Where do I start?

Over the years you have probably come across a number of "Corvair experts" who have been more than glad to share their genius with you. The opinions they will try to
present as fact range from the comical to the annoying. Here are some of the best:

HEY, ISN’T THAT THE CAR RALPH NADER GOT BANNED? First, no car of any kind has ever been banned from American highways, and certainly NOT the Corvair. In
fact the Corvair is, to date, the only car that was thoroughly investigated and found perfectly safe by the federal government. Keep in mind that, at that time, the senate
committee doing the investigating was made up of folks who dearly wanted to prove Nader right.

WELL, OK THEN, RALPH NADER GOT CHEVROLET TO DISCONTINUE THE CORVAIR - Sorry, wrong again! When Nader’s book came out in early 66 Chevrolet had
already (2 years before) made the decision to quit making the Corvair after 1966. Because of the controversy Chevrolet made the decision to make 3 more production
years (til 69) just to prove that Nader had no effect on them!

CORVAIRS ARE DANGEROUS! Horse manure. (Refer to comments already made above). The 1960-64 Corvair body was deemed "the most structurally sound" car
ever built by the SAE. The 65-69 is in the top 5 of all time. While the cars are rear engine and handle differently than front engine cars that doesn’t equate to dangerous. Keep in mind that 65-69 Corvairs are still winning autocross races - that’s against 2001 cars and everything in between! This whole idiocy about the cars being unsafe
actually predates Nader by almost 6 years. The Ford Motor Co. Was involved in an unrelenting smear campaign against the Corvair before it even hit the dealers
showrooms in Oct 1959 - attempting to cause fear and suspicion in the buying public. (Gee, I wonder why Ford would do that?) Anything that is radically new and different, like the Corvair, is always a perfect target for small minds. So far as Nader is concerned - well, I’ll let the past 35 years of frivolous lawsuits speak for themselves. Nader is properly credited for being the father of modern torte insanity. He used the unique basis of trying to prove to a jury that General Motors "willingly and intentionally" built and marketed a dangerous car. Besides the fact that the entire concept is insane and makes no logical sense it also ignores the fact that many of GM’s top executives had family members that drove Corvairs (including wives, daughters etc). Nader can be credited for institutionalizing this "legal" reality - If you fear or distrust a large corporation enough - and their pockets are deep enough - then logic, rationality and fairness have no place in a damages lawsuit. Nader even admitted later that he attacked GM because they were the largest car maker in the world (at that time) - NOT that their cars were the most dangerous - just because they were
the largest.





 

CORVAIRS ROLL OVER - In the Corvair Undergrounds 29 year history they have parted out over 800 Corvairs. Many were wrecked (as all cars can be) but yet only 2 out of 800 had been rolled. Go into any wrecking yard in the nation and pick out 800 of any other kind of car and I can guarantee that more than 2 will have been rolled (a LOT more than 2). Quite frankly they’ve come to the conclusion that Corvairs are probably LESS likely to roll over than other cars!

CORVAIRS BURST INTO FLAMES - That was the Ford Pinto in before 1980 you dolt! The 1961 rear engine Corvair 500, 700 and 900 Series carried a 14 gallon fuel tank aft of the front axle, inside the frame rails. This design has been adapted in the rear of the front wheel drive cars of today. "good protection of the tank" and provides a "unique arrangement of the vehicle body and framing structure having advantages in the event of a collision." The location GM patented location that was used in the Corvair is the design, reversed, that has been adapted in the rear of the front wheel drive cars of today. Cars very seldom "Blow Up" because of gas tank fires, except in the movies.
 

THE CORVAIR WAS DESIGNED BY VOLKSWAGEN (OR PORSCHE) - Incorrect. The car is thoroughly American. GM spent millions of 1950's dollars and nearly 7 years of development to make this one of the best designed cars ever built. This myth about Porche and VW comes from the superficial observation that all three are rear engine air cooled. NO company in the free world made anything larger than a 4 cylinder air cooled in 1960.It would make as much sense to say that Ford invented the Camaro because both are front engine waterpumpers.

CORVAIRS ALWAYS LEAK OIL - Well, they are harder to seal than SOME other cars. This is because they are air cooled (and run hotter) and they originally used
some o ring materials that were not adequate. A lot of Corvairs do not leak oil, and they can be made that way with updated materials and techniques.

CORVAIRS CONSTANTLY THROW FAN BELTS - Again, not true. We drive our cars 20,000-30,000 miles a year and only replace a belt every couple of years.

CORVAIRS CANNOT BE DEPENDED ON FOR DAILY TRANSPORTATION - Again, horse manure! They are actually one of most reliable, unbreakable cars ever mass
produced. How many people do you know who drive 40 year old cars daily? Well, I do as do many of my friends.

MY UNCLE HAD A 4 CYLINDER CORVAIR - no no! All Corvair motors were 6 cylinder except for a few (less than 10) experimental engines that were 8 and 10 cylinder. Add to this list - CONTINENTAL KITS, POWER STEERING, RACK AND PINION, TILT WHEELS, PUSH BUTTON SHIFTING and POWER BRAKES. NONE of those
items came on Corvairs! In addition there are lot of other parts/changes on currently surviving cars that have nothing to do with what came from the factory!

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Put the ninnies and the twits in their place with the truth about our favorite car!