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Natalie and Ray Davis |
IT WAS a lucky thing for the stranded North Carolina man that Frank DuVal was home in Hartwood the day he called looking for automotive salvation.
The Tarheel owner of a vintage Corvair car had been tooling along in it on Interstate 95 in Caroline County when the brakes on the car Ralph Nader never loved locked up.
Without a second thought, he did what any member of the Corvair Society of America does when such things happen.
He pulled out The Book, which holds the names of other Corvair Society members around the country.
Then he quickly thumbed through it to find a member in the general vicinity of Caroline.
You see, when one of the small, sporty cars built in the '60s breaks down, it doesn't do to call the local garage or any of the auto dealers in the book.
Because their parts and systems are unique and dated, their only hope usually comes in calling another Corvair Society member.
Members interested enough in joining the national group likely have at least one of the low-slung, contoured roadsters out back for parts. They've probably also long since mastered basic repairs on the air-cooled, rear-engine cars, vans and wagons.
When the man stranded in his Carolina Corvair picked DuVal's name to call on that fateful afternoon, he didn't know what a good choice he'd made.
Without blinking an eye, DuVal grabbed some tools and extra parts and drove to the Caroline County rest stop.
"It just happened that I was home the day he called," said DuVal. "I was glad to help him get back on the road again."
DuVal, trained as an engineer and now doing some work on the base in Dahlgren, joined a handful of other Corvair enthusiasts in Fredericksburg this past weekend.
The occasion was the annual Goat's Milk Tour hosted by the Central Virginia Corvair Club.
Local organizer Ray Davis, a Stafford resident who has a few restored Corvairs of his own, noted that DuVal is called on by many of the other members to provide fixes on everything from locked brakes to faulty windshield wipers.
For his part, DuVal--whose longtime auto body shop in Richmond started when people began leaving their cars at his home for repairs--said he's glad to lend a hand to his fellow Corvair lovers.
"They don't all call and ask straight out," he said, revealing a grin. "Sometimes they'll call and ask if I might know how to fix a certain thing. Or they'll say something vague like, 'Well, if you have a chance to come by some day.'"
A few dozen folks toured local attractions Saturday and Sunday and had dinner with Davis at his home Saturday evening. They said the regional Corvair group is planning family-oriented activities.
Davis nudged me--a onetime Corvair owner, thank you very much--to inquire about how the whole Goat's Milk Tour name came about.
My answer came from Tina Whelan of Chesterfield.
She and husband Paul were on hand with their two youngsters for the Fredericksburg visit, which had members zipping around the area in eight very different Corvairs.
For her first anniversary gift, Whelan, who races Corvairs in autocross, was thrilled to get a gift of a fully restored Corvair. It's stored with the 100 or so others the couple has, most used to produce parts for club members.
Tina Whelan smiled when she explained the Goat's Milk moniker.
"We were doing a trip to the Shenandoah Valley and stopped into a little shop that sold products made from goat's milk," she said. "We made all of the guys, most with rough, mechanic's hands, rub on some of their hand lotion. There was a lot of teasing about how sweet they smelled."
The moment was so memorable that the group keeps a regular supply of the lotion, and adorns their vehicles with little goat figurines when they travel.
Paul Whelan joked that his wife knew from the start of their marriage how much he loved working on the cars stored on a farm the couple own in Dinwiddie.
"There was a prenup that pointed out that I had the cars before her and that they'd all still be mine if she left," he said, smiling.
Stafford resident Allen Bristow, a former president of the national Corvair group, is a local insurance agent who says working on cars is a great hobby.
Bristow, who bought his first Corvair when he was 10 with money he'd made from cutting grass and other odd jobs, said there's nothing better for relieving stress than coming home and putting a few hours in tinkering with the six Corvairs he owns.
Russell Davis, a Corvair lover from Wakefield, said one thing Corvair fanciers learn early is how quickly they can end up with the old vehicles.
"People know people and the next thing you know, the one car you went to pick up becomes three," he said.
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