We've talked a lot about Sing-Out South's road trips in recent postings. It's also reminded me of how I used to get around to all the practices and shows...in someone else's car. I was either too young to have a driver's license or I didn't have a car of my own in those days.
So I thought I would do a recurring series of stories here concerning my memories of some of the special cars I got to ride in during those Sing-Out years, beginning with Steve Hinton's white Corvair.
It looked something like the car in the photo above. This movie trailer is how Chevrolet tried to promote the Corvair brand back in 1965.....
Well, we certainly had some adventures in Steve's Covair. Such as Saturday, November 19,1966, the day of the famous college football "game of the century" between Notre Dame and Michigan State.
We were coming home from practice in Steve's two-door, stick-shift car. Steve was driving, of course, with Bob Sharp in the front seat and my cousin Gene Nolan, Kathy Karlovic and myself, jammed into the back.
We were in the Belmont/Hillsboro area coming down Altura Place headed towards the Karlovic home on Rosewood Avenue. It was hard to see because cars were parked along the side of road. And as Steve was about to make a left onto Beechwood Avenue, his car was struck by another vehicle between the driver's door and the front trunk (remember a Corvair has its engine in the back of the car).
The impact of the crash turned the car in the opposite direction as we all scrambled to get out. Bob Sharp ran to the nearest house and banged on the door to get someone to call for police and an ambulance. (This was before 9-1-1, so I have no idea what number was called).
We immediately knew we needed help because as we all exited the car on the passenger side, we realized Steve's driver-side door was sprung open by the impact and he was lying on the street with blood gushing from the back of his head.
Fortunately, it looked a lot worse than it was, although we weren't sure what to think while we waited for the ambulance to arrive to take Steve to be treated in the emergency room (I think at Vanderbilt).
Consumer crusader Ralph Nader infamously labeled the Corvair "unsafe at any speed," but we managed to survive the wreck that day even though Steve had to have the top of his head wrapped in white bandages for several weeks while he healed. I also vaguely remember having to watch him and wake him up every few hours in the days right after the wreck because of concerns about a concussion.
Steve Hinton, circa 1966
The wreck Steve had in his Corvair cemented his reputation as being rather "accident prone." Just a few months earlier, after practice at East High School,and while trying to assist the SOS stage crew in carrying out some of our very heavy audio equipment,Steve got one of his thumbs crunched between the big wooden speaker box and a doorway. Ouch!
Off to nearby Miller Clinic we went to get Steve treated, which included placing a big, thick white bandage on his thumb. That immediately created something of a problem for Steve in grasping his gear shift to drive his car.
And here is my other strong memory of Steve's white Corvair. In those days in the fall of 1966, Sing-Out South members were driving up to Springfield every Sunday to help Sing-Out Springfield get started. We'd lead their practices and help them learn the words and the choreography to the songs. I think some national Sing-Out people were there too.
Steve wasn't sure he could drive all the way to Springfield (this is well below the days of Interstate 24) so he talked me into going with him. He would drive the car and work the clutch, and I would shift the gears (when he told me). I had never done anything like this before and, to say the least, I was nervous. But except for a few grinding shifts, we (and Steve's tranmission) survived the trip up and back.
By the way, since then, I have always owned cars with an automatic tranmission.
If you have special memories you'd like to share about your days in Sing-Out, how you got to practices or shows, or whatever, please feel free to share them below.
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