She's all grown up now, with kids of her own, but when this picture was taken in June of 1966, it was my daughter, Yvette's first time at the wheel. Note the "car seat", totally illegal today. When we were driving with Yvette in her seat between us, she would knock the gear lever into neutral with her foot. Yvette is my oldest. All my kids' first ride in life was in a Corvair.

This is Bob Hayden with his 1960 Corvair in 1964. . Bob, from Massachusetts, and I were buddies in Air Force Tech School and were stationed together at Suffolk Co. Air Force Base in West Hampton Beach, Long Island, NY, in 1964/65.

The picture was taken at my apartment in Riverhead, not far from the base. He later traded for a red MG.

This picture of me in 1979 was taken by my daughter, Yvette at a midget football practice where we had gone to watch my sons.

 My Canadian Corvair cohort, Ontario based Chris Happe`, used to send me post cards made from his personal pictures. This is his garage in 1972 with his Triumph and his Monza sport sedan. Another post card showing his Corvair Monza  which looked a lot better in the light of day. Dig the chrome reverse wheels and baby moons. The dark cove area is also custom, as are the extensions behind the rear wheel arches. He also added the taper tip exhaust.

Like me, Chris enjoyed a good autocross. Note the high speed driving lights. Chris later had the car modified by John Fitch and says John told him it was the last Corvair he modified for a customer.

Hey, now you know why I titled this section "Misc. Stuff". I thought you'd like to see the oil pan baffles Chris Happe` devised for better oil control.

This Fiberfab GT-40 belonged to Dave Hammond of Toledo, OH. Powered by a Corvair engine with an IECO 4-barrel system, a hot cam, modified pistons and headers, it made approximately 220 HP. The car's total weight was 1,600 lbs!

What do you do with a 15" tire from Dale Earnhardt's stocker? You make a custom Corvair neon clock for the shop.

This answers a question I get all the time, "How do you get the engine out of the V8?" Rick Jr. and me pulling the ratty old 327 engine out of the V8 Vair.

This used to be an Amoco station. I spent a lot of time here learning about cars and life while growing up. My friends and I used to ride our bikes down off the hill to fix, or pump up the tires.

About 50 yards form the Amoco was this old garage that used to be "Sirk's Garage". These pictures were taken in 1994, at Clarksburg, WV, on Route 19 at Edgewood. This garage is still run by one of Mr. Sirk's sons.

  As a young boy I would sit in the office on the old car set and read the older boys' Hot Rod magazines and watch Mr. Sirk's sons build hot rods. I saw my first burn out on this lot. It was performed in a '40 Ford sedan with a big Pontiac motor. I was hooked!

Here's a shot of me in my '65 at speed in 1974 in an SCCA autocross held at Charlotte (Lowes) Motor Speedway. The local SCCA ran several events a year at the old Speedway. It was nothing like it is today. I ran several events there.

Charlotte, NC, in 1974. Now you know where the handle "Ol' Engine Head" came from! I had just returned from an autocross held at Metrolina Speedway in Charlotte where I blew the clutch. at this point, I was in front of the apartment we lived in, with the motor out. Note the steel beer can.

Jump to 2001 in the shop at my house in on Thistlewood Circle in Hurricane, WV, after I bought the V8 Vair. You can see I haven't changed a bit. With the engine where the back seat used to be, now I can do this all the time.