<VV> Early crashworthiness; Was: New to Site

[Wrsssatty at aol.com]

<My question is regarding how the "early" Corvairs hold up in accidents.>

Well, there's the question of occupant protection and then there's the 
question of how the car, itself, holds up.  As a lawyer and someone like most of you 
out there, obsessed with Corvairs, I've done some research regarding the 
product liability lawsuits against GM alleging a defect in the 1960-63 Corvairs 
that allegedly lead to accidents caused by unsafe handling.  This has lead to 
some articles I've contributed to the Corsa Communique over the years on the 
subject and, predictably, has lead to some opinions and observations of my own.  
I hasten to add that these are just the opinions of a lay person as I am not 
an automotive engineer or an accident reconstruction expert.  However, I have 
concluded that the early Corvairs held up very well in accidents.  This does 
not necessarily translate to good occupant protection in an accident.  One 
famous (or infamous) Corvair accident that went to trial was the Anderson case in 
Florida.  The driver of a  '62 coupe traveling at highway speeds lost control 
of the vehicle which left the highway tail first rolling over on the grassy 
median.  While disputed, the loss of control appears to have been precipitated by 
a tire blow out and the rollover seems to have occurred when the wheel rim 
dug into the turf in the median thus tripping the sideways moving car.  The 
front seat passenger was wearing a lapbelt that wasn't pulled tight and snug 
around his waist.  In the rollover his door popped open.  Corvairs were not 
manufactured with safety door latches until model year 1963.  The passenger was 
partially ejected from the car which came to rest with the roof on his head.  He 
went into a coma and died several days later.  The car, however, fared much 
better being repaired and going on to several other owners including the young 
daughter of GM's defense attorney who drove it for several years after the jury 
handed down a favorable decision for GM.  Clearly, in this case, the car's 
crashworthiness exceeded its occupant protection.

I have seen films, both by GM and by plaintiff's attorneys, of early Corvairs 
being rolled over.  Typically, the windshield and backlight pop out in the 
rollover as the body flexes.  Doors often pop open, too, on pre-'63 models 
without safety door latches.  The car's body, however, tends to hold up quite well 
with maybe a slight dent in the roof.  This is especially true of sedans with 
their more centrally located B pillar.  

In head-on collisions the front trunk area seems to function as a no doubt 
unintended but fortuitous crumple zone.  Of course, the steering column on all 
earlies (and pre-'67 lates), can dangerously penetrate the passenger 
compartment if the steering box is impacted.  

The Corvair was GM's first venture into the world of unitized bodies and they 
seem to have erred on the side of caution--building the early Corvair to be a 
sturdier than necessary vehicle.  So, to make an already too long story 
short, the answer to your question, at least in my opinion, is that the early 
Corvairs held up quite well in accidents, arguably much better than most of their 
contemporaries, but that doesn't necessarily translate into superior (or 
adequate) occupant protection.

~Bill Stanley