Rick Norris, First CORSA President, 1971

Rick was the first person to champion the cause of letting people send in pictures of their Corvairs in their garages...and then was the first person to follow through and actually submit any.

Rick has a basement with a garage door in back that allows him to drive around the house and into his shop / garage.  That's where Rick’s ‘66 Monza Crown Conversion 350 V8 resides.

Rick says that the car was converted to a Crown Corv-8 in 1970.  He “dragged it home from North Carolina in 1994 and has been working on it ever since.”

In addition to the pathologically clean garage shown in the photo at the top of the page, Rick says that he and his wife also have a “normal” two-car garage attached to the side of his house house for their daily drivers.  Since his big red Dodge truck doesn't fit, he keeps a ‘66 Corsa coupe parts car in it on “his side.”

Members of the Virtual Vairs forum know that Rick recently purchased a ‘69 Monza Convertible.  Rick says “it’s interesting to have a Corvair-powered car again.”  The car is a 140 4-speed.

The ‘69, while in good shape, was suffering from a number of ill-conceived previous owner modifications.  In Rick’s view, chief among these are the “U-G-L-Y red wheels”.    He notes that “after I bead blasted them and got some new center caps, they look decent.”

In the view of The Ideal Garage, things like wheels wheels can easily be replaced.  In other areas of the car, however, Rick would seem to have some pretty good raw material to be working with.  For example, just look at that interior...

Rick recently sent in this picture of the car in his working garage.  As you might expect, the wheels are off the car.

In addition to the photo below (which shows the newly bead-blasted wheels), Rick promises that he “will have some new pics soon.” He also says, “I especially want to take some with it parked upstairs in the daily driver garage with the V8 car.”

The car’s powertrain was also completely removed as were the carbs, heads, fuel pump, wire harnesses, etc.  All items have been gone over and/or replaced.  Ditto the gas tank.  When the time came to remove the powertrain, Rick did it as a one-man effort using his “trusty moving dolly with the two 4 x 4's on it”.  He says “I used to do it that way all the time in the old days.  Speaking of old, I seem to need a lot of Aleve to do the same trick now.”

Anybody who has followed Rick’s progress on the V8 car knows that things will be done right on his ‘69 convertible.  The pictures you see on this page are of a work-in-progress.  Stay tuned for further updates.

Rick lives in Hurricane, West Virginia.  The governor of his state, Bob Wise, is a Corvair owner, if not an outright enthusiast.

The picture on the right appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail and showed the governor proudly displaying his ‘65 Monza convertible in front of the state capitol.

The photos below were all taken at a car show held on the grounds of the West Virginia state capitol.  The governor had been informed that Rick’s Corvair was on display and made a special trip over to see it for himself.

Owners of V8 Vairs enjoy nothing more than provoking a “What the hell IS that?” reaction from the younger Mustang-driving folk they leave in their dust.  The state trooper in the background is shown taking down Rick’s license plate number to make it easier to spot him the next time he cruises the interstate looking for a little racing action.

Below, Gov. Wise reacts with surprise after Rick informs him of the special $10 off coupon for all CORSA memberships.

Rick’s ‘66 Monza was featured in an in-depth article in the May, 2001 CORSA Commnuique.  This article is required reading if you’re considering a V8 conversion for your Corvair.  Gary Aubé, the author of the article, makes special mention of Rick's thoroughness:

“One of Rick’s great strengths is his patience and attention to detail.  He takes
 the time to develop a good plan and executes with care and precision.”

I’d like to add that Rick is one of those rare individuals who follows through and does what he says he's going to do.  CORSA, Corvairs in general, and The Ideal Garage are all lucky to have him around.

Photos originally submitted on 12/29/2000 with subsequent updates provided.