Our scanner was down for nearly a year, but it started working again today. I don't know what she did, and neither does she, but my wife was just playing around with it, trying to get the copier portion of the all-in-one unit to work and the whole thing decided to get it's act together and work again.

When I had my '66 Corvair Monza, I carried a photo album of pictures we took on the trip home to the Philadelphia area from picking the car up in Denver in the car's glove box. When I cleaned the car out prior to selling it, I brought that album into our home office, where it sat on the book shelf right next to the computer. Well, now that the scanner works, I can finally share that road trip with all my Motortopia friends who might want to share the adventure of an 1,800 mile road trip in an antique car with me. Check it out - Rose and I had a blast on the trip... quite literally at one point, when we had a blowout at about 70 mph on the Interstate in Ohio!

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Today, October 2, 2009, is the 50th Anniversary of the Corvair's debut in Chevrolet showrooms across the nation! Back then, it wasn't the misunderstood little car that it came to be, but rather General Motors' long-awaited answer to the Compact cars already on the market from Rambler, Studebaker, and of course Volkswagen. Corvair's rear engine layout wasn't meant to copy Volkswagen, but simply followed the logic Ferdinand Porsche used in the VW's design: A compact drivetrain concentrated at one end of the car allows more room for passengers. Rather than design a 3/4 scale full-size Chevy, they took a "clean sheet of paper" approach and started fresh. As a result, the Corvair has more usable interior room than the comparable compacts from Ford (the Falcon), Chrysler (Valiant) Rambler (American) and Studebaker (Lark - even though the Lark was based on an old Studebaker full-size platform, dating back to 1953!). Today, folks believe that the Corvair never sold well, but the fact is that in it's first model year alone more than a quarter million cars were sold! Keep in mind that, when it was introduced the buyer had his choice of a 4-door sedan in one of two trim levels. That's it - the coupe came at midyear, along with the Top-of-the-line Monza trim level, exclusive to the coupe in 1960.

In 1961, production increased to nearly 300,000 cars with the introduction of a Monza sedan and two levels of station wagon. 1962 saw the introduction of the world's first successful car with a factory Turbocharged engine, the 150 horsepower Corvair Monza Spyder. The station wagon became available with Monza trim for it's shortened model year - it was discontinued mid-year to free up production for the new Corvair convertible, available only as a Monza or Monza Spyder. Production still topped 250,000. 1963 was basically a carryover year, but 1964 saw a marked improvement in handling with the addition of a camber-compensating transverse leaf spring to the rear swing axle independant suspension. That was just a foretaste of what was to come the following year...

1965 saw the introduction of the "Late Model" body, with it's fully independant suspension. The Monza Spyder name was superceeded by the Corsa badge, and the Turbo engine, newly upgraded to 180 horses, became an option with a 4-carb, 140 hp engine standard on the Corsa and available throughout the rest of the Corvair line. '66 saw general refinements to the car with seat belts, a driver's side rear view mirror and back-up lights becoming standard by federal law. '67 was more of the same, including several federally-mandated improvements, a collapsible steering column and a dual circuit master cylinder among them. '67 was also the final year for the 4-door Sport Sedan which, in base 500-series trim, was the least expensive 4-door hardtop available in America (I once owned one of these rare cars - fewer that 3,000 built - made even rarer due to it's having the 4-carb engine and a 4-speed stick!) By 1968, the handwriting was on the wall, and production slumped to only 15,399 units. The final year, 1969, was even worse, with only an even 6,000 cars built, spread among 500-Series coupes and Monza coupes and convertibles.

Then there were the "Corvair 95" trucks (So named for their 95" wheelbase). These unique little vehicles were incredibly practical for their owners. The Rampside pickup got it's name from, well, a ramp in the right side of the pickup bed that lowered to street level to make loading and unloading easier than it ever has been in any other pickup not equipped with a tailgate lift! The pickup was also available without the ramp. Called the "Loadside", it undercut the price of the Rampside but was never anything like as popular due to the increased practicality of it's more expensive stablemate. There were also a pair of vans available: The panel-sided Corvan and the Greenbrier Sport Wagon with windows all around.

There are examples of nearly every year and body style of Corvair owned by fellow members of Motortopia. So on this 50th anniversary of this unique car's introduction, why not take a few minutes and take a look. There are some VERY impressive cars and trucks available for your viewing pleasure just by running a search for "Corvair" under the "Cars" tab at the top of the page.

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It's happened to most of us: For one reason or another, we lose a car we are attached to before we're ready to let go. Well, that happened to me today.

Our financial situation has been going steadily downhill over the past year or so due to cutbacks at work. Our household budget was built around the 8-16 hours of overtime that I could depend on coming in every 2-week pay period. We bought my wife a new car in late 2004, and I got my Cobalt SS in September 2005. Everything was going smoothly... until Rose's work hours were cut in half due to on-the-job injury. The company doctor said she can only work 4 hours a day. Worker's Comp doesn't cover the entire difference, but my O/T was still there so we were still staying above water by just trimming some fat from the budget here and there. Then the other shoe dropped and my O/T went away about a year ago. Things started slipping, like maintenance around the house. Then, about a week ago, the water heater blew and we didn't have the money to replace it.

Something had to give, and that turned out to be my Corvair. I had a standing offer on the car from a friend for several years, and last Monday I contacted him and told him that I'd finally take his offer. Today, we took Ashley on her final drive as my car. We took her from our home in suburban Philly up to the Pocono Mountains (a very pleasant drive, by the way - the weather was perfect), and I signed the title over at about one o'clock this afternoon.

We owned her for over 6 years and had a lot of fun with her. We found her on eBay and flew out to Denver to drive her home. We love a good cross-country road trip. Rose learned to drive stick shift on that trip! The car took us safely to two Corvair Club national conventions. One of them included single-day drives of over 750 miles each way without a hiccup. The local 5.0 Mustangs learned to respect her - we had a record of 13-0 against 5.0's at traffic lights. I especially enjoyed dusting a BMW Z-3 on a twisty back road last fall, ironically in the Poconos, within miles of where she now 'lives'.

Her new owner has serious plans for a complete cosmetic restoration. The car is already nearly 100% mechanically, so some minor bodywork, a complete stripping down to the metal and a repaint in the original Lemonwood Yellow, and a new reproduction interior are in her immediate future. Anyone in the area of the Poconos can visit her at "Callie's Candy Kitchen" in Mountainhome, PA. Most nice days, at least until she goes in for her makeover, she should be on display in front of the shop. Her new owner, Harry Callie, is a collector with over a dozen interesting old cars on an informal rotating display schedule at that location, with several Model A's at his other store, "Callie's Pretzel Factory", about 1 1/2 miles south.

I'm going to miss my car. I had a lot of fun with her. She was the best Corvair by far of the 14 I've owned. At least I know where she is and can visit any time I have a day to drive the 100 or so miles. I know she is in good hands and will get the restoration she deserves.

Goodbye, my friend. We had some good times.

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Well folks, I've been busy with my trusty Nikon Coolpix again! Last night I went to the August edition of Pottstown, PA's monthly "Nostalgia Nights" show, and as usual I took plenty of pictures. I split the pictures I took into two albums, for a rason I'll describe in a second. Good News! Neither of these albums is nearly as long as I usually put on here! In fact, the two of them combined are shorter than most of them! My format for the first one changed a little - I used to shoot EVERY car that caught my eye, regardless of whether I had shot it before or not. This time I concentrated on cars that, if I hadn't taken their pictures before, it had at least been a long time since I had.

The second one is VERY different, even though it was shot at the same time: While I was there, I came across a professional photo shoot featuring a fully customized '53 Chevy 2-door sedan and not one but TWO beautiful Pin-Up Girls! I met one of these ladies at this show last year and took her picture beside a customized '59 El Camino. That shot has gone on to draw more comments than just about any other picture I've posted on Motortopia! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture this on my trusty digital camera (I almost said 'on film'!) for all of you to enjoy.

(WARNING: Most of the pictures in this album are at least borderline risque, although it was all done in fun. There were parents there with young children there. If you find this sort of thing offensive, please don't bother to check out this album!)

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I've been accused a lot over the past several months of cheating in the challenge game, but it took another member (LouieLouie) getting sick of seeing it in the comments to come up with a great idea: Form a group dedicated to fairness in voting in the challenge game! Yes, I know I was with a couple of challenge groups in the past, but I left them months back with no ill feelings that I know of from the members of those groups. It was such a feeling of freedom to vote for the rides I felt were best in the challenges and not just for friends rides. Funny, many of those guys have some of the best cars in the challenges, and I still vote for them, not because friends own them but because they're simply the better car in the challenge involved. So check out the "Independant Challengers" group, read what LouieLouie has to say about it and just think about it. Here's a link to the group's page:

http://www.mo...t_challengers

Jim

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andylynn67 has sunk to a new low. read what he had to say about 1962ChevyGuy in a comment in a current challenge:


andylynn67 Apr 20, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Hmmmm !! Big mouth gay guy(not that there is anything wrong with that LOL) or cool Porsche !!
Well this will be easy

OK, I know what I did to get him all hot and bothered at me: I dared to vote for a car in a challenge that he didn't like! HORRORS! How could I dare do stupid thing like that, vote for a very nice Honda CRX over a soon-to-be completed VW Bug that promised to be very nice itself once it was finished. I even commented that I liked the Bug, and if I had known that the points were going as badly against it as they were, that I would have sent a few votes it's way. Yes, voting was going very much against the Volkswagen, and it was going to be a very nice car once it was finished, but I wasn't the only one who preferred the Honda. For some reason known only to andylynn67, he singled me out for his diatribes. Perhaps it was because I like Corvairs. Since both Corvairs and VW Bugs are air-cooled, Andylynn67 just assumed that I voted for the Honda because it's owned by a friend of mine. He clearly didn't look at my friends list - if he had, he would have noticed that the VW owner was ALSO ON MY FRIENDS LIST!!! :lmao:

Anybody who knows "Chevy Guy" will tell you that he's as straight as they come. I don't want to come off as judgemental in this issue, but andylynn should at least get his facts "straight"! "Big Mouth"? I don't think I've ever seen him write a sentence of more that four words! I don't know what "Chevy Guy" could have possibly done or said to incur the hateful wrath of andylynn67, but whatever it was, it was bad enough for him to present blatant HATE SPEECH in a public forum for everybody to read. If it were up to me, this bad apple would be plucked from Motortopia and thrown in the compost heap where bad apples belong. This is supposed to be a fun, friendly website, and I don't think we need people like andylynn67 messing things up for those of us who are here for fun and friendship! If you agree with me, please let Motortopia know!

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I voted in a challenge recently, with a very nice Honda CRX up against an equally nice Volkswagen Super Beetle. I voted my own preferences, by the criteria set in the challenges; those being Performance, Styling, and Overall. Now, as you can read in the comment I left on the challenge, which I "Cut & Pasted" below, I like BOTH cars, but voting just in the categories, I realized that the Honda would out-perform the VW, it's styling is much more to my liking, and overall. I'd rather own the Honda over the Beetle. Yes, the owner of the Honda is a friend of mine. No, that didn't weigh into my decision in the least! Sounds strange, coming from the owner of many air-cooled cars over the years, but it's the truth. However, some disgruntled members with a chip on their shoulder, can't seem to get it thtrough their heads that a person can't possibly disagree with them! So I've taken the liberty of posting a couple of messages that are on Motortopia already (Look them up on the challenge in question), as well as the one sent to me personally. Let me know what you think of the situation. First, here's andylynn67's blog post in it's entirety, through the magic of "Cut & Paste":
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WOW!!!
Feb 20, 2009 | Views: 23

By andylynn67

I hate to say that I am very upset to pop back in here and see the same old ! The same clowns are challenging everyone and regardless off the car (no longer owned,or no Info etc!) they all vote for their friends. Is this fun??? It is the same people(no names will be metioned), but if you have been here as long as I have you will know exactly who I am talking about. And the biggest sore loser that wold cry and beg for votes is still at it (can't say his name but starts with A ) LMAO!!!!!
That's it for me, Done here .. Don't have time to play
Cheer to my good buds
And new Buds!!!!
Andy
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Now, this is my comment posted on the challenge: (AUSUMCRX vs. The Bug http://www.mo..._the_bug/o/6)

Feb 17, 2009 at 11:13 am
Whew! I've gotta go Honda here, but I like the Bug, too. If I'd realized the VW was getting pounded so badly, I would have voted differently, since it deserves better than it's been getting so far (No offense to the CRX).
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Seriously, does this sound like I had it in for the Volkswagen? Still, here's andylynn67's personal message to me:

Subject: Jim Jim Jim
From: andylynn67
Date: Feb 19, 2009 10:19 pm
Report as Spam

I can't believe you voted for a no longer owned Honda piece of crap over a VW!!!! And for a clown that begs for votes. No need to reply you are toast as a buddy
LMAO !!!! I am gone from here.
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Afterwards, andylynn67 added this comment to the cahllenge:

Yesterday at 10:34 pm
The Bug Rocks!! Bud, sadly some people here feel it is more important to vote for friends. No names will be mentioned, but you will see them over and over and over agin with lame comments. So if comments are meant to be fun they are having all the fun winning cheap thrills.
I'm done and gone
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All I can say is that he just doesn't get it. Sure, I know full well that some folks vote for their friends - that's just human nature. But some of us take the challenges more seriously, and enjoy the competition for the sake of competition. I lke to think that people like my cars and vote for THEM, not just because I own them but because they're great cars. I like Andy's '67 Camaro, and I've voted for it in several challenges in the past. Should I have voted for his opponent just because he was on my friends list? No, that wouldn't make any sense, now would it! Still, he seems to think everybody should think the way he does and vote the way he does. Sad.

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I've recently posted three albums of pictures of model cars built by a gentleman I met online about a year ago. I answered an ad of his on eBay about a very well detailed model he was selling, and we got into a discussion of what it takes to build a model of the caliber of the ones he was selling. He graciously e-mailed me the pictures I've included in these albums. Two of the albums go into detail about the restoration of a couple of models to his high standards. These models were built back when the kits were new in the 1960s, and he completely dismantled them, stripped any paint, fixed any defects in the [plastic (including a couple of major errors in the design of the body of one of them, a 1969 Chevy Impala SS convertible), rechromed the chrome pieces, and painted them in original factory colors. The other restoration album is a 1962 Chevy II Nova convertible, which he modified by installing a small-block V-8 in place of the original straight-6. The third album shows pictures of three of his other creations: a '69 Impala SS hardtop, a '74 Impala coupe, and a 1965 Chevy Bel Air (or is it a Biscayne - I don't recall!) 2-door sedan. This one id built with a non-original body sourced from the growing model car aftermarket. (chevy66babe, are you listening? This one's real close to your car!) If you have any interest in excellent workmanship, you owe it to yourself to check out these three albums, all under the heading "Curbside 66", the gentleman's eBay screen name.

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I've been building model cars since I was about 10 years old (with a break in my late teens-early 20's), and it's an aspect of the car hobby that I really enjoy. No, car models aren't just for kids - I even formed an enthusiast's group here on Motortopia about 10 days ago that has almost a dozen members already! Please take a few minutes and check out my models, and let me know what you think. Also, take a look at the group's page. The other members of the "Automobile Modelers of Motortopia" have some fantastic models on display there, too!

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After discussing the idea with a few friends, I've finally decided the time has come for Motortopia to have a group for those of us who enjoy building car models. There is already a group dedicated to collectors of Diecast models, but the new group is for those of us who like to put our own personal touch on our scale cars. The group isn't just for plastic kit builders - folks who modify diecast models, build R/C and slot cars, and anything beyond simply opening a box and putting the car on the shelf are welcome. Diecast models have a place in the model hobby (I have several myself), but builders take a model and make it uniquely their own. If you're interested, drop by the group's page and check it out. There isn't much there yet - I don't have any pictures posted, and I seem to have misplaced my camera!

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Those folks who know me well know that I am a voracious reader. I rarely go anywhere without a paperback book or a magazine stuffed in my back pocket. Well, about twenty tears ago, I went through a period of reading biographies instead of my usual mysterys, crime dramas, or science fiction, just for a change of pace. One of the more interesting books I read during that time was "IACOCCA: An Autobiography" by Lee Iacocca, past Chairman of the Ford Motor Company. Being a Corvair enthusiast, there was a paragraph on pages 63-64 in "Chapter VI: The Mustang" that particularly interested me. I quote it here verbatim:

"We knew that General Motors had taken the Corvair, an economy car, and transformed it into the hot-selling Corvair Monza simply by adding a few sporty accessories such as bucket seats, stick shift, and fancy interior trim. We at Ford had nothing to offer the people who were considering a Monza, but it was clear to us that they represented a growing market."

As most of you reading this know, I'm heavily into the challenge game here on Motortopia, but I like to challenge cars as similar to mine as possible. When entering my 1966 Corvair Monza in challenges against Mustangs and other Pony Cars, I will often cite this passage, although not as a direct quote as I have done here. Let's face it - there aren't too many cars on Motortopia that compare directly to the Corvair, so I have to take my challenges where I find them. Since the Corvair Monza was the inspiration for the Mustang and, by extension the entire Pony Car class, I feel justified in challenging those cars.

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This evening, I acted on an idea that I've been kicking around for a couple of weeks now: To raise awareness of the Corvair in the hearts and minds of our fellow Motortopians, I've formed a new Enthusiast's group: The Corvair Mafia! This name came from an offhand remark I made a month or more ago in a challenge comment. The purpose is simply to encourage Corvair owners to participate more in the Challenges, to get the Corvair out in the public view as a viable hobby/enthusiast car. It is specifically NOT A CHALLENGE GROUP!!! No member has to vote for any car, Corvair or otherwise. Rather, they are openly encouraged to vote for whichever car they like the best in any and all ctgories. As stated above, our sole purpose is to raise awareness of our great little car!

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Some times your words can come back to bite you. 1fast_mazda found that out, and apparently he doesn't like it. I, along with at least half a dozen members that I know of, complained to Motortopia about his abusive, vulgar comments on challenges against his friend's cars. Motortopia revoked his comment privilege, and he seems to believe I did it myself. Now, we all know that no member can pull another member's right to make a comment on a challenge - only Motortopia itself can do that. You can block incoming messages from individual members, but that's the extent of it. That seems to have escaped 1fast_mazda's notics, because, according to him, I somehow managed to do it all on my own! Now he's resorted to issuing personal threats! I have to wonder about this guy. Here's a "Cut-And-Paste" of a message he sent me yesterday. I took the liberty of "Bleeping" one word because this is supposed to be a family-friendly website. All I can tell you is that what he wrote is a crude reference to a part of the male anatomy...

keep blocking me you crippled p****, next time i will run you and your wheel chair over in my yoder. hope you fall down the stairs.... good luck have a nice day

Now, I don't know where he got the idea that I'm in a wheelchair; judging by his picture, I'm in better shape than he is! Also, can someone please explain to me just what a "yoder" is??? I'm assuming it's some sort of car by the way he uses the word (Toyota?). Whatever the case, it sounds to me like a threat, which is a felony in all 50 states. Motortopia knows his address, so if they agree that this IS a threat, I'm sure his hometown Police will be notified.

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There's a newcomer to Motortopia that seems to think it's OK to trash cars he finds in the challenges if they don't live up to his expectations. Mostly, he seems to think a friend's cars are "All That" and anything in a challenge against one of his cars is, in his words, a "Turd" (My '66 Corvair) or a "P.O.S." (newfinish's Grand Prix). If you know either of these cars, you know that they are good cars, not at all what he makes them out to be. This newbie's screen name is 1fast_mazda, and he's finally decided to get involved in a couple of challenges himself, including one against me, with his high school hot rod, a warmed-over Mustang. Check out his challenges with me and "okhorsepower" (That's all for him, at least so far), and vote your mind. Feel free to leave any comments that you feel are deserved. And, if you truly feel that his Mustang is a better car than my Corvair (currently 12-0 on the strip against similar 5.0 Mustangs, and 3-0 on the autocross course) or the other car, that's the way you should vote.

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In a response to yesterday's blog about car names, vair95 commented something about asking a counterman at a NAPA store what kind of antifreeze would be best for a Corvair. Now, keep in mind that Corvairs are AIR COOLED, so they don't use antifreeze! This brought to mind a great little story from my Corvairing past. Here is the response I sent to him, broght to you through the wonders of "Cut & Paste" (with a little editing to correct a few editorial mistakes... ):

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From the time I bought my first Corvair in the fall of 1980, I made a practice of going to the parts counter of a Chevy agency (or calling them on the phone) on April Fool's Day and asking for a water pump for my Corvair. In all that time, only TWO countermen caught it roght off. ONLY TWO!!!

The best one was in 1984 (I think... ), when I was working as the Get-Ready Manager at the local Chevy-Olds dealer. I went to the Parts Dept. around 10:00 and specifically waited for Ed, the old-timer, to be available. Ed had worked there since 1954, so he was a Chevy parts guy throught the entire life-cycle of the Corvair. Well, he first went to the computer to look it up... and couldn't find anything! (Imagine that!) So then, he grabbed a Parts Manual from under the counter and thumbed through it for several minutes. By this time, the Parts Manager had come up to Ed and asked what he was looking for, so Ed told him "Jim needs a water pump for his Corvair, and I can't seem to find the damn thing"! The Manager told him to keep looking, he was sure he'd come up with it sooner or later. About this time, the parts driver came in, and the Manager took him to the back of the storeroom for a minute. When they came back, very quietly, they both had these big ol' s*** eatin' grins on their faces. Ed then went up to the attic area, where they kept the old, obsolete parts and manuals and rooted around up there for a while. By this time, it had been at least 15 minutes, and the manager had quietly called the service manager and the general manager, both of whom walked by and gave me a quick nudge and a wink when Ed wasn't looking. A couple of minutes later, though, Ed FINALLY looked up at me from the manual he was looking through for at least the third time, very red-faced, and all but roared :"A WATER PUMP FOR A CORVAIR???" He then hurled the manual at me, which I sidestepped quickly! This is when I said, "Happy April Fools Day, Ed"! The Parts Manager got on the P.A. system and announced that "Ed has finally found out that he will never find a water pump for Jim's Corvair". Apparently he had heard that word of the prank had spread throughout the entire dealership...

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I suppose I should saved this for, say, April Fool's Day, but it came to mind on Thanksgiving, so that's when I'm posting it. Now here's the challenge for all of you out there in Motortopia: What stories do you have about HARMLESS pranks or jokes that you have played on others concerning YOUR pride and joy?

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After I posted my blog about all the cars on Motortopia named "Beast" yesterday, I received a response from a friend, K1M_and_TH3_1MJIMID8TOR, asking just why people name their cars what they do. Good question, but it seems that most people do name their cars, whether they're car people or not. My Grandparents on both sides of the family did, and none of them looked at a car as anything more than a way to get from here to there. When my folks were married in early 1960, my dad had a '58 Impala 348/Power Pack that my mom, having shared a 6-cylinder '57 Chevy 150 with her mother, simply could not handle. My dad surprised her one evening when he arrived home from work with a brand new 1960 Corvair coupe - he traded in his pride and joy to make things easier for his bride (The guy was a romantic then, and still is!). They decided to name the little guy "Archie", and their tradition of naming their cars alphabetically started then. The main car's name was spelled with a capital letter, and any second car would start with the same letter, but in lower-case. In 1962, with one kid already and me on the way, the Corvair was traded in on "Boris" a black 1962 Biscayne 2-door sedan. He got his name because he was bought at "Borss Chevrolet". During Boris's reign, they got a second car so my mom would have wheels while my dad was at work. This was a brown '53 Bel Air sedan named "buster". Later on, buster was replaced by a '63 Corvair Monza sedan, "bucky". As the years went on, Boris gave way to "Casper the Friendly Station Wagon" ('66 Bel Air), "The Dragon Wagon" ('69 Kingswood Estate), "Erik the Red" (Firethorn Red '77 Impala wagon) and so on. Meanwhile, bucky was replaced by my late Grandmother's '65 Chevy II, named "Sunny" by my then 3 year old brother when the car was new. Mom inherited the car in 1968, and it became my first car in 1980. Sunny was replaced by a bright red 1976 AMC Pacer, probably the last car in the state of Pennsylvania to sell new under $3,000... It was a stripped leftover that my folks bought in November of 1977! This car became "eohiphus" (a prehistoric ancestor of the modern-day horse, but the size of a medium-sized dog. Therefore, it was a "little horse", and of course a "Pacer" is a kind of horse, so it makes sense. We always called the car "littlehorse" anyway!), and they gave me this car later on as well.

When I started buying my own cars, I decided to keep the family tradition alive and name them alphabetically (ay least at first... That changed later on.) The first car I actually bought was "Antoinette" ("Toni"), a 1965 Corvair Monza coupe, and the car that started my love affair with Corvairs that obviously goes on to this day. We didn't go with the lower-case second cars, though, preferring to continue naming them serially. About a year after getting Toni, I had the opportunity to buy a 1976 Buick LeSabre 4-door hardtop for $500! It was a former Police unmarked that had become too well known to be effective in the smallish town it served (West Chester, PA), so they sold it off. The car was white with a maroon vinyl top and reminded me and my (then) wife of a southern gentleman-type car, so we gave it a southern gentleman-type name:"Beauregard" ("Beau"). This car would pass anything but a gas station, and dusted a bunch of high school kids who thought I was out in daddy's car! A 4-barrel 455 with true dual exhaust and no catalytic converters to block things up (yes, the cops did away with the cats!), as well as a shift kit that I had installed on the Turbo 400 will do things like that, even on a 5,000 lb car. Enough of the life stories... These are some of the other cars I've had and their names:

1973 Chevelle Laguna Station Wagon - "Carlotta" (I-a bought her at-a the used-a car lott-a where I-a worked at at the time! We eventually just called her "Carly", because Carlotta was too much of a mouthful for our very young kids)

1966 Corvair Monza coupe - "Degas" (I got artistic on this one with pinstriping, doing it up like a Trans Am Special Edition!)

1966 Corvair 500 sport sedan - "Esmerelda"

1980 Honda Accord sedan - "Farley", after the dog in the "For Better Or For Worse" comic strip, a favorite of my older daughter at the time)

1979 Chevy Malibu coupe - "Glinda" (My ex's car, named after the Good Witch of the North... Ironic, since she turned out to be a bit of a bad witch toward me later on...)

1986 Buick Century station wagon - "Hezekiah"

1965 Corvair Monza sport sedan - "Sir Issac" for my favorite Science Fiction writer, Isaac Asimov

1989 Beretta GT - "Jezebel" (She looked like a "fast lady" - and she was. She was blue, so we called her "Blue J")

1961 Corvair Greenbrier sport van - "The Kelvinator" (it was white and looked like a refrigerator on wheels! I know, Kelvinator was part of AMC and GM had a different appliance division, but the "K" fit!)

About this time, the alphabetizing plan fell apart, and cars were just named whatever seemed appropriate for them:

1964 Corvair Monza sedan - "Goldilocks" (she was gold!)

1960 Corvair 700 sedan - "Eddie" (for Ed Cole, the father of the Corvair, among other things)

1999 Chevy Venture Minivan - "Joy" (Rose's van, from her vanity plate "JESU JOY", her favorite hymn)

1963 Corvair Monza sedan "Little Golaith" (the name the original owner, who I bought the car from, had given it. I figured that since the car had been going by that name since new, it would be a shame to make it learn a new one!)

1999 Cavalier coupe - "Sylvester" (It was black, and my daughter Sarah - ladidragon18 on Motortopia - said it kinda reminded her of the Warner Bros. cartoon cat!)

My current 1966 Corvair Monza coupe - "Ashley" (The name of the daughter/office manager of the classic car dealer who sold me the car on eBay. She was very helpful all through the process, even helping with arrangements for Rose and me to pick up the car at the airport in Denver so we could drive it home to the Philly area. The car is pretty and yellow, and Ashley was a cute blonde, so it seemed natural. And before you get any ideas, Rose suggested the name!)

My current 2006 Cobalt SS - "Bud" (I'm a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fan, so when I bought my first-ever new car, I got it exactly the way I wanted it. Since Jr. was driving a red Chevy SS in NASCAR at the time, and the Cobalt looks good in red, that's the color I bought. Now of course Jr. was sponsored by Budweiser at the time, and his race car had "Bud" written across the hood in 3-foot high letters. The car sorta named itself!)

Rose's current 2005 Chevy Malibu MAXX (Yep, that's the way Chevy spelled it, all in capitals!) - "MAXX" (Well, that's what it says on her hatch, and it seemed to fit the car's personality: Biggish, semi-tough looking, but with a bit of a fun-loving spirit)

With all the cars I've owned over the years, there are several I've just plain forgotten, and somethat I never got around to naming because I never got them on the road.

Now it's YOUR turn! Why did YOU name your car what you named it???

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A good friend of mine, 64_VERT_VAIR, sent out this message tonight, and it seemed so important to me that I just had to make sure everybody saw it. Now, I wouldn't beg for votes any more than Dave would but, like he says, if you should just happen to click on the link below and maybe vote impartially in the challenge for either his high-mileage old truck or MY WIFE MAXXINE's carefully maintained, economical, sporty-looking, comfortable, shiny, silver sport sedan, That would be OK with me, too! The paragraph below is Dave's message:

64_VERT_VAIR says: Every Rose has a thorn and I'm in pain. I hate it when people send out messages begging for votes so I will not stoop so low.............. but if the link "HAPPENED" to show up below and you "HAPPENED" to vote for one of the cars - I guess that would be alright.

http://www.mo..._vs_maxx/o/33


MAXXINE

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The_Dude posed an interesting question as a comment on a challenge earlier today: Just how many cars on Motortopia are called "The Beast" (or some variation thereof). I had thought about that question myself on occasion, so I took it on myself to find out. By searching keyword "Beast" on the "Cars" tab, I came up with close to 200 hits, 152 of which had the word "Beast" somewhere in the name. That's right: 152 BEASTLY CARS ON MOTORTOPIA!!! Of those, 32 are simply "Beast", while 80 more are "The Beast" (Unfortunately, one of the beasts has shed this mortal coil: "The Beast R.I.P." Also we've got two "The Beast II"s, one "Da Beast" and one "Tha Beast").

Some of the "Beasts" are quite colorful - we've got seven "Blue Beast"s, four "Black Beast"s, three are green, two each red and yellow, and one each pink, teal, and burgundy. We even have a "Blueberry Beast"!

Several members rides have "Beast" somewhere in the name, like current Challenge participant Camela 'The Beast' Camaro. In no particular order, we have an "Inferno Beast", a "Mean Beast", a "She Beast", a "Little Beast", a "Jeep Beast", "The Hell Beast", and two "Mini Beast"s. One member even has "Beauty and the Beast, all in one Package"!

By make, it seems that Chevy owners think their cars to be the most Beastly - There are 59 Chevy Beasts! Ford is next with 32... 33 if you include a Saleen-badged car, and 34 if you also include an R/C Monster Truck! From there, the Beasts go as follows: Pontiac - 15, Dodge - 13, GMC - 4, Jeep - 3, two each for BMW, Chrysler, Honda, Mercury, and Toyota, and one each from Acura, AMC, BMC/Mini (That's the original one, not the current car), Lancia, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Porsche, and Saturn. Last but not least, there's also a Beastly Kawasaki motorcycle!

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My good friend Dave (64_VERT_VAIR) suggested this album without even knowing it at the time! I have a collection of vintage Corvair magazine advertisements, both clipped from the original magazines and as images downloaded from online sources. Dave posted a picture of an advertizement showing his car, and I decided to share my whole collection. It turns out that Dave's ad isn't in my collection... yet. So if you'd like to take a trip back to a simpler time in automotive advertisement, just take a seat in the Way-Back Machine...

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Finally got around to posting these shots from a show we went to while on vacation last month. It was hosted by a Corvette club, so there were lots of Vettes there, but lots of other stuff, too.SURPRISE! I had the camera on the wrong setting, and they came out in black and white! At the end of the album are about three dozen shots of cars we found while out and about in the Pocono Mountains, admiring God's handiwork in the beautiful fall leaves. Thankfully, the camera was on the right setting for those shots, so you can see the leaves in all their glory in some of the pictures.

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We were at an uncle's house today, and I was showing him how to navigate the "On Demand" feature on his cable service. He told me that he has no interest in paying to rent "Pay-Per-View" movies and sporting events, but would be interested in the free ones. As we were surfing through the "Horror" section of the freebies, we saw that "The Blob", the original Steve McQueen version from 1958, was currently available. Now, we live about 7 miles from Phoenixville, PA, where much of the film was shot, and I took several photos of my Corvair in front of the Colonial Theater (which figures prominently in the movie) just earlier this month. We decided to watch the movie, which was the first time I've ever watched it start to finish! I came to realize a few things... 1) They did a great job restoring the Colonial Theater over the last few years, considering the fact that they did it on a shoestring (all donations). 2) Steve McQueen got a lot better later in his career, because he really wasn't all that good in 1958! 3) Special Effects sure have come a long way... 4) The people of the 1950's were in much better condition, by and large, than they are today. The crowd runs out of the theater and past the "Downingtown Diner" (also still there, and as far as I know still in business) in one climactic scene, but the two buildings are about 15 miles apart! Those poor folks must really have been scared!

If you get the chance, check out "The Blob". Compare the shots of the Colonial Theater in the movie to my photo, and you'll be surprised just how little the building has changed in 50 years.

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