad transmission) Asking $800.00. Call Steve at 256-0551 FOR SALE: Two tire chains for 13" wheels. Best offer Larry Blair 821-1386 FOR SALE: 1960 Monza coupe. Needs ground up restoration. Automatic, Radio, gas heater. Powder coated engine shrouding. Full set of 60 Monza wheel covers. Extra front & rear suspension, with less than 27000 miles on them. Assembly & Shop Manuals for the 60 Corvair. Extra gas heater parts. $600 FOR SALE: RB block with freshly ground crank .010, .010 with distributor gear, eccentric for fuel pump, spacer, and slinger. Clevite 77 bearings rod & main .010, .010. Will install bell housing with new seal for either automatic or standard. $400 FOR SALE: Six cylinder jugs bored to .030, one new TRW forged piston, five used TRW forged pistons mounted on rods. All pistons are .030 oversize, one set of .030 chrome rings. $300 FOR SALE: Used Clarks aluminum oil pan five quart. In good shape and will include new oil pan gasket. $50 FOR SALE: Two 110 heads with valve job. Heads have been cc'ed. Comes with copper head gaskets. $400 FOR SALE: One Dale rebuilt Harmonic Balancer. $100 Buy it all for $1100 FOR SALE: Black Clark's carpet, late coupe $ 95 Padded dash Clarks 65-66 installed on metal support, black $145 Black headliner Clarks late coupe $ 60 Late model 3.55 automatic differential $ 75 Call Bill Reider at 299-4597 * * * * * CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS * * * * * === TRI-STATE REPORT Steve Goodman Hello Jim: The following is what Laura gave me. Attendee count: RMC 39* BONNEVILLE 23 CNM 17 tie PPCC 17 tie San Diego 2 Non-club 4 *travel trophy won by RMC Long Distance award to Glen Masopust of Nobel, Oklahoma Hard Luck award also to Glen Masopust for engine failure Car show: Early open 9 Early closed 7 Late open 1 Late closed 13 FC 5 Winners: Early open Ron Petrenas 63 Spyder convert (RMC) Early closed Ben Benzel 62 Monza cpe (PPCC) Late open Bob/Shirley Jess 66 Corsa convert (RMC) Late closed Glen/Barbara Masopust 66 Monza sedan (PPCC) FC Bruce/Betty Gwyther 62 Rampside (Bonneville) Best of Show Larry Yoder 66 Corsa cpe (RMC) Total registered car show attendees: There were 35 plus several locals for a total of 41 on display Ruth Goodman's raffle afghan was won by Velma Brown Francis Boydston award won by Rita & Steve Gongora Poker run winner: Bruce Gwyther (spade flush) Candy jar guess winner: Lee Reider 50/50 winner: Tarmo & Kay Sutt's exchange student Tidbit: 8 rooms at the motel booked for Thursday arrival (early) and 45 booked for Friday arrival T-shirts: ordered 150 and sold 110 at the Tri-State meet Sizes: small (10) med (20) lrg (50) x-lrg (40) 2x-lrg (30) SOLD OUT OF x-large with the 40 Jim: I will try to get a year by year breakdown of the cars but it may take a few days. I wrote an article for our newsletter and one of the things that I stated was that the breakdowns seemed pretty minor and relatively few this year. Considering the length of drive for CNM as well as the two Colorado clubs I thought that was worth mentioning. It was noted in tonight's meeting of RMC that since Bonneville attended so well that RMC should try to attend their show (The Gathering) but unfortunately it is in March and it is fairly iffy crossing mountain passes that time of year. I hope the above helps. I looked at your newsletter on-line so I know what you had in the last one. Good job too. Best to the two of you and families. Regards, Steve === (I recently received this e-mail from Glenn "The Wiz" Masopust. I'm sure all who have been to past Tri-State events will appreciate it. - Ed.) Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 19:47:56 -0500 From: Glenn Masopust To: casa unm edu Subject: Tri-State Hi to Corvairs of New Mexico from Barb & Glenn in Oklahoma. We have really enjoyed your website & pictures. Our trip to Grand Junction was a real fun time I still think someone stuffed the ballot box because I had no idea of winning best late closed. Our trip home was another story, the altitude was bothering Barb so we decided to head home on monday instead of going on to Laramie WY. to see our sister in law, we made it to Dalhart TX. A bad idle turned out to be a dropped valve seat that my machinist swore would not come out. I pulled the rocker arm and we limped home again from Dalhart. Give our best to all your members and we'll see you in Raton. -- B&G === Miatas and other Sports Cars Jim Pittman In February I bought a 1996 Miata. How did I come to get this car? Because in 1989 Mazda designed the Miata JUST FOR ME. It wasn't the first car that was designed just for me. But to understand what I mean by that, you'd need to know my automotive background. My dad was always a Ford man. His first car was a Model-T and he never bought anything but Fords. Naturally, I became a Ford man too. I learned how to drive in a 1941 Ford with a three-speed column shifter. My first car was the family Ford, a 1952 Custom 4-door that I inherited it when I graduated from high school and my mother got a new 1957 Ford. My blue '52 Ford had a nice 3-speed automatic and a flat-head V-8. Naturally I thought all cars ought to have V-8s. My dad always took care of his cars. He never did any work on them, but he was always careful to change the oil on schedule, buy good quality tires for them and have the dealer tune them up when they needed new points, plugs and filters. My 1952 Ford ran great. It would cruise all day with the speedometer needle pointing straight up at 70. Yes, 70-MPH was legal on the better sections of our two-lane blacktop Highway 84 in those days. I painted the rusting bumpers with nice shiny aluminum paint. I re-upholstered the door panels. I even waxed the car occasionally, removing dark blue dead paint and making the car look new again. One day when I checked the oil I thought the oil level had risen. I checked it again the next day and it was even higher! A real puzzle until I looked at the radiator and saw the antifreeze level going down. The engine had developed a cracked block and antifreeze was going into the oil. Not good! As so many of us have done so many times, I thought the car was worth the expense of a new engine and I ordered a rebuilt engine from Sears. It probably cost about $300, a big investment in those days. It was a 1953 engine and it ran okay, but the transmission no longer shifted just right. I took it to our Ford dealer and told the shop manager, Howard Bounds, what it was doing. He raised the hood, fiddled with something down by the firewall, and said, That'll fix it. Sure enough, the transmission shifted perfectly again. My already high opinion of Mr Bounds went into orbit. Later I learned that he had just re-connected the linkage from the accelerator to the transmission, which the Sears guys had overlooked. The first car designed JUST FOR ME was the 1962 Ford Fairlane. In 1962 I needed to buy a new car. I had been for a ride in a friend's new Falcon. It was just too small! Of course I didn't pay any attention to Corvairs or Valiants; they were not Fords. But the new Fairlane was a "mid-sized" car, relatively inexpensive and the perfect size for me, smaller than a Ford and larger than a Falcon. I ordered a new Fairlane 500 with four doors and with a 260 V-8 and automatic and 14-inch wheels and seat belts. I was pleased with my Fairlane and thoroughly enjoyed driving it until April 1964 when Ford announced the new Mustang that they designed JUST FOR ME. The Mustang was aimed at a young person who would take one look at it and fall in love with its sporty styling. I was a young man of 24 and knew how good my Fairlane was and I knew the Mustang would be so much better! All I had to do was decide between coupe or convertible and between automatic and four-speed. Either way it would have a 289 V-8. About this time I had a chance to go on a charter flight to Europe for three weeks in October 1964. I had joined the Air Force to see the world, but so far the Air Force had only seen fit to send me to Texas and Ohio, so I thought this opportunity was too good to pass up. I decided I could wait until November to trade my Fairlane in on a new Mustang. I made plans for my trip and started saving my Mustang money. Then a strange thing happened. When I'd tell my friends I was going to Europe for three weeks on a charter flight, they'd invariably ask, What kind of car are you going to bring back? I had never given a thought to owning a foreign car and I always said, I'm not. My friend Jack was determined to convince me to bring back a sports car - probably so I'd let him play with it. One day he said, Have you ever driven a sports car? I said, Well, I have driven a Volkswagen Beetle... but he cut me off: No, I mean a real SPORTS CAR. Let's go drive one. We went to a used car lot in Fairborn that specialized in British sports cars. Jack picked out one for us to try, a rather dingy TR-4. I drove it off the lot. Within a mile my sober, sane mind was destroyed! That TR-4 changed my life! It showed me that there was more to driving than just going from point A to point B in an automatic Ford. Suddenly the idea of buying a car in Europe began to take on an entirely different light. I could order a car before I left, have it delivered in Europe, drive it over there for three weeks, then ship it back, all for less than the cost of buying the same car in Dayton. Instead of taking trains or busses, I'd be able to drive anywhere I wanted. If it happened that I didn't like the car, I could sell it when I returned and reap a tidy profit (so my friend assured me) and then go ahead and get my Mustang. I went shopping for sports cars. The TR-4, MG-B and Alpine were not on my list; they only had 4-cylinders. But in general, European cars (that I could afford) did not have V-8s. So I settled for an Austin-Healey 3000 because it had a six-cylinder engine. Davis Buick in Dayton was happy to sell me a Mk. III Austin-Healey to be picked up in London. As I recall, it cost me about $3000 not counting shipping. When I arrived in London I picked up my new American-specification (with the steering wheel on the left side) Austin-Healey and drove it about 850 miles in England, then crossed the Channel and drove it about 1,400 miles in France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. Then I took it to Amsterdam to ship back to the states. I flew back to Dayton and some days later went to Baltimore to pick it up. I got my first speeding ticket driving from Maryland to Ohio. That was my introduction to the fact that an Austin-Healey 3000 was spectacular at attracting attention. The Dayton area was sports car heaven, and I learned how to drive with that car. What I had been doing with the Fairlane was not really "driving" but was just going from one place to another. The Fairlane was a perfectly good car for that. I spent many hours late at night (there was less traffic, and you could see the lights of approaching cars from far away) on curvy back country roads, trying to master the arts of double-clutch, heel-and-toe and four-wheel-drift. Soon I had forgotten all about buying a Mustang. (Ironically, the friend who insisted that I take a test drive in a TR-4 was also smitten by Mustang fever; he got an air-conditioned Mustang convertible with a 289 V-8, 4-barrel, 4-speed and Michelins. So, while he occasionally got to play with my Austin-Healey, I also got to play with his Mustang. And although I never owned one, I did get in a lot of rally driving with a well-equipped Mustang.) Then I got a chance to go to Alaska for a four-year tour. I did not expect the Austin-Healey to survive the cold or the rough roads for four years so I looked about for a more practical car. I found I was no longer a Ford man! My horizons had been expanded considerably by a year of running rallies with the Ohio sports car crowd. A Volvo 122 or 1800 was an obvious choice for a cold climate, but the Volvo dealer would not give me enough for my year-old Healey. Then I thought, I have had several friends who owned Corvairs, most of them Spyders (with turbo supercharger) and they all liked them. I had even been on a weekend trip to up- state Michigan with a friend who owned a Spyder coupe. The Corvair was the right size! It needed no antifreeze! Perfect for a cold climate. Corvairs were popular in sports car rallies in Ohio in those days and Corvairs were considered as much "sports cars" as Volvos. I arranged to sell the Healey and put in my order for a new 1966 Corvair Corsa coupe. I ordered it with the turbo engine because that one had the highest power rating (180 instead of 140) and besides, most of my Corvair friends had Spyders which of course all had turbos. It was to be delivered to a dealer in Detroit. When I got a call telling me the car was ready my friend Carl Harris offered to drive me to Detroit to pick it up. Carl was from California and had grown up building and racing 409 Chevys. The first car he bought when he got in the Air Force was a 1965 black Impala with a 396, four-speed and Hurst shifter. Carl tweaked it just a little. He showed me the street racer trick of sitting at idle on a stretch of deserted road, putting a five dollar bill on the dash and saying, If you can reach forward and get the bill before I get to a hundred miles an hour, you can have it. Then he'd dump the clutch, do a couple of power-shifts, and it was not possible to lean forward against the acceleration to get that bill! Very impressive. By now Carl had traded his 396 Impala for a 1966 Corvette with a 427. We went to Detroit in the Corvette to pick up my new Corvair, then took turns driving the two cars back to Dayton. Carl taught me a few of the basics of car maintenance, getting me off to a good start as a mechanic. I had already ordered a set of Michelins for the Corvair and I installed them at the base auto hobby shop. (In 1964 the first thing I learned about sports cars was to put Michelin radial tires on them.) My very first impression of the Corvair was that it was a much better car than the Austin-Healey 3000. No doubt there are plenty of Healey owners who would vehemently deny that, but that's what I thought at the time, and I'll be glad to give you my reasons if you want. Soon I was driving away from Dayton for the last time, headed for the West Coast and on to Prince Rupert, British Columbia where I boarded the ferry to Skagway, Alaska. Then I drove on north to Fairbanks. I soon found out that an air-cooled engine was not necessarily the best answer to truly cold weather - you needed to go to a lot of trouble to keep it from running too cold and destroying itself! But, I went to the trouble. An electric battery blanket and an electric oil pan heater kept it warm enough to start at 40 below, as long as you remembered to keep it plugged in overnight. It started at least once at 30 below when I forgot to plug in the electric heaters. After living through my first winter I learned that our lab was going to be closed and everybody was to be moved to San Antonio. Having already been to San Antonio, I pulled strings to get assigned to Alamogordo, New Mexico. In the meantime I drove the Corvair to places like Nenana and Liveandgood and Anchorage, and I entered an ice slalom (autocross) on a frozen lake. When it was time to leave, I skipped the ferry and drove the Corvair all the way down the Alaska Highway, 5,000 miles in ten days. It was August and it was hot and Alamogordo seemed like an exotic place out on the frontier, in fact, a lot like Alaska. Now I learned about driving in the desert. Wind. Dust. Blistering, vinyl-destroying ultraviolet from the sun. One of my friends wanted to buy a sports car and called on my wisdom. I went with him to shop for used sports cars. We found an MG Midget and a 1964 MG-B in El Paso. He bought the Midget, but the shopping and test driving left my mind full of nostalgia for my Austin-Healey. Finally I went back to El Paso and bought the MG-B. The paint was faded but after a tune-up it ran great! I hardly ever put the top up. The tonneau cover kept some of the sun and dust out and it was easy to unzip and jump in and drive off into good weather. Meanwhile, the Corvair was just fine to drive in adverse weather or on longer trips. One day my friend showed up at my office door at about 5:30; I was working late. He had left the lab but his car quit a quarter of a mile down the road and he walked back to get help. We jumped in my MG-B and drove up to where the forlorn little MG Midget was sitting. I had him try the starter. Sure enough, it would crank but wouldn't start. I told him to leave the key on. I went to the back of the car and gently rapped a few times under the rear fender with his tire iron until I heard the fuel pump start clicking. I told him to start it now, and it started right up. He thought forever more that I was a mechanical genius, but actually the MG-A that my friend the school teacher drove back in Dayton did the same thing, and she'd rap the fuel pump with a book (she kept the metal cover plate off just for this purpose) to keep the fuel pump ticking. I found the MG-B to be a far more comfortable and "fun" car than the Healey had been, and it was much easier to drive. It was certainly fast enough for me. Had I only known, it would have been much better to buy an MG-B for my first sports car. MG's motto used to be "Safety Fast" and that was a good motto. Alamogordo was no place for rallies (not enough curvy roads nearby) but there were plenty of sports cars (mostly from the air base) and a lot of enthusiasm for slaloms or autocrosses. I ran both of my cars in slaloms. I tried bigger and better tires. With wide Pirelli Cinturatos I could easily beat average MG-B drivers, but a really good MG-B driver could beat me. I tried but could never succeed in going fast enough in the Corvair to actually spin it out. I spun the MG-B out a couple of times, though. It had nice neutral handling, but the line between a drift and a spin was small. As my friend Dr Farrer said, if you don't spin out once in a while, you aren't going as fast as you should be. Right. The Corvair did okay in New Mexico but the turbo tended to make the engine run hot and it had no power at low speeds. I liked the car well enough to get a new 140-HP 4-carb engine for it. Richard Finch did some major tweaking to the engine and in effect blueprinted it from top to bottom. That gave me plenty of usable high-speed power and a lot more low-speed torque. A very successful engine swap! When I left the military I sold the MG-B and kept the Corvair going "forever" which included making several trips across (and half-way across) the country. I eventually came back to Albuquerque to go to graduate school, and my Corvair was noticed by both Mark Morgan and Pete Colburn. Mark suggested that I join the closest Corvair club, Rocky Mountain CORSA in Denver, as well as the national organization, CORSA. Later Pete invited all the CORSA members in New Mexico to meet and discuss forming a Corvair club in Albuquerque. I have often thought that I would never have kept my Corvairs so many years without this club. I bought and fixed up and sold a few other Corvairs along the way including a 1965 Corsa convertible. After getting Francis Boydston to rebuild the engine, the convertible ran great, but I hardly ever put the top down because it was such a miserable chore. A "sports car" it definitely was not. By 1989 my 1966 Corvair was getting tired and I had driven it well over 100,000 miles and I thought it might be time to get a modern car with air conditioner. I started my research and pretty much focused in on a Honda Civic. But when I read about the Miata I knew that Mazda had built it JUST FOR ME - that is, someone who used to have a British sports car back in the good ol' days and now, getting a little older and maybe having a mid-life crisis of one kind or another, wanted to own an inexpensive, reliable, economical sports car again. When the first Miatas showed up in Albuquerque I went to the dealer for a test drive. Unfortunately I got to the dealership just at dark and it was raining. The salesman had the top up. When I backed out into the rain and hit the light switch and those two barn doors flopped up I was nonplussed! I decided the Miata was not for me. (Maybe I was having the wrong kind of mid-life crisis?) Several months later I decided the Honda Civic was the car I needed, and I ordered a 1990 EX four-door with 5-speed. When the Civic arrived I was shocked! It was so different from the Corvair (or any other car that I had owned) that it took some getting used to. Also, by then I had absorbed a lot of Honda owners' propaganda and I found myself disappointed that it wasn't absolutely "perfect" - although after 12 years with this car I can tell you that it's the most nearly perfect car I've ever owned. In the back of my mind I thought about the Miata from time to time. I thought someday I'd be able to get a used one for a good price. But I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about Miatas. After all, there had been a lot of nice cars over the years that I'd read about but did not want to drive because I knew I'd want one but couldn't afford it: the Datsun 1600, the Fiat 128, the Datsun 240-Z, the BMW 2002, the Toyota MR-2, just to name a few. We have been driving to Shreveport and Baton Rouge every Thanksgiving for several years. Heula's Civic makes the trip just fine, if it lacks passing and hill power. But it will go 80-MPH on the level, no problem. Heula's daughter has a 2001 Accord EX, a very nice but TOO BIG car, and last year she found a one-owner '93 Miata to drive to work or for fun. We were visiting in November and she handed me the key and we went out for a spin. Boy what a feeling! The car felt and sounded so nice. Back at home we talked about the pros and cons of buying a Miata. We scanned the paper for cars for sale and went by the dealer to look at their Miatas. A new one with every possible option had a sticker price way over $27,000 - too rich for us. A 1997 that we tested was a little too worn out to tempt us. We saw a '96 for sale in the paper and went to look at it. We drove it and in a few minutes we decided against all reason that we needed that car! We thought its condition was okay and the price was okay and we bought it. I haven't done any enthusiastic driving for many years, but I remember my slalom days with the turbo Corvair and the MG-B. I have excellent tires on the Civic and have enough mountain driving experience to appreciate its handling ability, although I haven't slalomed it. The Corvair (rear drive, rear weight bias), the MG-B (front-engine and rear drive with 50-50 weight bias) and the Civic (front drive and front weight bias) handle completely differently. The Miata, I find, is rather like the best MG-B I could imagine - only much better. So, thirty-eight years after catching the "sports car disease" I have had a relapse. The disease is proving to be fairly serious. Will I recover, or just muddle along, or get worse? It's too soon to say. =end=