The first Corvair gathering I ever attended was the Detroit Area Corvair Club's Corvair Homecoming in Plymouth, Michigan, in August of 1998. It was there I first spotted Jim McDonald's Corvair 95 series Rampside. He had driven to the Detroit area from Chicago with his father. Three years later in Chicago, it was great to see the little truck again, looking just as spectacular as it had in Plymouth. In the hands of the right owner and with proper maintenance, even a nearly 40 year old Corvair can continue to provide practical and fun transportation.

Wow, I was impressed with what seemed to be a pure stock, 140 horsepower, 1969 Monza, below. Its polished Garnet Red exterior and black interior seemed original in every way. I later found out the sport coupe competed in the Modified, Late Closed class of the Concours d'Elegance, where it scored a Silver award, earning 91.68 points. It is owned by Steven Barker of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

This car is one of only 2,717 1969 Monza sport coupes built during Corvair's final year of production, which in total, amounted to only 6,000 cars.