<VV> Corvairs and values

[Tony Underwood]

At 06:48 PM 9/6/2010, Rodney Spooner wrote:
>And Crown Vics...I even heard a news broadcast of a CHP officer being
>trapped in his Crown Vic cruiser after it was rear ended which bent the
>chassis and pinched the doors shut trapping him inside. He managed to get
>out but was burned.


The Crown-Vic Merc Marque and Towncar (Panther platform) has been 
responsible for an estimated 190 deaths (by one source, another 
suggested well over 200) by fire, to date.   (Pinto: less than 30 confirmed)


>Where was NADER when Ford was making all of these car-b-ques and the Ford
>Explorer roll over problems.

None of them were Motor Trend's "Car Of The Year" and there for 
weren't visible-enough targets... and Nader's "reputation" was 
already made by then.


>I feel safer driving my Corvair...


Lots safer than an earlier Mustang or a Crown Vic...   And ironically 
enough the Pinto is indeed safer than half the Ford products built 
since, far as fire is concerned.  It wasn't even Car Of The Year 
then... and it still got targeted.   It WAS a very popular car 
though, which did make it ripe for exploitation by people who wanted 
their name in the papers as "whistleblowers" or "concerned advocates" 
who wanted to "take down a big boy".



I even heard that some "sources" had stated that the Corvair was a 
"fire hazard" because of its forward located fuel tank.   They 
evidently had no freakin' clue what you have to actually hit, and how 
hard, to rupture a Corvair fuel tank.   I parted out a '66 coupe that 
had actually hit one of those "hypothetic" bridge abutments only this 
one was real.   It killed the driver who bent the steering wheel into 
a "reverse" of its original shape and bent the steering column.   The 
front of the car was flattened up to the crossmember and the roof was 
warped and buckled.

I saved the fuel tank, which is currently in the '62 ragtop after 
having been stuffed in the basement for about 20 years.   It's 
fine.   I still have the rear fenders and decklid from that car.

I certainly don't fear fire from any sort of Corvair altercation.



tony..