<VV> The Corvair that inspired the Mustang - A Brief Evolutionary Tale

[Charles Lee]

Evolution of the "Pony Car" ?

The Corvair was fun to drive right out of the box in 1960.
Unfortunately it was marketed as "cheap" and they made it look cheap.
They couldn't hide those classic lines though.

The Corvair 4-speed made the Corvair even more fun to drive and intrigued 
car buyers in the early years.

The 4-speed made the "economy" car fun to drive and may be what caused 
GM/Chevy to add bucket seats.

Previously buyers were "upgraded" to more expensive models that had more 
profit-making options.

Then GM realized that if they added expensive options to the smaller cars 
that were people were now buying (Surprise ! Surprise !), they could turn 
more of a profit on them too.

So, along came carpeting instead of linoleum flooring, better seat covering 
and interior appointments, etc.

... and Voila !  You have the Monza igniting the fire that made people 
realize how much fun "little cars" are !

So, the image shift continued with dropping the wagon and adding a 
convertible, with a Turbo putting out more than 1 HP per cubic inch !!!

In 1962 the Corvair morphed from an econo-box to a true sporty car.
It took Ford (and others) by surprise, and they scrambled to catch up with 
the new kid on the block.

Two and a half years later, Ford took it one step further and completely 
revamped their Falcon, adding everything the Corvair had innovated in a 
small car.

Ford stretched the Falcon's nose, shortened the tail, and added a V8 and 
people thought it was a new car, not knowing it was a Falcon.

The Mustang had a V-8 which was something GM may have tried to do, but never 
accomplished.
Although some of us have done it, it was considered viable, I suppose ?

Chevy came out with one of the most beautiful designs ever with the 1965 
models (not even limited to economy cars) and buyers fell in love all over 
again !

Ford fought back and Nader took advantage of the public's ignorance, and the 
middle part is history.

Unfortunately, Chevy tried to de-tune Corvair's image from "sporty" to 
"mundane" and came full circle in 1967 advertizing it once gain as 
"America's Cheapest Hardtop" !
(Probably to defuse court battles claiming Chevy encouraged people to drive 
it too enthusiastically because of its sporty image ?)

OK, not so short, but the public probably will never know that it was the 
Corvair that started it all.

I probably left a lot out, but I wanted to write it all down, and figured 
I'd tell you stuff you already knew !

I'm in Toastmasters, and I just may do this as one of my "Technical Talk to 
a Non-Technical Audience" speeches.

Thanks for listening (and letting me practice on you !)
Charlie'





----- Original Message ----- 
From: <wrsssatty at aol.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: <VV> The Corvair that inspired the Mustang


> <If you read the book Lee Iacocca: An autobiography, which I  strongly
> recommend, you will realize the extent to which the Corvair's  success
> spawned the Mustang,>
>
> Make that the Corvair MONZA's success!  And remember, the Mustang was 
> just
> a tarted up Falcon.
>
> ~Bill Stanley
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are 
> the property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, 
> mailto:vv-help at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, 
> http://www.corvair.org/
> Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
> Change your options: 
> http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
> _______________________________________________
>