If Ralph Nader was to be believed, an event like a club meeting for Corvair owners at Riverside International Raceway Park in southern California should have ended in a mass of tangled, twisted metal and a scene that would’ve churned the stomach of even the most hardened battle medic. But Nader’s scathing book, “Unsafe at Any Speed”, came out in 1965. This event, judging solely from the license plates of the cars in the film, was either 1962 or 1963, so the attorney from Connecticut hadn’t quite yet made his impact. This is gymkhana before Ken Block made it his trademark: cars performing on a set course. From slalom courses to a “fun-khana” that involved a cardboard clown, balloons and horseshoes, these Corvair owners got to test out their cars in a safe and predictable environment. Tossing the relatively light and nimble Corvair around was supposed to be a great event, the kind of deal that got enthusiasts out playing on the track instead of doing dangerous maneuvers on the street, and it honed their skills as a driver. This is now the stuff of YouTube stardom? This should be mandatory in driver’s training programs.
