My First Car

My first car was a Corvair, purchased in 1967 when I was stationed at Fort Shafter Hawaii during the Viet Nam War. The purchase was a big decision on my part, the first major purchase of my adult life. My parents were very protective and normally intervened with whatever I proposed to do (and to be fair, I was a willing protectee). Getting drafted out of graduate school lifted me out of my dependent lifestyle and left me on my own, 3,000 miles away from my support system. In Hawaii, I had money of my own (not much to be sure but enough to buy a car) and so I decided that I needed a car to provide mobility. I even got a job at the base library to provide more funds. (The picture is not my car and we never saw snow in Honolulu.)

I did not know very much about cars and had no one to advise me so I went to Aloha Chevrolet to see what I could afford. What I could afford turned out to be a blue four door Corvair which freed me from the limits of the base and opened the entire island of Oahu for exploration.

I loved that car right up to the time it was totaled as I returned late one summer night in 1968 from a movie at Hickham AFB. It was a four way stop on Nimitz Highway.

There was no traffic except for Betty T who plowed into me as I attempted to get through the intersection. Neither she, nor I was seriously injured but it was the end of my Corvair. Nearing the end of my tour, I didn’t replace it and had to abandon my plans to buy stereo gear with the proceeds of selling it since the insurance companies considered it only fair to screw a short time soldier. I had to retain a lawyer and return several years later to get any settlement through the legal process.

The Corvair has received a bad rap. I always thought it was a classy looking set of wheels (for a subcompact). It was using oil by the time I got it but that’s not a major problem when you don’t drive much.  My Corvair served me well for the year that I had it and I will always remember it fondly.

Rot in hell, Ralph Nader.

The picture is the only one I could find of a four door corvair although mine never saw any snow.  And for some other reminiscences about Carlson cars past go here.