<VV> Re: LONG "Unsafe At Any Speed"/Group Corvair Comments for April, 2006

[HallGrenn at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/14/2006 7:48:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
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Thanks for the new "Comments" for April.  I wanted to add to John Moody's 
article as I believe it is a plus to look at our cars objectively without the 
hyperbole employed by those who perpetuate the "urban legends" about 
them--especially the early ones.  Ralph Nader was--and is--an advocate (lawyer) who was 
not trained as an engineer or inclined to be objective.  Nader argued his 
position, the other side argued theirs and the judge made a decision.    For those 
of you who have objectively read "Unsafe at Any Speed" (and John Moody has) you 
know there is a plausible argument presented for the need for safety 
improvements for cars of the late '50's and early '60's as Mr. Nader pointed out. The 
fact that he spent a larger portion on the Corvair as one model and the fact 
that no other American car was like it has meant our car got most of the 
publicity. Though the early model swing axles did allow for a transition from 
understeer to oversteer it was physically impossible for them to "tuck under" as far 
as Nader's said. (And NTSA confirmed this later).  But Mr. Nader wrote the 
book about the entire American automobile industry.

I have never heard Nader's comments or the quotes in his book about the other 
cars listed in any publication.  I have never heard anything but the "urban 
legend" of the Corvair.  I think we should all be able to objectively comment 
on the importance of the safety advocates of the period as they were at least 
indirectly responsible for allowing the engineers at car firms to make safer 
cars.  I also believe that the early model Corvairs and by association the late 
model Corvairs were unfairly stigmatized even though they had better braking 
characteristics and handling than any other cars of the period save the 
Corvette (as shown in the NTSA study published in July 1972). They also were safer in 
frontal collisions because the gas tank was well protected (just don't hit 
the left front corner at high speed on ANY American car of the period) and the 
trunk was an effective "crush zone" to dissipate the energy of a collision.  
Mr. Nader correctly cites the poor handling of other cars highlighting the 
Mustang when he quotes Car Life's article "Taming the Wild Mustang" as "the 
quintessence of what's generally wrong with American cars.  It's a heavy-nosed 
blunderbuss with a teen-age rear suspension." ....."If you hit a bump heeled over, 
the suspension immediately bottoms out, the tire loses its already tenuous 
grip, and the Mustang jumps to the side like a frisky colt."  When have you heard 
this quote?  Corvairs didn't do that.

The infamous "drop in" gas tank on Ford's of the period is also cited (Fords 
had a trunk with a stamped depression into which the gas tank was dropped with 
a flammable fiber board covering to protect the sending unit connections from 
luggage.  In a rear end collision (especially with the short rear deck of a 
Mustang) if the Ford gas tank ruptured and was ignited, the gasoline quickly 
burned through the open back of the upholstered rear seat into the passenger 
compartment.  All Corvair gas tanks were behind the front suspension crossmember 
and separated from the passengers by steel.  The Mustang's sharp front hood 
edges were cited as deadly to pedestrians as were Cadillac tail fins (including 
the case of a local Kensington MD girl who was killed when she lost control of 
her bicycle and was gashed below the throat on a Cadillac rear fin).  Senator 
Ribicoff's hearings along with other public discussion and Mr. Nader's fall 
1965 publication of "Unsafe At Any Speed" were indicative of public sensitivity 
to car safety at the time.  Note that Nader's book was published after the 
'66 models had been introduced and after the spring '65 decision to discontinue 
the Corvair to leave the economy field to the Chevy II-Nova alone and the 
"Pony Car" market to the coming, and cheaper to build, 1967 Camaro.

Because of that public scrutiny we got collapsible steering shafts with shear 
pins (in front of the firewall) and collapsible steering columns (after the 
firewall) in 1967, locking latches on rear seat backs on the '67, 68 and '69 
models and dual master cylinders with split brake lines beginning in 1967 
models, shoulder belts and head restraints standard after January 1, 1968 and 
another three years of Corvair models to save face after Nader's book was published 
during the '66 model year.  (John, I had always heard the thin sheet metal 
plate welded to the back of the ''68 and '69 model crossmembers was to keep 
debris from collecting there which accelerated rustout--though the irony is that 
cars that survived the normal life span were actually hurt by the cover because 
it too caused rustout.  I had never heard it was there to cover the "knife 
edge" and having survived an accident where the front crossmember in a '65 
severely deformed the gas tank without cutting it I remain sceptical, but I am open 
to your view as it also makes sense).

I urge all Corvair club members to read Nader's book in order to be able to 
discuss objectively and dispassionately the arguments Nader makes about the 
American automobile industry of the time (don't buy it, we don't need a reprint, 
check it out at the library).  We should not perpetuate the safety myth of 
early models and, by extension, all Corvairs by immediately going to the 
arguments in one chapter of "Unsafe At Any Speed."  The first chapter on the Corvair 
is less than forty pages long out of almost 300 pages.  Nader was taking on the 
whole American automotive industry.  It's been almost 40 years since Nader's 
book was published--we don't need to perpetuate it's myths.  We need to remind 
ourselves and the public about the facts and foibles of the book (and the 
times) to find the objectivity our marque and cars deserve.

Bob Hall
Group Corvair