Tim bought the car from Frank Cerny, a neighbor of his. Frank purchased the car in Belgium in approximately 1972, while working in Belgium. He liked the car well enough to have it shipped back to the U.S. after he finished his work assignment.

Sam compared the car to the list of options with which Kent and Dave thought the car would have been configured from the factory, according to the '66 Canadian Corvair production report. Items in green below support our deductions; items in yellow don't help or hurt.

Two things Sam and we found interesting, and of which there are no records in the production report, are:

1. The front turn signal lenses were originally clear instead of amber. The lenses currently in the car (and shown here) are amber. The clear lenses were not in the car when Sam bought it; they were loose pieces that Tim handed him. The clear lenses have GUIDE 10 SAE DP 65 along the bottom edge. (See photo.)
2. A fire extinguisher is mounted to the steering column. (See photo.)

Frank confirmed that the clear lenses were installed in the car when he purchased it but that he had to replace them with amber lenses when he took the car to Paris. Dave related that the use of clear lenses on '63 - '69 Corvairs assembled and sold in Europe (& possibly elsewhere) is well-documented in GM records. Ronnie Stensson, a Corvair owner in Sweden, and Guus de Haan, a Corvair owner in The Netherlands, provided additional information regarding clear turn signal lenses.

Frank also confirmed that the fire extinguisher was in the car when he purchased it. According to Frank, having a fire extinguisher (as well as a medical kit and a reflective warning triangle, as Markus later pointed out) was required by law in Belgium but these items were not provided by GM. Dave said that "for all we know, the extinguisher, triangle and maybe other items were provided through the government licensing agency or the local dealer." Tim still has the reflective triangle and provided some information about it.

Also quite intriguing is the tri-lingual tire pressure chart affixed to the inside of the glovebox door. Kent fortunately was able to get a translation of it from a friend.

The car also originally had a floor-mounted, foot-operated headlamp flasher as an additional safety item (see photo; thanks to Gary Aube for adding the "pointer"). This item is not in the car any longer but Sam can see evidence of its mounting location and wiring. Dave commented, "The idea behind this item is that it flashed the headlamps (not parking lamps) on, as a warning. The lights would stay on as long as you had your foot on the switch, and then they'd go off when you let off the switch. The law required that you be able to flash your lights as a warning without taking your hands off the wheel." Thomas Stingl, a Corvair owner in Germany, added, "The headlight flasher would be connected to the high beams, else there would be problems seeing it in daylight." (The photo is from a road test of a '66 Belgian-assembled Corsa coupe published by Motor magazine on 17 September 1966.)

Concerning the lack of seat belts, Dave commented, "U.S. production belts were available, depending on local regulations and the owner's wishes. When deleted, GM rubber plugs were installed in the anchor bolt holes." (The car featured in the Motor test did have seat belts.)

The trunk interior color is consistent with Canadian-produced cars--it is painted body color. The glass (except for the windshield and right door glass, which have been replaced) is stamped "DCL", indicating the standard supplier for Oshawa-built late Corvairs.

Tim mentioned that, at the time he purchased the car, it had inside window cranks with silver knobs instead of black. (Sam verified that the car still has these knobs.) Dave commented, "The chrome knobs aren't surprising, since they were used on Impalas, which were also built in Belgium and Switzerland. It would be simpler to use just one knob on everything."