Any Corvair fan who hasn't discovered the free Internet Corvair discussion group, Virtual 'Vairs, should check it out. It was a Virtual Vairs member, Chuck "da Chuckster" Armer, who convinced me to book a flight to Georgia for Corvair Atlanta's 16th annual Springfest in Helen, GA, about 90 minutes north of Atlanta.

"Y'all come on down!" he told me. "You might even get to drive a Corvair. It fact, I need a driver to take one of mine to Helen!" It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

I had become familiar with da Chuckster some months earlier, when he had visited this site and subsequently sent pictures of his cars; blacker than black Darth Vair, a modified 1965 Corsa, and Madeira, a sweet low-miles '65 Monza convertible named after her color, Madeira Maroon. Both cars are featured in depth in the site's Extra! section.

Chuck, no novice to the art of promoting Corvairs, had previously written an article about Darth (pictured at right) in the Corvair Society of America publication CORSA Communiqué. Another of his articles in the same publication caught my attention. It was an entertaining account of his experiences while towing Darth to the 1998 national CORSA convention in St. Louis, Missouri, where he hoped to enter the Concours competition, only to be rained out.

Rain is always a concern for Concours competitors, and as I winged south on an Air Canada flight, I hoped Chuck would have better luck this time. The forecast was calling for evening showers on both Friday and Saturday night, and promised partly cloudy skies during the day.

After landing at  the huge Atlanta airport, I connected with the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) train for the short hop to Chuck's neighborhood. He was waiting at the station, and wasted no time in telling me that, in the morning, I'd be driving to Helen behind the wheel of the '65 140 4-speed Monza pictured below. To someone who hadn't driven a Corvair in 33 years, this was VERY good news!