Well-Preserved Family Camper
The newest owner of this '64 Rampside is
Chris Schmit of
Bainbridge Island, WA. He purchased the truck
in 2004. Here's what Chris had to say about his acquisition:
"This vehicle is in excellent, original shape.
It was delivered to Mr. & Mrs. William Bowers of Bellevue, WA in 1964 with
the camper option. But it has spent most of its life with Charles Johnson of
Mercer Island, WA. Charles bought the truck in 1974 with 18,000 miles on the
odometer. It still had the camper intact and he
and his family used it for many years in that
configuration. It received a fresh coat of paint in the original
color, and then in the late '80s a broken piston
meant an entire re-build of the original engine.
With his family grown, and the camper gone, the truck was used less every
year. So when Charles let me know he was thinking about selling it, I
couldn't resist. He had so many memories in the truck, it was hard to say
good-bye.
I know the Rampside will have a great home here--with lots of other Corvairs
to keep it happy. I believe in driving my Corvairs. So even though when I
put the ramp down, it is so nice I don't want to step on it, I know it will
still be used--just the way it was designed.
This '64 Rampside is
in excellent condition--it's clearly the most original Corvair
I have ever owned, so it is certain ready to be shown off!"
Chris and I are both in
Corvairs Northwest so I'm sure I'll
be seeing a lot of his truck! Chris also told me that the engine date code is
T0602, indicating a build date of June 2, which corresponds to the delivery date
of June 1964, and a PowerGlide transmission. The differential's date code is
0330HS, indicating a build date of March 30 and for use with a 3.55:1 ratio
PowerGlide.
Information from the data plate
