Maybe Ralph Nader was genuinely trying to save humanity from a mechanical demon that was flawed. History has shown that the first generation Chevrolet Corvair did indeed have handling issues that were rooted in the suspension design and were not to be expected in most other automobiles of the time period. Then again, there wasn’t much like the Corvair in that time period, and there hasn’t been much like it since. It’s easy to blame Chevrolet and General Motors for being too forward thinking and not giving due diligence to safety, but the work that went down the drain when the Corvair’s reputation got smeared like a bug on the windshield could’ve done so much more. If there is one thing that Nader truly deserves to be criticized and ostracized for, it’s that he managed to put a fear of innovation into the auto manufacturers. You didn’t dare try to do something out of the box, lest you open yourself and the company up to lawsuits by the ton.
GM has a history of killing off a model just as the bugs are worked out, but it’s unfair to give the Corvair that label. Many factors conspired against the car. But looking at the lines of the 1965-69 Corvair, you have to wonder just how good or bad the line would be had it survived into the 1970s and beyond. This one-family Monza coupe offers a better look at what they were, what they meant to buyers and what they can still be today. The later Corvair shape is beautiful and the suspension woes were gone by then. Can you think of a GM car that was as radical since? The Fiero might place second, but an air-cooled, flat-six, rear-engined Chevy is still at the top.
I like the lines of the 2nd generation Corvair. May some day own one. I know a man called Spyder, not because of his build, but because he worked as a Corvair mechanic for years.
Great post, thanks
Nader might have been on to something. But look at a sixties Porsche and look what it evolved into.
This rear engine pancake six could have had the same potential for power, handling and looks.
The right vision, engineering and imagination today could produce something modern the same way that Mustang, Camaro, Challenger and even VW Beetle exist in successful, modern, retro versions
Nader was the first who believed that attacking his own countrymen was better the calling the imports to task.
Nader had it mostly wrong Don Yenko raced the things and won with them on road courses. Just took a driver and Nader was never a driver.