Vairfest 2017

Friday & Saturday, June 23 and 24, 2017

Arroyo Grande, California: “More Than Just a Car Show”

Please join us for the Best Little Corvair Show on the California Central Coast. Located conveniently close to Hwy.101, in the Historic Village of Arroyo Grande. The event is only 1/2 mile from the highway exit.

Start off with our famous all you can eat “Friday Night Pasta Feed”, including wine, salad, garlic bread, dessert, and an after dinner movie. Show your pride and joy Corvair at the Saturday “People’s Choice Show” in the Heritage Square Park with awards and raffle prizes.

For your midday eating pleasure, experience one of the 12+ eateries and two sweet shops in The Village. Check out the local antique shops, farmers market, the old one room school house, and the historic architecture. All within close, easy walking distance.

Top off your Saturday with a “not-to-be-missed” fun night out of live theater at The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in nearby Oceano.

Complete your weekend with an informal Sunday morning breakfast. Before your trip home, take some time to visit the beach, the nearby wine country, or Hearst Castle.

This year’s grand raffle prize will be a rebuilt, universal, 110 hp long block Corvair engine. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to a local charity and the Corvair Preservation Foundation.

For more information on the host city and local activities follow this link

Click here to download the Vairfest 2017 registration form PDF

Vairfest 2017 Registration Form

 

Click here to download the Vairfest 2017 registration form PDF

For registration information, click here.

For general car show information, click here.

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Vairfest 2017 Grand Raffle Prize

Raffle tickets are now available for our Vairfest 2017 Grand Raffle Prize – a rebuilt 110hp Corvair universal long block – to be raffled off at the Vairfest Corvair Show in Arroyo Grande, CA on June 24, 2017.

Central Coast Corsa #934 – Engine Raffle

Rebuilt 110 hp Universal Long Block

Configured to Winner’s Specifications

$5 per Ticket – Winner need not be Present

Free Delivery within 500 miles

Portion of Proceeds go to CPF & Local Charity

Drawing: 6/24/17 at Vairfest in Arroyo Grande, CA

 

To order tickets, please send payment ($5/ticket) to Central Coast CORSA, 7475 Valle Ave., Atascadero CA 93422.

Make check or money order payable to Central Coast CORSA.  Include your Name, Address, Phone Number and Email Address.    Your tickets will be sent to you via First Class Mail.

 

For more information on Vairfest and the raffle, contact Mike Thomas.

Vairfest 2014

Central Coast Corsa’s Christmas Party

A small but merry band of Corvair Aficionados gathered for the annual Christmas Party at Mike Thomas’ gaming parlor in East Atascadero.

The ladies guffaw

Pot luck faire abounded with a cornucopia of savory and sweet treats doused with copious amounts of Central Coast wine. Long on the entertainment was Mike who once again showcased his collection of vintage pinball and jukebox machines.

Yowza

As the jukebox crooned to Bee Gees, Manfred Mann and Herman’s Hermits the Jims Pennell and Corey ponyed up to display the pinball wizards they truly are. A real treat as Mike gave history and pertinent details for his restorations, value and inner workings of some truly remarkable machines.

I move to have all CCC events at Mike’s place…….
The surprise of the evening was presenting the annual Golden Blower Award. This yearly event acknowledges the contribution of a particular club member. An individual who goes above and beyond to make club #934 a solid and committed club dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Chevrolet’s Corvair. And I am not just blowing Hot Air…

Pinball Wizard Jim Corey

Who’s Next?

The recipient of this coveted award goes on to represent the club at all Corvair functions far and wide and willy nilly spends down the club treasury as sees fit. This years’ award winner was duped by club President Jim Pennell who stole the reins from the VP who traditionally presents the award. After much background hoopla Jim presented the award to Bob O who didn’t see it coming.

Why I oughta…….

A conspiracy among the membership sideswiped the VP and instead inserted his name as the 2012 recipient! Dastardly deeds have never been recorded. Still, it is with great pleasure that I accept the award and now display it proudly in the Corvair Hall of Fame. Thank you very much all club members!

A Trip Down Memory Lane……

After a rainy weekend and some cold evenings that saw temperatures dip into the low 30’s, I decided to cruise to Morro Bay on my day off.  The sun had just come out and while still chilly, it was nice to feel some warmth. I was anxious to get out of the house and after some thought I settled on traversing Old Morro Road from Atascadero to the coast. With no particular destination in mind it was clear, once I got into the car, that lunch was in order and I would stop somewhere along the way.

Looky Here

It is always an adventure following my nose and I thought that it would be nice to stop at places that I had only driven by before.  Just such a place is the Last Stage West along Highway 41 about half way between Atascadero and Morro Bay. If anyone has read “Another Road Side Attraction” by Tom Robbins this is certainly the place he had in mind when writing the book. I had driven past this outpost so many times through the years that it had the opportunity to burn down, get demolished and get rebuilt as I whizzed by. Alas, as I approached the turn off I saw that the closed sign was on indicating that now is not the time to dilly dally.

The Super Chief

Further down the road and the next destination was a former Bed and Breakfast that has been listed for sale for about ten years.  Always wanted to stop and poke around the building to see what you would get for, no doubt, a good chunk of change and 20 plus acres. Again I was thwarted by a flurry of cars parked in the driveway.  Not wanting to disturb or alarm anyone I decided to drive on.  Last but not least on my list was a veggie burrito from Tacos de Mexico in Morro Bay.  Third time is the charm and I got one to go.

A Peek Inside

After parking the car on the bluff over looking Tidelands Park I decided to take to the pavement and walk through town toward Morro Bay State Park.  Through the Heron Rookery where I spotted dozens of nests high up in the Eucalyptus trees lining the shore of the bay. I could smell the familiar smells of low tide and eucalyptus as this is an area in which I ran every day way back in the early 80’s when I lived in Morro Bay.  I traversed through the golf course and campground and wound my way to the top of the course and followed the road on down and back to the car.  Driving now I meandered through the streets of town and arrived at the crossroads of Main St. and Old Morro Road where I noticed something I had missed earlier.  Parked in a lot that was once the site of a gas station was a pair of old railroad cars that looked very familiar.  Familiar to anyone that is, who remembers driving South from San Luis Obispo toward Santa Barbara.  Located on a frontage road along Highway 101 in between San Marcos Pass and Gaviota toward Santa Barbara there stood a pair of old railroad cars that was clearly the site of an old diner.  The last time I drove through that area I noticed that the rail cars had been dismantled and carted off.  I remember at the time wondering where they went and what fate awaited them.  Well look no further.

Head Shot

Some one has rescued these delightful relics and has rested them temporarily on railroad ties poised to move forward and hopefully to restoration.  As there were no markings on the cracked and peeled paint I have no idea of the manufacture, use and history of these beauties.  Look for yourself and I hope that someone will come forward with knowledge enough to shed some light on these landmark railcars from yesteryear.  Enjoy the view………

The Second Car

Another Inside View

Broadside

Corviar 60’s print ads

Love is Blue

Classic Car Stocking Stuffers

Classic car stocking stuffers: Five for five grand or less
By Rob Sass
Published December 09, 2012
Hagerty The Classic and Collector Car Insurance Specialists.
The classic car market is in a strong growth mode these days with nearly every round of auctions producing multiple world records and seven-figure sales. Lost in the hoopla over the mega-dollar stuff is the fact that interesting collectible cars are still out there for less than the average limit on a credit card. Here are some of our favorite reasonably priced stocking stuffers:

Do I Hear A Song?

1. 1984-88 Pontiac Fiero: Sold to gullible GM brass as a practical, fuel-efficient two-seat “commuter car,” it looked like an attractive mid-engine sports car to nearly everyone else. The trouble was, it didn’t go or handle like one at first. Fieros got progressively better until the last model year when after getting it totally right, GM dumped it. Nice examples are still out there for a song and there’s a strong and enthusiastic club to provide support.

Free to a Good Home

2. 1975-91 Alfa Romeo Spider: We still see marginal examples of these sexy Italian convertibles in the “free to a good home” category. Even nice ones can struggle to break five grand. Yes, they have a reputation for being temperamental (soft gearboxes, oil consumption and rust are frequently cited), but good ones are out there for not much money. Styled by the famous design firm Pininfarina, they can be intoxicatingly good fun. The ones built from 1982 on with electronic fuel injection are less problematic.

Nice to Look at….Mostly Garaged

3. 1975-80 MGB: MGBs built from late 1974 forward have a bit of a checkered reputation among the MG faithful. They’re not bad cars per se, but the rubber impact bumpers and the emission control-related loss of horsepower (in a car that already had little to spare) put these at the bottom of the MGB pecking order. That said, they’re entertaining on a nice day, and while they don’t exactly boast a reputation for bulletproof reliability, they’re at least easy to work on and will fit down most standard-size chimneys.

Who is Collecting These?

4. 1987-93 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 coupe: The Fox Platform Mustang (built from 1979-93) was the longest lived series of the famous pony car and possibly one of the most influential. Reworking the piston and cylinder head design of Ford’s venerable 5.0-liter V-8 resulted in the return of real horsepower to the Mustang for the first time since the early 1970s. While nice examples of Fox Mustangs are hard to find, the LX versions of the coupe and hatchback with the 5.0 can be surprisingly reasonable.

A Classic Worth Having

5. 1960-62 Plymouth Valiant sedan: The Valiant has a ton going for it as a cheap classic —the unkillable Slant-6 engine, styling by the famous and flamboyant Virgil “Excess” Exner, torsion bar suspension, unibody construction and a great name. Valiants were generally regarded as among the best of the first generation of American compact cars. The sedans, which were the most numerous body style, are still quite affordable.