"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Wes" wrote in message
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Lewis Hartswick wrote:

Did you ever read it, Lew? Or did you read *about* it?

I read some of it. Couldn't stand to do the rest.
...lew...


I read it, the latter Corvairs were safer, too late to save the brand.
Compared to today,
the 60's cars are death traps for the most part.

Wes

The pre-'65s were the ones with the swing axles, and a frame that had
serious weaknesses in the central bay. The swing axle was just fine for
moderate driving. But, pressed hard, the car was a wild thing that took
some experience to handle. On the racetrack it absolutely needed heavy
modifications. (I spun mine at Old Bridge Speedway in NJ, even with a
bunch of modifications, because, en extremis, the rearward weight bias
took over and that was all she wrote). In '64, there was a
factory-installed transverse spring that had the same effect as a
stabilizer bar -- it reduced the tendency for the suspension to jack.

Starting in '65, the car had a better unibody and they went to a four-link
rear suspension that was functionally the same as double wishbones. At the
time, it was the most advanced suspension on any US-built car, along with
the Corvette.

But GM screwed the pooch by putting up so much resistance to Nader's
assault, particularly by trying to entrap him with a prostitute and some
other underhanded things. I think the Corvair could have weathered it all,
but trust in the company was shot to hell.

--
Ed Huntress


Corvair was never going to survive "unsafe at any speed". Nader found an
easy target and hit a bull's-eye. Same suspension on the original VW bug.
And the Bug was top heavy. But the bug was loved, and Nader would have shot
himself writing the same book about the VW. VW and Corvair finally added
the same thing Empi had been furnishing for years. The Camber Compensator.
Don Yenco and the Corvair Stinger did very well at speed. But by then there
was the 4 wheel indepent suspension similar to the Corvette. Corvair was
always going to oversteer. Nature of the rear engine, just like a front
engine car will always understeer. At least without judicious power
application. As to spinning on a race track. Only way to prevent that is
not to push a cars limits. My B Production Vette did a few spins over the
years. Mostly my trying to go 5 mph faster than physics allowed. :)