Editor’s note: As a way to celebrate Father’s Day, we posted every story we received as part of our Collecting Cars, Collecting Memories contest. Thank you to all who submitted.
Two makes one
My dad loved cars and could work and rebuild pretty much anything with wheels.
His favorite car was the Chevy Corvair. He had owned three that he had rebuilt and we drove everyday.
My dad is what people would call a “shade tree mechanic.” He started out sweeping floors at a body shop when he was 13. It was there that he started watching and learning how to rebuild wrecked cars from the body mechanics.
He later worked for a NAPA store and became an engine rebuilder. He milled heads, rebuilt blocks and everything else involved with that process.
My brother had wrecked a ’63 Corvair. My dad said it had front end damage. If you know Corvairs, the body and frame are one piece.
One of my dad’s friends found a ’64 that’s back end had been totaled, but the front was in good condition, so my dad and two friends went and cut the front half of that car off and hauled it back to our house.
He cut the front of the ’63 off, then attached the ’64 front end to the ’63 rear end and we had a complete car again. You could not tell that anything had been done.
The picture I sent is of my dad after the car was painted by him. My dad could do so many things. I was a lucky boy to have him.
-George Kirby from Weslaco, Texas
George, your father sounds like he was quite a person to know. The story & picture is like looking small town Americana , and those towns & stories are starting to disappearing. Hope you leave your sons / daughters a similar to this story
Bob
Your dad’s story is awesome, the ingenuity of his passion was evident in this Corvair transformation. At one time we had two Corvair cars, a ‘66 140hp Corsa & a ‘65 Monza convertible. He also built a Corvair powered dune buggy. Your story rekindled the handiwork of our dads and their Corvair cultures. Thanks for sharing.