You got that right, nothing like a Corvair! My first one was a 1965 4 dr. Monza 110 hp. That sucker could move. I blew the doors off Mustangs, Dodge Demons with 318"s and Camaro's with 327"s. What a car! I have had 4 Corvairs in my life and LOVED all of them. To this day, NO car can handle like a Corvair, I used to love taking hairpin bends in the road at 60 mph. It's like their glued to the street.
Notice in most of the front-end crashes, the front trunk took most of the damage, leaving the passenger compartment relatively intact. Now they call this a crumple zone. Corvair was ahead of its time.
Current owner of a 1966 Monza coupe for the last 19 years and still completely in love with it. Always wanted one as a kid in the 60s. Forget all the old cliches about safety. It runs and drives very nice and the styling is unmatched. The belt doesn't fall off, it doesn't leak oil or catch fire, the heater doesn't leak carbon monoxide and the front end doesn't lift off the ground on the freeway. Those are stories told by non owners.
@@Kingnumber-nd9cl Find a crash photo of any car from that era and see if it looks safe. Point is, Nader's book was about more than the Corvair and could have applied to every vehicle made up to the time it was published.
@@tommyv8777 Im not saying that the corvair was a bad car. It was affordable, efficient, relatively practical and was one of the first vehicles to feature a turbocharged petrol engine. I'm just saying that potential safety/handling risks shouldn't be ignored, because they are not made up (but exaggerated in the unsafe at any speeds book) (ua-cam.com/video/MuvHNODuVFg/v-deo.html) Ignoring handling characteristics is how people get hurt! You have to take in consider the potential hazards of the vehicle and apply that to your driving style, or else you'll either spin out or rollover. take the Tatra T87 for example, similar configuration, killed more nazi officers on the autobahn then in actual combat.
@@Kingnumber-nd9cl Great talking cars with you and by no means being confrontational. But, I would put Ed Cole's engineering skills above the Czech car makers of the 1930s. Maybe owners should have actually read their manuals for proper tire inflation recommendations. With nearly two million Corvairs produced including 1.4 million pre 1965 models with swing axles, we should still be tripping over dead bodies. By the Tatra example we could have defeated every enemy army we ever faced! The extreme hard driving that it would take to tuck that inside wheel under the car would render any car of the 1960s uncontrollable. Would they flip? Probably not but they sure as heck would not make the corner and a serious wreck would result. 1965 and newer had independent suspension similar to Corvette but the damage to their reputation was done. Don't know if you've ever driven one but they are a lot of fun and people have no clue what they are in 2022. Young people that is. But I love that in 2022 we are still talking about them. God's blessings to you my friend.
A 64 Corvair saved my fathers life. The was rear ended at a stop by a guy with a muscle car going 70. The rear engine was in the back seat. Any other car and he would have died. Screw you Nader.
I have had 4 Corvairs since I was 18. My last one being a 68 Monza Convertible that I bought to restore in 1997. after 10 years of work, it was like brand new again. I LOVED my Corvairs. You need to make a video about Toyotas and other Japanese "JUNK". When you get into a collision with a housefly in one of those, the fly ALWAYS wins. In fact in MY first Corvair at age 18, I ran into the back of a Corvette and guess who won? MY CORVAIR!! That Vette was cracked from the back bumper on both sides to the doors. My Corvair got a small dent in the front and a slightly bent bumper. THAT"S QUALITY!! stick that one up your tailpipe and smoke it!!
Looks like the crushable fronts did their job. No engine to shove back into the front seat. Just a gas tank. :-) I T-boned a Plymouth with my '61. Flattened the front. Threw me into the steering wheel and my right knee ate the heater controls and dash (steel). Still having sinus & breathing problems 43 yrs. later......... I have 2 of them now and love 'em.
My grandfather, Frank J. Winchell, was GM’s expert witness in the defense of the Corvair. In total there were 294 cases brought against GM, totaling claims of over 100 million dollars. Of these, 10 were tried to jury convictions. Of these, 8 verdicts were in favor of GM. Of the 2 loses; "Chart v GM," where 2 of the 5 occupants testified in court that the driver had a quarrel with his girlfriend and that after a 2 1/2 hour stop at Bronco’s Beer Bar, where the driver was chug-a-luging his beer, and later they warned the him that he was driving recklessly and at an excessive speed, that he failed to make a right hand turn, locked up his brakes and struck a telephone pole. In what is know as a comparative negligence verdict, the jury found the driver 75% responsible, the girlfriend 3%, the state highway 5%, the county highway 5% and GM 12%. The other lose was "Canthos v GM," where the jury found in favor of the plaintiff, however, the judge set the jury’s verdict aside stating “There is not a scintilla of quotient evidence to support the claims against the handling characteristics of the 1960-63 Corvair.(paraphrasing)” He went on to describe the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert witness as “perhaps the most incomprehensible gibberish that this court has ever heard.” A Untied Sates Senate Committee spent 2 1/2 year investigating the safety of the Corvair, the DOT as well as many other institutions, even Nader’s own NHTSA came to the same conclusions as everyone else, that the Corvair was not defectively designed nor a defective product. In fact, it performed as good, or better than all cars on american roads at that time.
The early Corvairs were hit or miss in finish and build quality and did indeed suffer from some significant shortcomings. The gasoline-burning cabin heater, fuel tank design, the "acrobatic" fan belt and lack of suspension refinement were some of the weak points. The decision to mass-market a car to the American public which required keeping a close eye on correct tire pressures was also extremely questionable. The car was not fully developed when launched. But it did evolve into a very capable machine and by 1963 it was not only a good, but perhaps a very good car. I occasionally have the opportunity to drive one and it always amazes me how enjoyable to drive they still are today, besides being downright endearing in overall character.
I owned several corvairs. I was a hot rodder back then. I never had a wreck in a corvair. It was no more unsafe than any other car of its age. It was fun to drive, cheap on gas, hated the gas heater, loved the way it looked. Corvair was a victim of nader. Miss the corvair for sure.
Remember when a hot rod fabrication company came out with a complete kit for dropping a small block Chevy into the rear of a Corvair? Now that truly was "UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED".
Al Gore was/is even more dangerous and delusional than Ralph Nader, and look at the way most of the country eats up his climate change bullshit. Just like they did with Nader and his Corvair hating.
@@ivanleterror9158 No, I built a Crown Corv-8 back in 1972, and owned it for 17 years. It truly was what it was advertised as: a Can-Am car for the street. It was only unsafe if you were a total idiot.
my buddy had turbo charged corvair monza spyder engine in his dune buggy back in the day. we would roll a dobbie and take her out for a spin at night. best sounding engine ever when your stoned.
That was my yellow Corsa convert at 5:04 after hitting a '58 T-Bird at 60 MPH! I was fine, and the cop thought I was "covering" for the "real" driver!! The front end acted like a big steel "air bag" - "WHOOMPF" is all I remember!
After seeing videos on the Corvair, it reminds me of an accident one fall evening I saw in the late eighties, when I was in high school in Park Rapids, Minnesota. However, the car here was a 1982 Ford Escort four door hatchback that took a street corner at 50 mph and flipped several times and finally landed in front of the town post office. What a waste of a pretty little blue car. Alcohol and ego do wonders for bad driving. These Corvairs I can imagine drive and handle very safely. The best driving tool on the road is good old fashioned common sense.
I've owned a '65 Corvair Monza 4 door. First thing I fixed was the constant oil leakage from the pushrod tubes then replaced all bearings in the turning parts of the cooling system and replaced the belt, I kept the belt fresh and had no problems. Later I spent over 5 thousand dollars on the engine. Roller everything, custom coatings and cam work. Hooker exhaust. It would do wheelies when I punched it and ate up tires. And it was LOUD. Hideously loud. Totally fun. Miss that car.
I had a '63 Monza 2-door 4-speed that I "invested" quite a bit of money into. Rebuilt balanced 164 engine 10.5 compression, Tarantula intake runners and a 350cfm 2-barrel carb, tube exhaust with Turbo mufflers, LOADS of suspension parts, powdered metal brakes, steel radials and alloy wheels. Highest speed I ever took it to was 115 but it needed an alignment and the front end vibrated so much I didn't dare go faster. Loved the thing and would love to have another. F Ralph Nadar.
Most of these pictures show that the cabin was mostly intact during an accident. Even in a roll over the roof don't seem to cave in like most cars and no explosions either. With airbags and today's standard safety equipment, I think this would be a great car to drive. I would definately feel safe just by looking at most of these pictures.
I had a 61 Corvair station wagon back in the late 60s. One day I drove across a bump on a curve. The rear end bounced up, the rear wheels folded in and the car went sideways. I was lucky to get it back under control.
As a child in the 1970s I remember that Corvairs (and other small cars) we sitting idle in many back yards...rusted out, leaking oil and used up, so many of them must have made it through their life without an accident! People would give them to you just to get them off of their property!
Progressive resistance up to the front panel separating the trunk from the passenger compartment. Crumple zone that gets harder to compress the more its forced to compress. And Corvairs can take a beating but drivers and passengers who don't use their seatbelts don't.
I had a 1965 Monza convertible my first car when I was in high school. The thing I thought of in the video a lot of hard hits in the front end where the gas tank is and not one burst into flames like the ford pinto. They should have left the Corvair alone just think how much further ahead we would have been in small car race of that time
They added a sway bar which it needed. It was produced till 69; lots of other cars didn't make 9 years on the market. Nader's book in 65 killed sales but it wasn't a bad car at all, and no worse than it's contemporaries.
First car I ever owned. Even spun it out going to school one morning. On a wet road. Totally my fault. Didn't hit anything. Got back on the road and wasn't even late for my first class.
I never saw this video before and don't know who made it but at 2:47 and marker 4:38 is my blue 1964 Corvair that I was driving when a drunk driver hit me head on back in 1989
I'm sorry for your loss. But I'm glad you're alive. You can connect emotionally with a car although that sounds irrational or weird. Cars are loyal. Cars are free and innocent, usually gentle and reliable. They make good pets and companions. Love your cars, rust never sleeps.
I'm 68 now.. Started to watch this video and with the first tune ...was caught to the end ....only saw maybe 3 or 4 .ever ....I was a gas pump boy from late 50s to 75....pumping fuel into a Corvair was ...odd...so were a few others....thanks for this walk down the lane ...
my late husband had a corvair, he would drive it like he stole it.......because he did! Took it from the fella Vito down the block when ole Vito was too drunk to notice it was missin.My husband would go down to the local gin mill, get too drunk to walk home. He'd drive it to Vito's, parkin it on the front grass. Next day he'd tell Vito - "you was so drunk y'all couldn't find the driveway". He did this for a few years until the local PD took Vito to jail runnin over a young punk sleepin it off down the road. Punk survived but never knew who was drivin the corvair, so cops figured it was drunkin Vito again. Crazy drunkin town I tell ya.
Thanks to Ralph Nader, the corvair lifespan was cut short, what a shame,it was just a matter of the car beingmade years ahead of it's time, before better chassis parts, finally became available.
Makes me wonder how many of these cars crashed because stupid mechanics & service station attendants inflated the front tyres to 30PSI (instead of the correct 17PSI) causing the front of the car to slide.
If you're trying to make the point that Corvairs are unsafe because there have been some involved in wrecks, there are plenty of photos showing all car brands involved in accidents. Including Porsche, Lamborghini, Bughatti and all others.
After the 60 model there were changes made to the rear suspension and after that the car was no more dangerous than any other in that era. Nader just wanted to see his name on TV.
Another man spotted the wreck@ 3:14 It was a comedian actor name Ernie Kovacs known for smoking cigars this accident was caused by him trying to light a cigar on the way home the LA street was slick from rain. He was married to actress Edie Adams.
My mother had a '64 Monza that she bought when you couldn't get a new Mustang, she really wanted a Triumph Spitfire but she saw the Corvair and she loved it. My dad on the other hand hated driving it because of exhaust fumes so he stuck with the '63 Pontiac Catalina and in '68 the Corvair was traded in for a new '68 Olds Cutlass that went well over 100k, what a difference in 2 different cars, the Cutlass and the Corvair
Am i the only one seeing that these cars were actually kind of safe to crash,frontal compression wise? Many of these pictures showing the front end nearly totalled,yet the coupe still intact😀. For example,see at 6:32 and at 7:29
It’s from nothing being there so it just crunches but that gives people the idea that it is unsafe and gets smashed easier but in reality it’s perfectly fine and will probably be softer in a crash
Yup. That whole front end was carefully designed to be a life saving crumple zone that stops at the front floorboards leaving as much of the passenger compartment intact as possible. We need cars with anti collision airbags on the outside of the cars next. To protect the car.
@@garrett591 yeah but the reason it was supposedly unsafe is because lack of weight on the front tires supposedly causes it to lose control easily, but I think that's mostly been debunked
My dad wrecked my uncle's Corvair when I was little. He hit a telephone pole and was injured pretty bad. He wasn't used to the odd handling characteristics.
The cars weren't much more dangerous than any other car just most drivers were not used to the light front and engine in back. Similar to getting used to anti lock brakes or front wheel drive
Holy mackerel! Some of those wrecks had to be fatal for sure! And some people who survived some of those wrecks must've really been hurting afterwards!
True, but Walt Disney had a hand in it too. In a way, GM got a taste of their own medicine for the part they played in helping kill off the Tucker automobile.
The main thing that made this car perform poorly in front end collisions was the fact that there was no engine block up there to absorb some of the impact. It was the same with the VW beetle...nothing but empty space between you and whatever hit you.
I had to pour two sacks of concrete and rebar to hold the front end down under hard acceleration but my engine put out insane amounts of power after spending over 5 thousand dollars on it. Special coatings, valves, pistons, cylinder sleeves, heads opened out, ported and polished, roller everything, valve lifters and intake/exhaust systems.
What most people don't know is that there are two completely different corvairs. The early uglier and smaller 4 lug Tire and then the larger more better looking 5 lug Tire. Over half of these images are of the earlier design. The larger second design was a fantastic car but the reputation has been ruined
Yes but one could come up with a group of accident photos of any compact car from the 60s as gruesome as these..A friend of mine wrapped a Corvair around a tree at high speed coming home drunk from a teen bar in Hartford Wisconsin on his way to Waukesha. The car was completely cut in half and he was found dead on the ground. Later in life I saw the same result in Ohio involving a Plymouth Satellite. Both cars are unibody construction but the same can and has happened with body on frame construction. My dad bought a four door Corvair in 1961. As a teenage driver, I drove it hard and it did have mechanical issues but it never even attempted to roll over. Let tire pressures get too low in the rear and drive it recklessly and then you may get in trouble..with any car! Also keep in mind, larger heavier cars are just as hard to dissipate energy in a crash as the have more kinetic energy to dissipate!
As I recall, comedian Ernie Kovacs was killed while driving his wife's Corvair wagon home from a party. Edie Adams drove the Corvair to the party, but went home in the couple's Rolls that Ernie had driven. Don't remember why now they exchanged cars for the drive home. Ernie was born January 23, 1919 and died January 13, 1962. Edie was born April 16, 1927 and died October 15, 2008.
I think that car is shown at @3:15; it matches the damage description's I've seen exactly. Ernie wasn't terribly drunk, and would have been deemed OK to drive by the social and legal standards back then. Today the court would sat he was very drunk. It's speculated that he only saw his turn at the last moment and tried to make it, but wet roads and a 40 MPH speed said no.
Pretty dumb to trash a car brand when most opf the pics show that wrecks were due to crappy drivers. Hey, my first car was a '61 Corvair, and I spun it into a ditch because I didn't watch the road surface. Not the car's fault...
The crash safety isn't why it was supposedly unsafe its because its said to lose control easily because of lack of weight on the front wheels due to being rear engine.
Unfortunately when accidents like those happened in those days the occupants were seriously injured if not worse, classics or not cars now are MUCH safer. My 1st car was a 61 VW and i knew someone who had a 4 carb Corvair in high school early 70's
Our 63 Monza was GREAT, 5800 hundred mile trip thru the west,,handled ran and enjoyed….3 yrs of trouble free, do something stupid, or be in wrong place most any car will look like these…sorry,, they were great cars for what you paid
No - that is not the Kovacs wreck . On the Kovacs wreck there is no way that the drivers door is open and the engine did not fall out Not Ernie on the gurney either .. There are 2 photos of Kovacs wreck in the vdeo .
Looks to be slightly slanted to all accidents and not unsafe at any speed highway rollovers as to Ralph Nader, fear monger. I owned a 1962 Corvair, never had a major problem with it.😊
Yeah, we get your point! The Corvair back in the day was considered an unsafe vehicle. Still it was a hot looking car, one that many girls/women back then loved to own. One of the greatest times that I had being in a car was with a gal who owned a Corvair which occurred back while I was in college in the late 70's. She owned a vintage 1960 model red-colored 4 door Corvair. I never felt in any danger that the car would catch on fire had anyone hit us from the rear, nor did she drive recklessly to the point where she would have lost control of her Corvair and it ended up like some of the wrecks seen in this vid. She actually was an incredibly safe driver. The only issue with me being in the car, other than the times when she had issues getting it started, (engine seriously out of tune due to her neglect) was the fact that while she was all of 5 feet tall in height and I had reached my final 6'1" and the car had a front bench seat, (automatic transmission), and that as she had to have the seat moved to its most forward position to enable her to reach the pedals with her feet, my knees were scraping up against the dashboard. It actually looked hilarious but I loved riding in her Corvair which was cute looking - perfect for her. Ralph Nader in his diatribes against the car obviously had a hatred for the Corvair. Perhaps old Ralph had purchased in earlier model and it turned out to be a lemon.
+jeffman61 Good points, but Nader hated ALL cars and demanded that everyone play by his rules. The DRIVER was never wrong, it was always the car's fault. All those pics in the vid that show the car after a rear-ender collision are there because of driver inattention and stupidity. But hey, don't worry, we now have cars with 20 airbags and a potential for SELF DRIVING. What could POSSIBLY go wrong???
Looks like a lot of those wrecks would have hurt. But for the era, most cars would cause physical pain to the residents. Metal and glass would come in at all angles. There was no passenger cage, the whole car would collapse. Today's cars have come a long way where we can just walk away without any ill effects.
There is really no difference between Corvair wrecks and wrecks of all other cars. In all car wrecks there is primarily one causal factor - an Incompetent driver behind the wheel.
Now manufacturing only worrys about the passenger compartment ,people thought if was bad compared to the lead sheds but now we know bodys keep moving in a wreak,belts crush zones all Lession the impact
Actor Comedian Ernie Kovacks was Killed Driving A Corvair Wagon in Jan or Feb 1962 on Santa Monica Blvd At the L.A. Beverly Hills City Line. What was Noble about it His Actress Wife who Died Nearly 50 Years Later was Suppose to be Driving the Corvair Wagon, instead Husband Ernie Made her Drive His Rolls Royce which was Safer. & Looked What Happened... he Died while Driving the Corvair on a Rain Slick Santa Monica Blvd that Night! He did the Right Thing & it cost Him His Life & Spared His Wife on that Rainy Night in 1962.
+Johnny Deville Well see if you can dig up a Report with either LAPD or Beverly Hills Police from January or February of 1962 as well as the L.A. Papers from that Time or Elsewhere & Find the Real Truth on how Mr. Kovacks Died in the Corvair on Santa Monica Blvd on that Rainy Night in Jan or Feb 62.
you hit what you look at. if you fixate on the pole you are about to hit, thats what you are steering at. look next to the pole, thats where you will steer without realising it and might miss the pole.
Look at you. I've see whole vw be gobbled up by the rail road engines. Nothing left. just like the corvair pictured in your missive. Its the driver. Not so much the car. But when some one thinks there better than the rules of of physics. you will pay. Vw will tip over easy. A sudden right 90 is all its takes.
+Ned Madsen Yea Ned - The Sprint in the opening scene was me . A lady spun out and crossed the median and hit me as she was coming at me backwards . Santa Rosa Ca .
Did anyone notice the wagon with the engine laying on the road?? I remember reading about someone who had one and said the engine fell out but thought it was BS
Prior to 1966, there were only three bolts holding the transmission in place. The rear axle and suspension attachments mostly held the engine in place. I was always surprised more didn't fall out. Maybe the engineering was better than it looked. My friend and I could remove the engine as transmission as a unit in 20 minutes, though.
I remember in the mid '60s, the son of a customer asked my dad (an owner of a garage) ... If I want to buy any car, what should I avoid. Dad's answer, "Just don't buy any car that doesn't run, and don't buy a Corvair. Fast forward about 3 weeks ... Yes, the kid bought a Corvair that didn't run. And of course Dad was expected to revive it.
Actually the first year of any real change was 1964 with the addition of the camber compensator. The 1965s used a totally redesigned truly independent rear suspension .Watch my Corvair handling videos !
nader wanted a name for himself,and a great g.m car died.talking heads every where in our land of confusion.i had a 1960,85 HP,3 SPEED on the floor,a good car.
Timothy Lines yep I am sure that the son of the GM executive that was one of te first to flip a corvair going around a curve would have thought the same. except he died.
You got that right, nothing like a Corvair! My first one was a 1965 4 dr. Monza 110 hp. That sucker could move. I blew the doors off Mustangs, Dodge Demons with 318"s and Camaro's with 327"s. What a car! I have had 4 Corvairs in my life and LOVED all of them. To this day, NO car can handle like a Corvair, I used to love taking hairpin bends in the road at 60 mph. It's like their glued to the street.
Notice in most of the front-end crashes, the front trunk took most of the damage, leaving the passenger compartment relatively intact. Now they call this a crumple zone. Corvair was ahead of its time.
Current owner of a 1966 Monza coupe for the last 19 years and still completely in love with it. Always wanted one as a kid in the 60s. Forget all the old cliches about safety. It runs and drives very nice and the styling is unmatched. The belt doesn't fall off, it doesn't leak oil or catch fire, the heater doesn't leak carbon monoxide and the front end doesn't lift off the ground on the freeway. Those are stories told by non owners.
hmmm, judging by the crash photos, the lack of safety seems more than an "old cliche"
@@Kingnumber-nd9cl Find a crash photo of any car from that era and see if it looks safe. Point is, Nader's book was about more than the Corvair and could have applied to every vehicle made up to the time it was published.
@@tommyv8777 Im not saying that the corvair was a bad car. It was affordable, efficient, relatively practical and was one of the first vehicles to feature a turbocharged petrol engine. I'm just saying that potential safety/handling risks shouldn't be ignored, because they are not made up (but exaggerated in the unsafe at any speeds book)
(ua-cam.com/video/MuvHNODuVFg/v-deo.html)
Ignoring handling characteristics is how people get hurt! You have to take in consider the potential hazards of the vehicle and apply that to your driving style, or else you'll either spin out or rollover. take the Tatra T87 for example, similar configuration, killed more nazi officers on the autobahn then in actual combat.
@@tommyv8777 Although a method of improving the handling would be to run on thicker radial tires, or swap out the swing axle for a trailing arm setup
@@Kingnumber-nd9cl Great talking cars with you and by no means being confrontational. But, I would put Ed Cole's engineering skills above the Czech car makers of the 1930s. Maybe owners should have actually read their manuals for proper tire inflation recommendations. With nearly two million Corvairs produced including 1.4 million pre 1965 models with swing axles, we should still be tripping over dead bodies. By the Tatra example we could have defeated every enemy army we ever faced! The extreme hard driving that it would take to tuck that inside wheel under the car would render any car of the 1960s uncontrollable. Would they flip? Probably not but they sure as heck would not make the corner and a serious wreck would result. 1965 and newer had independent suspension similar to Corvette but the damage to their reputation was done. Don't know if you've ever driven one but they are a lot of fun and people have no clue what they are in 2022. Young people that is. But I love that in 2022 we are still talking about them. God's blessings to you my friend.
Best handling cars I’ve ever had. I drove Corvairs for 30 years.
A 64 Corvair saved my fathers life. The was rear ended at a stop by a guy with a muscle car going 70. The rear engine was in the back seat. Any other car and he would have died. Screw you Nader.
I have had 4 Corvairs since I was 18. My last one being a 68 Monza Convertible that I bought to restore in 1997. after 10 years of work, it was like brand new again. I LOVED my Corvairs. You need to make a video about Toyotas and other Japanese "JUNK". When you get into a collision with a housefly in one of those, the fly ALWAYS wins. In fact in MY first Corvair at age 18, I ran into the back of a Corvette and guess who won? MY CORVAIR!! That Vette was cracked from the back bumper on both sides to the doors. My Corvair got a small dent in the front and a slightly bent bumper. THAT"S QUALITY!! stick that one up your tailpipe and smoke it!!
Looks like the crushable fronts did their job. No engine to shove back into the front seat. Just a gas tank. :-) I T-boned a Plymouth with my '61. Flattened the front. Threw me into the steering wheel and my right knee ate the heater controls and dash (steel). Still having sinus & breathing problems 43 yrs. later......... I have 2 of them now and love 'em.
Ouch! I hope that the problems arnt too serious. Did you not have a seatbelt or did the dash come to meet you?
No seatbelt - as I remember, in a 1961, although I was one of those who did not quickly adapt to seatbelts. I'm still here.....
My grandfather, Frank J. Winchell, was GM’s expert witness in the defense of the Corvair. In total there were 294 cases brought against GM, totaling claims of over 100 million dollars. Of these, 10 were tried to jury convictions. Of these, 8 verdicts were in favor of GM. Of the 2 loses; "Chart v GM," where 2 of the 5 occupants testified in court that the driver had a quarrel with his girlfriend and that after a 2 1/2 hour stop at Bronco’s Beer Bar, where the driver was chug-a-luging his beer, and later they warned the him that he was driving recklessly and at an excessive speed, that he failed to make a right hand turn, locked up his brakes and struck a telephone pole. In what is know as a comparative negligence verdict, the jury found the driver 75% responsible, the girlfriend 3%, the state highway 5%, the county highway 5% and GM 12%. The other lose was "Canthos v GM," where the jury found in favor of the plaintiff, however, the judge set the jury’s verdict aside stating “There is not a scintilla of quotient evidence to support the claims against the handling characteristics of the 1960-63 Corvair.(paraphrasing)” He went on to describe the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert witness as “perhaps the most incomprehensible gibberish that this court has ever heard.” A Untied Sates Senate Committee spent 2 1/2 year investigating the safety of the Corvair, the DOT as well as many other institutions, even Nader’s own NHTSA came to the same conclusions as everyone else, that the Corvair was not defectively designed nor a defective product. In fact, it performed as good, or better than all cars on american roads at that time.
The early Corvairs were hit or miss in finish and build quality and did indeed suffer from some significant shortcomings. The gasoline-burning cabin heater, fuel tank design, the "acrobatic" fan belt and lack of suspension refinement were some of the weak points. The decision to mass-market a car to the American public which required keeping a close eye on correct tire pressures was also extremely questionable. The car was not fully developed when launched. But it did evolve into a very capable machine and by 1963 it was not only a good, but perhaps a very good car. I occasionally have the opportunity to drive one and it always amazes me how enjoyable to drive they still are today, besides being downright endearing in overall character.
I owned several corvairs. I was a hot rodder back then. I never had a wreck in a corvair. It was no more unsafe than any other car of its age. It was fun to drive, cheap on gas, hated the gas heater, loved the way it looked. Corvair was a victim of nader. Miss the corvair for sure.
I put a i/2 in. steel plate in the trunk made better handling !!!
Remember when a hot rod fabrication company came out with a complete kit for dropping a small block Chevy into the rear of a Corvair? Now that truly was "UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED".
Al Gore was/is even more dangerous and delusional than Ralph Nader, and look at the way most of the country eats up his climate change bullshit. Just like they did with Nader and his Corvair hating.
@@ivanleterror9158 No, I built a Crown Corv-8 back in 1972, and owned it for 17 years. It truly was what it was advertised as: a Can-Am car for the street. It was only unsafe if you were a total idiot.
@@61rampy65 That's the secret, the 'idiot factor".
Had a 65 Corvair wasn't a bad car. Got it for free from a friend back in the early 70's
VW had the same suspension swing axle problem but Nader never attacked VW because it was popular with his base. What a hack.
Exactly 💯
He didn't even know how to drive!
my buddy had turbo charged corvair monza spyder engine in his dune buggy back in the day. we would roll a dobbie and take her out for a spin at night. best sounding engine ever when your stoned.
doobie
I had a 1962 Corvair, which was a great car. I’ve never had any problems with it.
I remember my Dad's 1962 Buick. Had no seat belts but did have a nice pointy metal cone on the steering wheel hub.
That was my yellow Corsa convert at 5:04 after hitting a '58 T-Bird at 60 MPH!
I was fine, and the cop thought I was "covering" for the "real" driver!!
The front end acted like a big steel "air bag" - "WHOOMPF" is all I remember!
Was safer than any jeep at the time
The Willys jeep also can't go very fast when stock though
After seeing videos on the Corvair, it reminds me of an accident one fall evening I saw in the late eighties, when I was in high school in Park Rapids, Minnesota. However, the car here was a 1982 Ford Escort four door hatchback that took a street corner at 50 mph and flipped several times and finally landed in front of the town post office. What a waste of a pretty little blue car. Alcohol and ego do wonders for bad driving. These Corvairs I can imagine drive and handle very safely. The best driving tool on the road is good old fashioned common sense.
So, how many of these wrecks were actually the fault of the Corvair?
I've owned a '65 Corvair Monza 4 door. First thing I fixed was the constant oil leakage from the pushrod tubes then replaced all bearings in the turning parts of the cooling system and replaced the belt, I kept the belt fresh and had no problems. Later I spent over 5 thousand dollars on the engine. Roller everything, custom coatings and cam work. Hooker exhaust. It would do wheelies when I punched it and ate up tires. And it was LOUD. Hideously loud. Totally fun. Miss that car.
I had a '63 Monza 2-door 4-speed that I "invested" quite a bit of money into. Rebuilt balanced 164 engine 10.5 compression, Tarantula intake runners and a 350cfm 2-barrel carb, tube exhaust with Turbo mufflers, LOADS of suspension parts, powdered metal brakes, steel radials and alloy wheels. Highest speed I ever took it to was 115 but it needed an alignment and the front end vibrated so much I didn't dare go faster. Loved the thing and would love to have another. F Ralph Nadar.
Most of these pictures show that the cabin was mostly intact during an accident. Even in a roll over the roof don't seem to cave in like most cars and no explosions either. With airbags and today's standard safety equipment, I think this would be a great car to drive. I would definately feel safe just by looking at most of these pictures.
Yeah I was wondering, did US cars have energy-absorbing front ends in the 60's? It looks like some of them did.
If it was produced today it would have electronics to tame the handling like all SUVs do.
I think the Corvair is a very cool car. Not worse in safety than others at the time.
I had a 61 Corvair station wagon back in the late 60s. One day I drove across a bump on a curve. The rear end bounced up, the rear wheels folded in and the car went sideways. I was lucky to get it back under control.
I've owned several corvairs and I couldn't get one to skid out of control unless the road was wet. GO TRUMP!!!
All cars are unsafe at any speed, it's all up to the driver, that's the bottom line.
As a child in the 1970s I remember that Corvairs (and other small cars) we sitting idle in many back yards...rusted out, leaking oil and used up, so many of them must have made it through their life without an accident! People would give them to you just to get them off of their property!
The front ends seem to have crumpled in pretty good saving the passenger area .
Progressive resistance up to the front panel separating the trunk from the passenger compartment. Crumple zone that gets harder to compress the more its forced to compress. And Corvairs can take a beating but drivers and passengers who don't use their seatbelts don't.
65 was the year they changed the suspension not 60. GM ignored the suspension issues due to $.
"We'll have that bumped out by noon tomorrow, Mrs. Jones."
I had a 1965 Monza convertible my first car when I was in high school. The thing I thought of in the video a lot of hard hits in the front end where the gas tank is and not one burst into flames like the ford pinto. They should have left the Corvair alone just think how much further ahead we would have been in small car race of that time
They added a sway bar which it needed. It was produced till 69; lots of other cars didn't make 9 years on the market. Nader's book in 65 killed sales but it wasn't a bad car at all, and no worse than it's contemporaries.
Would these collisions result from it being an unsafe car, or would human error be the cause?
First car I ever owned. Even spun it out going to school one morning. On a wet road. Totally my fault. Didn't hit anything. Got back on the road and wasn't even late for my first class.
I never saw this video before and don't know who made it but at 2:47 and marker 4:38 is my blue 1964 Corvair that I was driving when a drunk driver hit me head on back in 1989
I'm sorry for your loss. But I'm glad you're alive. You can connect emotionally with a car although that sounds irrational or weird. Cars are loyal. Cars are free and innocent, usually gentle and reliable.
They make good pets and companions.
Love your cars, rust never sleeps.
I'm 68 now.. Started to watch this video and with the first tune ...was caught to the end ....only saw maybe 3 or 4 .ever ....I was a gas pump boy from late 50s to 75....pumping fuel into a Corvair was ...odd...so were a few others....thanks for this walk down the lane ...
my late husband had a corvair, he would drive it like he stole it.......because he did! Took it from the fella Vito down the block when ole Vito was too drunk to notice it was missin.My husband would go down to the local gin mill, get too drunk to walk home. He'd drive it to Vito's, parkin it on the front grass. Next day he'd tell Vito - "you was so drunk y'all couldn't find the driveway". He did this for a few years until the local PD took Vito to jail runnin over a young punk sleepin it off down the road. Punk survived but never knew who was drivin the corvair, so cops figured it was drunkin Vito again. Crazy drunkin town I tell ya.
Billie Bob Norton III now that's a story hah
Thanks to Ralph Nader, the corvair lifespan was cut short, what a shame,it was just a matter of the car beingmade years ahead of it's time, before better chassis parts, finally became available.
Some of these wrecked Corvairs are on railroad tracks. No car is going to survive an encounter with a train.
Makes me wonder how many of these cars crashed because stupid mechanics & service station attendants inflated the front tyres to 30PSI (instead of the correct 17PSI) causing the front of the car to slide.
If you're trying to make the point that Corvairs are unsafe because there have been some involved in wrecks, there are plenty of photos showing all car brands involved in accidents. Including Porsche, Lamborghini, Bughatti and all others.
Not trying to "make a point" ! Why don't you make the video with wrecked porsches ?
1unsafe1 It's been done, many videos.
They literally only crunch like that bc there’s nothing up there not bc it’s unsafe very annoying
I always wondered just how much Ralph Nader made from Volkswagen to kill the corvair
I wonder. The Corvair was Chevy's response to the VW.
After the 60 model there were changes made to the rear suspension and after that the car was no more dangerous than any other in that era. Nader just wanted to see his name on TV.
When it comes to collisions between vehicles and trains the "tie" will always go the choo choo.
Another man spotted the wreck@ 3:14 It was a comedian actor name Ernie Kovacs known for smoking cigars this accident was caused by him trying to light a cigar on the way home the LA street was slick from rain.
He was married to actress
Edie Adams.
My mother had a '64 Monza that she bought when you couldn't get a new Mustang, she really wanted a Triumph Spitfire but she saw the Corvair and she loved it. My dad on the other hand hated driving it because of exhaust fumes so he stuck with the '63 Pontiac Catalina and in '68 the Corvair was traded in for a new '68 Olds Cutlass that went well over 100k, what a difference in 2 different cars, the Cutlass and the Corvair
Triumph Spitfire has a swing axle rear suspension, like the early Corvair.
Am i the only one seeing that these cars were actually kind of safe to crash,frontal compression wise? Many of these pictures showing the front end nearly totalled,yet the coupe still intact😀. For example,see at 6:32 and at 7:29
It’s from nothing being there so it just crunches but that gives people the idea that it is unsafe and gets smashed easier but in reality it’s perfectly fine and will probably be softer in a crash
I agree!
@@garrett591 There is a vide on You tube showing a crash between a Corvair and a 59 Chevy- and its nowhere near as bad as the news made it out to be.
Yup. That whole front end was carefully designed to be a life saving crumple zone that stops at the front floorboards leaving as much of the passenger compartment intact as possible.
We need cars with anti collision airbags on the outside of the cars next. To protect the car.
@@garrett591 yeah but the reason it was supposedly unsafe is because lack of weight on the front tires supposedly causes it to lose control easily, but I think that's mostly been debunked
So far, all of the music played in the background does remind me of dead bodies in Corvairs!
My dad wrecked my uncle's Corvair when I was little. He hit a telephone pole and was injured pretty bad. He wasn't used to the odd handling characteristics.
The cars weren't much more dangerous than any other car just most drivers were not used to the light front and engine in back.
Similar to getting used to anti lock brakes or front wheel drive
No more unsafe that its' contemporaries .
They look no worse in fact less damage then the Average Rice Rocket shows if you view some of the accidents on UA-cam
I had a corvair and found out if you attach an inch and a half spoiler under the front valance it was a big help with the steering getting light
Holy mackerel! Some of those wrecks had to be fatal for sure! And some people who survived some of those wrecks must've really been hurting afterwards!
1:17 looks like it was.
The only thing dangerous about the corvair was Ralph Nader the same idiot that said the M151 military quarter tone was to unsafe for civilian use
He didn't even know how to drive.
@@michaelbenardo5695 he didn't have know how to drive he was lawyer
Only corvairs had accidents ?
Ralph Nader caused the untimely death of the Corvair. It was a good little car that met a untimely death do to Nader the Slip, Trip and Fall Lawer.
True, but Walt Disney had a hand in it too.
In a way, GM got a taste of their own medicine for the part they played in helping kill off the Tucker automobile.
I remember when wrecked cars were parked downtown on the boulevard or out in front of the high school.
The main thing that made this car perform poorly in front end collisions was the fact that there was no engine block up there to absorb some of the impact. It was the same with the VW beetle...nothing but empty space between you and whatever hit you.
Another issue people complained about was the hard braking.
I had to pour two sacks of concrete and rebar to hold the front end down under hard acceleration but my engine put out insane amounts of power after spending over 5 thousand dollars on it. Special coatings, valves, pistons, cylinder sleeves, heads opened out, ported and polished, roller everything, valve lifters and intake/exhaust systems.
What most people don't know is that there are two completely different corvairs. The early uglier and smaller 4 lug Tire and then the larger more better looking 5 lug Tire. Over half of these images are of the earlier design. The larger second design was a fantastic car but the reputation has been ruined
The entire front end seams to be a crumple zone.
The front was the trunk with no protection. A rear wheel drive car with the engine in the back gave this car a pendulum effect.
@@howardg2435 Less protection but still some
Yes but one could come up with a group of accident photos of any compact car from the 60s as gruesome as these..A friend of mine wrapped a Corvair around a tree at high speed coming home drunk from a teen bar in Hartford Wisconsin on his way to Waukesha. The car was completely cut in half and he was found dead on the ground. Later in life I saw the same result in Ohio involving a Plymouth Satellite. Both cars are unibody construction but the same can and has happened with body on frame construction. My dad bought a four door Corvair in 1961. As a teenage driver, I drove it hard and it did have mechanical issues but it never even attempted to roll over. Let tire pressures get too low in the rear and drive it recklessly and then you may get in trouble..with any car! Also keep in mind, larger heavier cars are just as hard to dissipate energy in a crash as the have more kinetic energy to dissipate!
loved the music !
ya, specially the fast country Hank Williams sounding one....what's the name of that?
"Dig That Crazy Driver" by William Penix
Oh good, thanks a million....
As I recall, comedian Ernie Kovacs was killed while driving his wife's Corvair wagon home from a party. Edie Adams drove the Corvair to the party, but went home in the couple's Rolls that Ernie had driven. Don't remember why now they exchanged cars for the drive home. Ernie was born January 23, 1919 and died January 13, 1962. Edie was born April 16, 1927 and died October 15, 2008.
Was he drunk or the car?
It was a rainy night. Ernie Kovacs was lighting a cigar when he lost control.
I think that car is shown at @3:15; it matches the damage description's I've seen exactly. Ernie wasn't terribly drunk, and would have been deemed OK to drive by the social and legal standards back then. Today the court would sat he was very drunk. It's speculated that he only saw his turn at the last moment and tried to make it, but wet roads and a 40 MPH speed said no.
Pretty dumb to trash a car brand when most opf the pics show that wrecks were due to crappy drivers. Hey, my first car was a '61 Corvair, and I spun it into a ditch because I didn't watch the road surface. Not the car's fault...
an you are still here
The crash safety isn't why it was supposedly unsafe its because its said to lose control easily because of lack of weight on the front wheels due to being rear engine.
Unfortunately when accidents like those happened in those days the occupants were seriously injured if not worse, classics or not cars now are MUCH safer. My 1st car was a 61 VW and i knew someone who had a 4 carb Corvair in high school early 70's
They call it the crush zone now
They used to call it the crumple zone.
Now which one has more ominous meaning?
Our 63 Monza was GREAT, 5800 hundred mile trip thru the west,,handled ran and enjoyed….3 yrs of trouble free, do something stupid, or be in wrong place most any car will look like these…sorry,, they were great cars for what you paid
2:10 the Ernie Kovacs wreck. Looks to me like the engine and transaxle separated from the chassis.
That is NOT the Ernie Kovacs wreck but there are a few photos of it in the video . Thanks for watching !
1unsafe1 I had seen that photo identified as the Ernie Kovacs wreck. Was I correct that the engine and transaxle had separated from the unit body?
No - that is not the Kovacs wreck . On the Kovacs wreck there is no way that the drivers door is open and the engine did not fall out Not Ernie on the gurney either .. There are 2 photos of Kovacs wreck in the vdeo .
KOVACS WAS ALSO VERY DRUNK
I don't care what kind of car you have, if you push ANY car past it's threshold it will end up in a wreck. No exceptions.
Looks to be slightly slanted to all accidents and not unsafe at any speed highway rollovers as to Ralph Nader, fear monger. I owned a 1962 Corvair, never had a major problem with it.😊
Ralph Nader 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Yeah, we get your point! The Corvair back in the day was considered an unsafe vehicle. Still it was a hot looking car, one that many girls/women back then loved to own. One of the greatest times that I had being in a car was with a gal who owned a Corvair which occurred back while I was in college in the late 70's. She owned a vintage 1960 model red-colored 4 door Corvair. I never felt in any danger that the car would catch on fire had anyone hit us from the rear, nor did she drive recklessly to the point where she would have lost control of her Corvair and it ended up like some of the wrecks seen in this vid. She actually was an incredibly safe driver.
The only issue with me being in the car, other than the times when she had issues getting it started, (engine seriously out of tune due to her neglect) was the fact that while she was all of 5 feet tall in height and I had reached my final 6'1" and the car had a front bench seat, (automatic transmission), and that as she had to have the seat moved to its most forward position to enable her to reach the pedals with her feet, my knees were scraping up against the dashboard. It actually looked hilarious but I loved riding in her Corvair which was cute looking - perfect for her.
Ralph Nader in his diatribes against the car obviously had a hatred for the Corvair. Perhaps old Ralph had purchased in earlier model and it turned out to be a lemon.
+jeffman61 Good points, but Nader hated ALL cars and demanded that everyone play by his rules. The DRIVER was never wrong, it was always the car's fault. All those pics in the vid that show the car after a rear-ender collision are there because of driver inattention and stupidity. But hey, don't worry, we now have cars with 20 airbags and a potential for SELF DRIVING. What could POSSIBLY go wrong???
This video is the very definition of inane. So is Ralph Nader for that matter!😂🎉
A lot of right front bumper collision.
At 7:18 is that a Yenko Stinger? Blue with white strips that look just like the Yenko Stinger stripes.
You could post pictures of every model wrecked car in the world,and put unsafe tab alongside of it,just sayin.
Looks like a lot of those wrecks would have hurt. But for the era, most cars would cause physical pain to the residents. Metal and glass would come in at all angles. There was no passenger cage, the whole car would collapse. Today's cars have come a long way where we can just walk away without any ill effects.
yeah I call BS like 40K a year still die in traffic crashes most of them driving fairly new cars.
Air bags make a huge difference
Drove a 1964 Dodge Dart and if I could I would get another, love it. Love from Marysville, California
There is really no difference between Corvair wrecks and wrecks of all other cars. In all car wrecks there is primarily one causal factor - an Incompetent driver behind the wheel.
Yet a Honda N600 was OK ???
The main issue with the Corvair...as shown at the End-was its' tendency to roll. GM fixed the problem, but the Damage was Done by that point.
Now manufacturing only worrys about the passenger compartment ,people thought if was bad compared to the lead sheds but now we know bodys keep moving in a wreak,belts crush zones all Lession the impact
Actor Comedian Ernie Kovacks was Killed Driving A Corvair Wagon in Jan or Feb 1962 on Santa Monica Blvd At the L.A. Beverly Hills City Line.
What was Noble about it His Actress Wife who Died Nearly 50 Years Later was Suppose to be Driving the Corvair Wagon, instead Husband Ernie Made her Drive His Rolls Royce which was Safer.
& Looked What Happened... he Died while Driving the Corvair on a Rain Slick Santa Monica Blvd that Night!
He did the Right Thing & it cost Him His Life & Spared His Wife on that Rainy Night in 1962.
I read on IMBD.com that he became distracted while trying to light his cigar and lost control.
Wayne Wright He wasn't killed because of the cars handling. He would have been killed on any compact car in that accident.
+Johnny Deville Well see if you can dig up a Report with either LAPD or Beverly Hills Police from January or February of 1962 as well as the L.A. Papers from that Time or Elsewhere & Find the Real Truth on how Mr. Kovacks Died in the Corvair on Santa Monica Blvd on that Rainy Night in Jan or Feb 62.
I heard he refused to wear seat belts. Had he been wearing them, he may have survived.
@@paulk9985 Seat belts were not standard in '62. I installed mine in my '63.
I got T-boned on the passenger side in my '62 Monza by a flatbed truck going 45-50 mph and walked away unscratched - these are tough cars!
bullshit
very strong cars for sure,, i have 6
I cannot believe the stupidity of many of these comments. Oh I get it...regulations BAD!
i wishi had one of those engines in my bug
It’s Amazing how a pole always hits dead center
you hit what you look at. if you fixate on the pole you are about to hit, thats what you are steering at. look next to the pole, thats where you will steer without realising it and might miss the pole.
At 3:17, I believe that's Ernie Kovaks accident that killed him. Skidded on a rain soaked street in Hollywood.
Trying to light a cigar...🕯
@@packingten He did like those things.
Having a rear engined car requires a different driving technique . the corsair was new concept in the USA and requires a different driving style
And ignore idiots like Ralph Nader.
@@richardlugar6868You apparently do not understand science. 😂
Sure. Just like Dr Fouchi and his damn science.....
@@markbarsh3107 Obviously, neither do you.
@61rampy65 But you can't explain it that would require an IQ 😂
2:34 that will buff right out. No worries...
I guess the message here is, "don't crash your Corvair"!!!
The one and only time I rode in one we spun out on a wet 25 mph corner. I'd taken that corner at 35 mph in multiple other cars.
Nasty car !!!!!!
Look at you. I've see whole vw be gobbled up by the rail road engines. Nothing left. just like the corvair pictured in your missive. Its the driver. Not so much the car. But when some one thinks there better than the rules of of physics. you will pay. Vw will tip over easy. A sudden right 90 is all its takes.
Never knew this song ( you know Ralph Nader is smiling)
Was anyone hurt in these wrecks? Just wondering. Love from Marysville, California
I'd say there were some pretty serious injuries in some of these if not deaths
The first song is entitled That'll buff out
People are the worst drivers ever!!
Some of your handiwork, Kevin?
+Ned Madsen Yea Ned - The Sprint in the opening scene was me . A lady spun out and crossed the median and hit me as she was coming at me backwards . Santa Rosa Ca .
Did anyone notice the wagon with the engine laying on the road?? I remember reading about someone who had one and said the engine fell out but thought it was BS
they can ,,,but rare most stay in
Prior to 1966, there were only three bolts holding the transmission in place. The rear axle and suspension attachments mostly held the engine in place. I was always surprised more didn't fall out. Maybe the engineering was better than it looked. My friend and I could remove the engine as transmission as a unit in 20 minutes, though.
Fall down go boom.
I remember in the mid '60s, the son of a customer asked my dad (an owner of a garage) ... If I want to buy any car, what should I avoid. Dad's answer, "Just don't buy any car that doesn't run, and don't buy a Corvair.
Fast forward about 3 weeks ... Yes, the kid bought a Corvair that didn't run. And of course Dad was expected to revive it.
chevy changed the suspension in 1962,from the 1960,and 1961.
Actually the first year of any real change was 1964 with the addition of the camber compensator. The 1965s used a totally redesigned truly independent rear suspension .Watch my Corvair handling videos !
Yes, the car was vastly improved in 1964, but that didn't stop that twit Nader from continuing his march. Grrrrrrrrr.
nader wanted a name for himself,and a great g.m car died.talking heads every where in our land of confusion.i had a 1960,85 HP,3 SPEED on the floor,a good car.
Timothy Lines yep I am sure that the son of the GM executive that was one of te first to flip a corvair going around a curve would have thought the same. except he died.
i love corvairs