<VV> LONG "Unsafe At Any Speed"/Group Corvair

[NicolCS at aol.com]

Couldn't have said it any better myself, Bob.  The safety improvements that 
came as a result of Nader's "expose" were overdue and much needed.  Everybody 
forgets that the Corvair was only one chapter in the book.  Right at the 
moment, I have a customer's car in the shop that has three or four "features" that 
Ralph brought to light. It's a '58 Cadillac.  I don't think the fins are all 
that bad, especially compared to a '59, but it has a nasty power brake booster 
that in a matter of seconds can suck all the brake fluid out of the reservoir 
resulting in zero brakes without warning. It also has the pre-PRNDL 
standardized shift pattern. R is at the "bottom" right next to "L" (PNDDLR), so one tiny 
bump on the lever and your going the opposite direction.  There are no "lift" 
detents. This has caught me by surprise more that once.  It also had the 
pot-metal horn ring that's famous for fracturing and skewering hands in crashes. I 
don't think keyless power windows are a huge problem, but kids have been 
trapped and killed by them and the Caddy has them too.  No, Nader isn't my favorite 
person, but I'm glad that someone got the ball rolling on simple design 
changes that have reduced highway fatalities dramatically over the last 40 years.
Craig Nicol