Mars resident cherishes her father's '63 Corvair
Sherri McEwan of Mars has gone to great lengths to keep the convertible, two-door 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 900 that was the jewel of her late father's eye cruising along.
“It was not a family car. It was my dad's toy. He took it to shows and parades and things like that. It was always his little baby,” McEwan said about her late father, Richard Breier of Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County.
“It never went out in the rain. It never went out in the snow.”
She said her father had a 1962 convertible Corvair when he was a young man.
His house didn't have a garage and his next door neighbor didn't have a car so he rented his neighbor's garage to house the Corvair, she said.Eventually, he sold it for a more practical station wagon when he began raising a family.After the kids were a little older in 1974, he bought the 1963 convertible from the original owner who lived in Pittsburgh.“He bought another one when he had a chance. He always liked Corvairs,” McEwan said.The original owner also took meticulous care of the car. He included the maintenance log in the sale and told her father that he put Vaseline on the chrome to protect it from damage.Other documents that came with the car revealed that it rolled off the assembly line in Willow Run, Mich., on the third week of May, 1963, and was originally purchased May 31, 1963, from Snider Chevrolet on Saw Mill Run Boulevard.Her father was one of the original members of the Western Pennsylvania Corvair Club, which is part of the Corvair Society of America. He was a member for more than 40 years and served as president in 1980.In 1979, he packed the family in the small car and drove to Detroit, Mich., where the car won first place at the society's annual International Convention.“All five of us rode in the car and I sat in between the two front bucket seats. You can imagine how uncomfortable of ride that was,” McEwan said.The first place trophy deteriorated in her parents' attic and was discarded, but the car lived on.Before her father died two yeas ago, he had health issues for eight years and wasn't able to drive or maintain the car, she said.When she obtained the car after he died, she had to address the oil leaks and other issues that had developed while the car was idle.
McEwan said a member of the Corvair Club helped her by removing the engine, replacing the leaking gaskets and push rod tubes, and putting the engine back.Oil, tires, brakes and other perishable items were replaced.“Everything in it is original,” McEwan said, including the aqua azure color.She said she loves driving the car, but doesn't drive it often.When she does, she avoids stopping in parking lots to avoid damage, adhering to advice that her father gave her years ago.“When I do drive it, I get waves and thumbs up from people,” McEwan said.She said collectors don't value the rear-engine Corvair as highly as other cars such as Corvettes and Mustangs and a lot of people don't know what kind of car it is.The last time she drive it was Oct. 2, which was National Drive your Corvair Day.She took it to the third annual Adams Township Car Cruise in September.Her son, Alec, drove the car in the Mars Area School District homecoming parade when he was a senior last year.
- The Chevrolet Corvair is a compact car manufactured by Chevrolet for model years 1960–1969.- The Corvairwas powered by an air-cooled, horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine constructed with many major components made from aluminum.- The engine was mounted in the rear of the car, driving the rear wheels through a compact transaxle. Suspension was independent at all four wheels.- No conventional chassis was used, being the first unibody built by Fisher Body. The tires were a new wider, low-profile design mounted on wider wheels.Motor Trend named the Corvair as the 1960 “Car of the Year.”SOURCE: Wikipedia
