Welcome to the Corvair Atlanta website!

By

Jack Allison

CAI Historian

Interest in forming a Corvair Club began in Atlanta on October 5, 1975 as a result of a hand-drawn flyer being circulated, inviting enthusiasts to meet at the Lamar Ferrell Chevrolet Dealership. It is quoted that one enterprising soul had obtained a membership list from CORSA (Corvair Society of America) to use as a mailing list. Smart move. The effort, however, to become a Club didn’t really gather momentum until one cold day, Feb. 22, 1976, when another meeting was held on the Phipps Plaza Parking deck to view a Yenko Stinger owned by James Reeves.  Minutes show there were 75 cars and 150 Corvair enthusiasts in attendance. The move to become a CORSA Chapter was voted on as well as electing the required Officers and Board Members. Corvair Atlanta was Officially underway.

A June 13, 1976 document reveals 200 people and 70 cars converged at Stone Mountain Park for a fun-filled day of picnicking, automotive fraternizing, and being recognized as CORSA Chapter # 303.

By September 1976 Corvair Atlanta found it’s first home — the Peachtree Bank at Georgetown Shopping Center in the Chamblee-Dunwoody area.  Later, other meeting places followed out of necessity.  The need for a newsletter was voiced and an Editor selected.  It was initially agreed the Club meet every two months but was changed to every month within a year.  Dues were assessed at $6 annually.

Corvair Atlanta needed a logo.  A contest was held and subsequently won by member, Henry Griffith and announced at the May meeting.  He received CORSA and Club membership dues for a year as a prize.  The logo design has undergone two minor changes since that time.

Funfest (in June), at the Marietta Squire Inn on I-75, was the first sponsored event in Corvair Atlanta history.  The Club Treasury had an overwhelming total of $179.16 at the time. This event was so well received by other Corvair Clubs that the enthusiasm spread among the local members to host a National Corvair Show.  The bid was made, CORSA accepted, personal loans were extended to meet expenses, and in 1980 Atlanta became the focal point where: “Corvairs are Gonna Rise Again”.  A logo expressing that motto was designed, the Marietta Civic Center was selected as the Convention site, and history was made (and loans repaid).   

 Since then, C-A has sponsored numerous shows, over 30 of those, beginning April 1982, at picturesque Helen, GA. From it's humble beginning of 117 attendees to 300+, the Corvair Atlanta Helen Show rose to the top on the Corvair bucket list in the Southeast. Entertaining and feeding this attendance was overwhelming for just one Club. In 2004, the Heart of GA and later the Queen City Club as well as the Vulcans Corvair Club joined hands as co-sponsors.    

In 1992, Corvair Atlanta and co-host, Heart of Georgia Club, sponsored another National event at the Atlanta Hyatt Ravinia.  One of the highlights of that National event was the rallying of members of both organizations to beautifully restore a 1967 Monza for raffling, a course of action other Clubs have followed.  The results of staging the National and the raffle enhanced our once dwindling Treasury to a healthy 4 figures.  It was time to Incorporate and the Club did so in 1997.