Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong
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Unsafe at Any Speed - Wikipedia
Federal study refutes Nader's Corvair charges, July 20, 1972
On this day in 1972, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the results of a two-year study that concluded that Chevrolet's 1960-63 Corvair models were at least as safe as comparable models of similar cars sold during in the same period. The report contradicted charges...
www.politico.com
Bruce
rangerfredbob
Veteran Member
all hooey, just like the Pintos blowing up... fuel tanks are in the rear of dang near everything and were before the pinto... sure shortcuts were made but if you do almost anything wrong enough something stupid will happen...
goeduck
Super Star Member
2nd generation Corvairs were cool looking (65-69). Pintos, not so much IMHO. A Corvair rear engine station wagon was quite a vehicle.
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3Ts
Elite Member
I saw one crash report (don't remember the vehicle) where they were showing the vehicle burst into flames when it was run into. They included the video in the report, but if you looked closely, the car caught fire before the impact. Something like 6" from impact you can see flames beginning. Turns out there was an explosive squib to force the results they wanted. Don't remember who did the "testing".
KennyG
Elite Member
The original Corvair had only one CV joint per axle so the rear wheel would tend to tuck under in hard corners. This is less than optimum for handling but is the same as the Volkswagen bug. Nader went after GM instead of VW (in spite of the VW having a lot more cars on the road) because GM was such an attractive target. The original Corvair wasn't all that bad but the second generation corrected it by adding a second CV joint making it handle very well. But by that time, with the safety campaign and the existing cooling problems, limited production volumn, etc. it was doomed.
Xfaxman
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Oaktree
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The tires were my first clue, didn't really notice the suspension until you mentioned it. Also, those straps don't seem to be tied to anything on the truck.
Speaking of old VWs, don't forget they also had the gas tank in the front of the vehicle with only the spare tire in front of it. I don't know how much protection the tire would give in a front end collision.
old and tired
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The bug never got going fast enough to be a problem....
California
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VW's initial response to safety criticism was 'rear engine'd, tail heavy, so they always spin and go off the road tail-first'. Really!
Slower than the Bug was the Transporter, the no-windows version of the VW van. Compound gearing between the axles and the hubs. Speedometer redlined at 54 mph! BTDT.
This was a great build!!!
After I asked my question I did a search for the same. This Will the Corvair kill you?
is a test drive of the actual 1960 Corvair which Nader once owned.
Pintos were tough for what they were though. A couple of friends had them in high school and beat the crap out of them the way that only high school kids can do.
joecoin
Gold Member
Anecdotal:
I saw the engine fall out of a Corvair onto the street when I was a kid. The story was the guy was on his way to buy insurance.
notaz3
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Matt doesn't mess around and Lindsey is one awesome lady.
John0829
Veteran Member
I did not know until I was talking to my wife about Corvairs that she had one when in high school... and the engine fell out of it on the main street of town. At least she was going slow.
duramaxsky
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It was 70s GM pickup saddle tanks. I can't remember if it was 60 minutes or 20 20.
KennyG
Elite Member
It was NBC Dateline. GM sued and won, got an apology and some financial settlement.
kenmbz
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My father had a corvair and he loved it, I remember it from when I was really little.
Not a great family car and was replaced by a ford station wagon with a big 8 cylinder.
My mom would hit the gas and we'd be pinned to the seats.
That was followed by a 70's impala which had to have it's motor mounts replaced every few years.
My father had a monza later on that had the v8 and it was fast, but had no traction. Fun car but it too had motor mount problems, mostly from us racing it. Nice sleeper car as everyone assumed it had the 4 like 99.9% of them did.
Not a great family car and was replaced by a ford station wagon with a big 8 cylinder.
My mom would hit the gas and we'd be pinned to the seats.
That was followed by a 70's impala which had to have it's motor mounts replaced every few years.
My father had a monza later on that had the v8 and it was fast, but had no traction. Fun car but it too had motor mount problems, mostly from us racing it. Nice sleeper car as everyone assumed it had the 4 like 99.9% of them did.
dodge man
Super Star Member
Do you remember ever having model rockets as a kid a those little rocket motors? On that piece where the filmed the pickup catching on fire in a simulated accident they had those rocket motors underneath to make sure it caught on fire. They later said it was to just emphasize their point.
