Donna the Donor
Will Elliott of Wewahitchka, FL was the last owner of this well-documented 8-door Greenbrier, nicknamed Donna. He purchased it from James Tulley of Kingston, TN on April 22, 1999 for $100 plus $124 to have it towed home. Mr. Tulley had purchased it for $35 on January 5, 1976 from Thomas Mastell of Farmingdale, NY (on Long Island) via Tex Ballard's Exxon gas station. The van had 97,000 miles at the time Mr. Mastell purchased it.
Will moved the van from Tennessee to Florida when he relocated but, as he noted in an "obituary" for Donna in Corvan Antics, "she just wasn't up to the trip. She even made a donation along the way. Down about Albany, GA she gave up her right front rocker panel. While in Albany, James Law was able to remove her dash without hurting her or himself."
Will finished parting out the van then scrapped it on April 10, 2000. Mr. Law was the primary beneficiary of the parts, including the 1964 110 HP FC engine with 1965 110 HP heads that was powering the van at the time Will purchased it. Mr. Mastell had installed that engine after buying the van. His documentation notes that it came to him with a 1962 engine.
Interestingly, Mr. Tulley petitioned the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Division in 1980 to have the van's registered vehicle type be changed to 8-door. Ms. Fairia Davidison, Chief of the Title and Registration Section, replied on 10/17/1980 that "our computer system cannot accept an eight door body type. Therefore, the Certificate of Title was issued showing the body type as an 'MV' which is the abbreviation for a 'miscellaneous vehicle'. Technology just wasn't up to the wide array of Corvair FC configurations!
Information from the data plate
Description |
Description |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
STD |
Standard equipment |
5521BB |
White, solid color |
none |
N/A |
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