100171: Seppo Saario

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Direct from Finland

Seppo Saario owns one of very few forward-control Corvairs that were ever imported into Finland. He purchased this Greenbrier in 1980 from the original owner.

Seppo related that the Finnish importer and dealer in the '60s was Nicolayef Co. (Oy Nikolajeff Ab, Helsinki). They sold GM Commercial vehicles, so Seppo assumes his Greenbrier was a test car for taxi drivers or others. He is pretty sure the Greenbrier was imported in September or October of 1964. He does know that it was first sold on December 15, 1964, probably to Tampereen Tasoitemiehet Co. in Tampere. The second owner was Mr. Pentti Hakala of Tampere.

The van originally was for two passengers only (no back seats) but has always had roll-down side windows. It was re-registered on 2 October 1968 as a regular nine-passenger wagon.

The "RU" in the engine date code of T0821RU indicates this van has a correct 1965 Greenbrier 110 HP engine with manual transmission. The build date of 8/21 fits in properly with the van's assembly month of August.

Seppo remembers seeing four Greenbriers in Finland over the years, but no Rampsides, Loadsides, or Corvans:

  1. Blue/white color (1970 in Tampere?)
  2. White/red (1986 in Helsinki)
  3. White/red (1995 in Tampere); Some hippie guys used it as a "Hippie-wagon", same vehicle is maybe today in Orivesi, Tampere Region (?)
  4. His Greenbrier (red/white)

Seppo is quite an auto enthusiast and has owned several other vintage US cars:

bullet'63 Chrysler Newport (4-door HT, 383 CID V-8, 1989-2000)
bullet'65 Chevrolet Corvair Monza (sedan, 110 HP, 4 spd, 1985-89)
bullet'68 Chrysler Newport Custom (4-door, 383 CID V-8, 1977-78)
bullet'72 Chrysler Newport Custom (4-door, 400 CID V-8, 1978-84)
bullet'82 Chevrolet Caprice Classic (station wagon, 350 CID V-8, 2000-present); this vehicle was imported "tax free" in 1990 because it is considered a van in Finland (3+3 passengers)

Seppo has sent me several photo montages of his Greenbrier over the years. Seppo got the Greenbrier on the road in August of 2002. Congratulations!

Click on each thumbnail below to see the full-size montage:

R1265S100171_01.jpg (55752 bytes) R1265S100171_02.jpg (68394 bytes)

Information from the data plate

Trim code Description Paint code Description Delivery Date Description
5Z60LB Custom Equipment option 5544AB Red, two-tone None N/A

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Last updated: March 20, 2006.