<VV> Puzzle, take 3 (answer)

[NicolCS at aol.com]

Well folks, all the votes are in and it's time to reveal the naked  truth!
 
Why didn't Corvairs have "Chevrolet" badges all over them?
 
Excepting the Corvette, prior to 1960, each GM division made only one line  
of cars.  Buicks were Buicks in 15 (est.) different bodysytles.   Cadillacs 
were Cadillacs and so on.  There were no "families" of different  kinds of cars 
under one major name (what we now call a "Brand")
 
Corvairs were unique products; nothing to do with "Chevrolets".   Remember, 
at that time, a "Chevrolet" was a specific car, available in 15  (est.) 
bodystyles and a variety of trim levels, such as Bel-Air, Impala, and so  on.  
Corvairs weren't part of that line.
 
Initially, Corvairs were "Corvair, by Chevrolet".  How it fit in with  the 
"Chevrolet" car wasn't clear. Then came the Chevy II and the Chevelle.   By the 
mid-sixties, the solution of using "Chevrolet" as a brand-family was well  
established and the "Standard" or "Full-size" "Big-car" identified the regular  
Chevrolet car.
 
Oddly, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer "Chevrolet" labels on a  
Corvair.  That, I cannot explain as that would have been natural with the  
movement of the "Chevrolet" name to a "Brand" status. 
Craig (did my time as a product planner) Nicol