Originally posted by Rev :
Quote:
Actually, the Chevrolet Corvair was a rear engine, rear drive vehicle with an aluminum, air cooled, pancake 6cyl. engine. Some of the later "Corvair Spiders" (Monzas?) had 2 carbs, 4 speed and dual exhaust. I think they were rated at around 180 HP and were pretty quick for the day. Nader did pretty much kill it with his book "Unsafe at Any Speed", that SOB.
The American public was not used to the weight distibution of a rear engine car and accidents did occur. Swing-axle rear suspensions didn't help either. Same with Volkswagen beetles and some Porsches that had the swing axle rear suspension. The Corvair may have had some other handling issues as well, but it was kind of a neat little car IMHO. The Falcon was introduced by Ford as a direct result and as a competitor to the Corvair.
I think the Corvair came out in about 1960.
Rev
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Right on all counts, Rev and I thank you for the correction regarding the ill-fated Corvair.
The Chevrolet Corvair did come out in '60 and I believe that it was quite popular for awhile but in an era of huge cars that used mass to 'protect' the occupants in a crash, an accident with a Corvair and, say, a '57 Chevy would usually mean serious injury or death to the occupants of the tiny, rear-engined Corvair. That and the 'handling issues' you mentioned were the basis of Ralph Nader's book. He blamed the GM corporation for knowingly producing a 'dangerous' car that was really only dangerous for an inexperienced driver or because of the prevalence of much larger vehicles on the road at that point in time (early 1960's). Once 'cheap' gas became scarce in the 1970's and federal gas mileage requirements became more stringent, smaller cars began to become more popular and we all know where it went from there. By the 80's, the big cars of yesteryear were already dinosaurs and the small but peppy and efficient cars from Japan were the rage.
The Chevy Corvair was ahead of it's time and the Ford Falcon was simply a forerunner to the Escort, which sold millions.