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The author's Corvair, a.k.a. "Le Heap," at Kempton, PA in October 2005. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see additional photos of what Le Heap looks like today!
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Le Heap History... by Allan V. Lacki. Here are some facts about Le Heap, my own rear engine car!
A Stylish 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Coupe. The serial numbers indicate that there was nothing remarkable about the car when it came out of the showroom. It was just a plain Corvair Monza coupe with a 110 engine and a 4-speed, built in April 1966. As far as options are concerned, it had an AM radio and optional-at-extra-cost "Chateau Slate" paint, which is basically a fancy grey color that Chevy offered for just one year. But it was a very stylish car - one of the most handsome cars ever offered by General Motors.
It was also equipped with original factory Corvair shoulder harnesses, with buckles and hardware that matched the factory seat belts perfectly, but they must have been installed by the dealer because the car's serial number doesn't have the shoulder harness code.
Bought for Parts. Nothing is known about the original owner, but we do know Le Heap was owned for a time by John D. Fair of Ambler, Pennsylvania. In 1977 or 1978, John sold the car to Dave Leonard, a long-time Corvair enthusiast. Dave bought the car as part of a package deal. Dave recalls,
"When I bought it, it was primarily because it came with a ton of spare Corvair parts. The deal included a bunch of mechanical parts still in the boxes, a 140 hp engine or two, a transmission, lots of trim, and a bunch of mechanical parts, still in boxes, from Clark's Corvair. I think the Monza was remarkably solid when I first got it, and didn't have all that many miles on it - perhaps 60k or so. That's why I saved it. I never even tried to start it, as it had not been running for a while. I trailered it up to the storage area in Frenchtown."
Saved From A Chicken Coop. For lack of storage space, Dave stashed it in a chicken coop near his home in central New Jersey. Dave decided to sell it, so two other Corvair enthusiasts, Lauren Farese and Bob Marlow, came by to look at it. Bob describes the event thusly,
"I was with Lauren on the night she bought it. It was covered with chicken dung from having sat in a chicken coop, and hadn't been run in years. To Dave's utter amazement, we threw a battery in it and DROVE it that night. The windshield required considerable cleaning for this to happen..."
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Renault LeCar - Bob Marlow's inspiration for the moniker, "Le Heap!"
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Lauren took a liking to this derelict Corvair and so, she bought it from Dave. Bob continued to have an interest in it, too. With the help of Bob and some other friends, Lauren cleaned it up and put it on the street. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with the car, and so she used it for daily transportation.
Corvairs were pretty much a joke back in the 1970s, and Lauren wasn't fooled into thinking her car was a classic. So, when Bob stenciled "Le Heap" on the rocker panels of her "new" car, even she began to refer to her little Corvair by that name. Today, it continues to be known as "Le Heap" to the members of the New Jersey Association of Corvair Enthusiasts, even though the moniker was sanded off the rocker panels many years ago when Lauren had the car repainted a dark shade of "Steel City Gray."
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Lacki takes Le Heap autocrossing in 1989, right after he bought it from Lauren.
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Racing at Lime Rock. But this was a car that was destined for more than just commuting. Around this time, the Northeast Corvair Council (NECC) came together and began holding time trials every year at the Lime Rock sports car track in Connecticut. Anybody with a reasonably-sound Corvair could enter, and so Lauren decided to put Le Heap on the track. After all, it was just for fun. So much fun that Lauren took LeHeap back to Lime Rock several years.
Lauren, Bob, Mike Springall, and Tom Ludwig drove Le Heap at Lime Rock a number of times and, to everyone's surprise, the car often won its class at the NECC time trials and local autocrosses. "It had one of those really strong 110s," Bob explained. They also took it ice racing in New York State, and coincidentally, a New York Times reporter was there, doing a write up on this unusual form of motorsport. And so, Le Heap's photo appeared in the New York Times!
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Le Heap under restoration at Style-Rite Automotive, circa 1990.
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When I bought Le Heap from Lauren in 1988, I can say with certainty that it had all its original body panels and the original power train, right down to the alternator. It had around 90,000 miles on it when I bought it.
Restoration. As mentioned above, Lauren repainted it, but after many years of ownership, it was pretty rough. It had plenty of wear and tear and the usual rust around the windshield and wheel well lips. But on the positive side, it had never been in a real accident and all the mechanical stuff seemed to work OK, so it was a good platform.
After autocrossing it at Morris County College in 1989, I began scouring the countryside for replacement parts for the big restoration project. Among other things, I had a couple of NOS fenders and a door skin shipped in from Shel's Corvair Parts in Minnesota. Wayne Leonard, Vince Bogert, Cotrofeld Corvair and Clarks Corvair provided many of the other parts necessary to make Le Heap look new again.
A number of friends helped me work on Le Heap over the years, including Rich Ribble, Steve Calandra and a local mechanic named Ken Higgins. Freddy McWilliams of Style-Rite Automotive in Wharton, New Jersey did the body work back in 1990. Since then, I've put another 25,000 miles on it, having driven it all over to various Corvair events from Virginia to Lake Placid.
Le Heap car now has 117,000 miles on the odometer. The engine, transmission and even the alternator remain original, and the heads have never been off the engine since it came down the assembly line in 1966. Of course, other parts have been replaced, including most of the suspension bushings, steering box, differential, shock absorbers, springs, brakes, etc. And the car is currently equipped with several special pieces, including a Corvair Corsa instrument panel with tach and gauges, factory head rests, quick ratio steering, Koni shocks, 4-point shoulder harnesses, and dual exhaust. This is a nicely -equipped car, and like all Corvairs, it's a lot of fun to drive!
The photos below were taken at the Kempton, PA car show in October 2005. Go ahead and click on them if you'd like to see them in a larger size. Al Lacki
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