I Learned Something New Today
Mar. 8th, 2009 03:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drpaisleyWhich is, of course, a noble goal to which all should aspire. In this particular instance, Rohanna, Dragonet and I were at a grocery store, picking up tortilla chips on our way to have dinner with Lyle Wilson, who was experimenting with carnitas* (and quite successfully, too).
As a preface, I am not a car fanatic, but an interesting or unique vehicle will catch my attention. As I backed the van out of our parking place, I looked up and saw such a car. I started to pull forward, and pointed it out to the ladies as it turned into the aisle we were leaving. Dragonet asked, "Is that a Corvair?" as I looked at the front of the vehicle, which indeed had that word emblazoned across it. But this was no ordinary Corvair: it was a Corvair station wagon, in absolutely cherry condition. I sat there gawking for several seconds, then very slowly pulled away, giving it a long look.
A bit of Googling (which is why I am still up at 3.43a CDT) has led me to believe it was a '61 Lakewood wagon (as opposed to the '62 Lakewood or the '62 Monza models). And yes, these station wagons, like other Corvairs, were rear-enngine vehicles. The engine was accessed by lifting the "floor" of the back section of the wagon, so one would have the rear cargo area as well as the front trunk. I also learned that Corvair models in the early '60s included vans and a couple of pickup trucks, one of which had a side gate that converted into a ramp.
Sadly, I did not find much in the way of good photos of these vehicles. But it was one sweet car.
The more you know . . .
*While discussing the recipe he used for the meat, Lyle mentioned that several that he had seen called for cooking the pork roast in large amounts of lard. I pointed out that, the whole Kosher thing notwithstanding, this seemed to violate the whole "seething the calf in its mother's milk" prohibition.
As a preface, I am not a car fanatic, but an interesting or unique vehicle will catch my attention. As I backed the van out of our parking place, I looked up and saw such a car. I started to pull forward, and pointed it out to the ladies as it turned into the aisle we were leaving. Dragonet asked, "Is that a Corvair?" as I looked at the front of the vehicle, which indeed had that word emblazoned across it. But this was no ordinary Corvair: it was a Corvair station wagon, in absolutely cherry condition. I sat there gawking for several seconds, then very slowly pulled away, giving it a long look.
A bit of Googling (which is why I am still up at 3.43a CDT) has led me to believe it was a '61 Lakewood wagon (as opposed to the '62 Lakewood or the '62 Monza models). And yes, these station wagons, like other Corvairs, were rear-enngine vehicles. The engine was accessed by lifting the "floor" of the back section of the wagon, so one would have the rear cargo area as well as the front trunk. I also learned that Corvair models in the early '60s included vans and a couple of pickup trucks, one of which had a side gate that converted into a ramp.
Sadly, I did not find much in the way of good photos of these vehicles. But it was one sweet car.
The more you know . . .
*While discussing the recipe he used for the meat, Lyle mentioned that several that he had seen called for cooking the pork roast in large amounts of lard. I pointed out that, the whole Kosher thing notwithstanding, this seemed to violate the whole "seething the calf in its mother's milk" prohibition.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-08 12:23 pm (UTC)http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=1961+corvair+lakewood+station+wagon&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-08 09:57 pm (UTC)I didn'k know you all were Kosher? Or are you?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-08 11:42 pm (UTC)The Corvairs had good points and bad ones. The push-button auto trannie...ack. And the way they regularly chewed through front ball joints if the alignment wasn't kept perfect, and tended to wander on slick roads if you didn't throw some weight in the trunk. But yeah, before their time. And those side-ramp pickups were just plain kewl.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-09 01:00 am (UTC)No, Snowgoose, I love bacon cheeseburgers far too much to follow those restrictions. I was just pointing out the double jeopardy of cooking the pork in lard.
Mmmmm, lard