Daytona 2000 - Corvair Speedweek

It's time to meet Alice, Bill Hubbell's 110 hp, Powerglide equipped 1964 Monza sedan. With its wheel covers removed in preparation for the Daytona autocross (as seen below), it looked like a brand new car coming off a transporter at a dealership.

Bill is from Virginia Beach, VA, and he is a member of the Tidewater Corvair Club. He bought Alice for $500 from a fellow who was otherwise going to junk her. She was straight and relatively rust-free, but in all other respects, she was "worn out." The paint was down to primer and surface rust was developing in several locations, and the interior, while intact, was also showing its age.

During his first year of ownership, Bill began a serious restoration, and wrote about his experiences in articles published in the October '97 issue of the CORSA Communique and several issues of The Spyder's Breath Gazette, a newsletter published by Bill's local club. He stripped the body, polished or re-chromed all the trim, stripped and refinished all suspension components and installed new bushings, ball joints, springs and shocks. He had a new interior installed, had the body refinished, and replaced the weather stripping. Alice got a new gas tank and a rebuilt Powerglide, ending up as what Bill describes as "almost pure stock" with only a few correct clamps and screw heads to go to make her "100% stock."

In 1998, Bill planned to show Alice in the Concours at the St. Louis convention, but like Chuck Armer and so many others with similar plans, was disappointed by a rained-out event. Regardless, he learned some things at the convention and bought Alice some new parts. A few days after returning from the convention, Alice had the honor of transporting Bill's children's former babysitter to the church on her wedding day.

After a break of a few months, Bill decided to show Alice at a regional event in Gettysburg, where she scored 93.65 points, giving Bill the impression he'd been doing something right and encouraging him to continue the restoration process. He drove and showed her at another regional event, where she again scored very highly.

His project was now in high gear, and the following winter Alice went back to the body shop to have some flaws in her paint corrected. One thing led to another, and during her stay, Alice was treated to three new NOS door skins and one complete NOS door before being repainted. A new windshield was installed along with new side trim, new wheels and new tires. In all the new paint and parts, Alice scored 96.21 points in her next regional, the Vair Fair, in Richmond, Virginia.

Bill and Alice both like to drive, so drive they did, to the Fall Affair in Raleigh, North Carolina, were the duo showed their stuff in the autocross, finishing a close second to Smitty Smith, and bettering the times recorded by the other early models.

After returning from Raleigh, Bill turned his attention to preparing Alice for Daytona 2000. She was put up on blocks, her power train and rear suspension were once again removed, as were all her control cables, so the "awful task" of stripping and refinishing the underbody could begin. A number of other improvements were made to improve Alice's "stock" status and the job was completed in April, 2000.

Bill started to question his sanity when, just one week before Corvair Speedweek, he purchased a V-10 Dodge Ram and an enclosed trailer to transport Alice to Daytona. He realized however, that all his efforts were worth it when, at the banquet on Saturday night, Alice became one of the highest scoring sedans ever. Her 95.1 points earned her a gold award, and she was elevated to Senior Division. Bill's underbody work paid off, as only 31 points were deducted out of a possible 1820 (less that a 2% deduction).

What's next for Alice? Bill says maybe next year she will compete in Factory Stock and try to win the Preservation Award. Good luck, Alice and Bill!