Cruising In The Corvair

One of the benefits of staying with my dad when I'm in Philadelphia is that I get to go out cruising with him in his 1964 Chevrolet Corvair Monza convertible. The car is his baby and he's had it for 14 years now. I have to admit that it's a lot of fun to drive around in as it gets a ton of attention and it makes me feel like we're riding in some old-fashioned carriage or something. This photo of my dad and Diana pulling out of the driveway is from Thanksgiving weekend last year:

In case you're not familiar with them, Corvairs were originally developed by Chevy to compete in the new (to the U.S.) small-car category that was characterized by the VW Beetle and several other mostly European cars. Corvairs, like the old Beetles, have air-cooled motor that are in the back of the car. It's interesting that me and my dad have both had rear-engine, air-cooled, white convertibles with black tops from the mid-1960s. In my case, it was a 1965 convertible VW Bug.

Being that the car isn't the newest, even though it is in great shape, my dad doesn't take it on the freeway very often so I was really surprised when he wanted to take the Corvair on our trip to Trader Joes last week. This video is from while we were on Interstate 295 in New Jersey:

If you ever get invited to go with my dad in "the Vair", definitely take advantage of the chance to take a cruise. Oh, and consider it an honor as he doesn't take just anyone!