Interact in real time with this model Chevrolet Corvair.
Courtesy of the Charles Brown Collection |
In 1960, Chevrolet released perhaps the most radical car in the company's history: the Corvair. Inspired perhaps by the Volkswagen Beetle, and intended to compete against it, the car was aimed at a new type of consumer, people younger than thirty years old. It marked the beginning of the end of the era of ostentatious materialism so evident in automobiles like the 1959 Cadillac, also produced by General Motors. Fuel efficient, the car was designed around an aluminum air-cooled engine that was mounted at the rear like the Volkswagen. It was an extremely unusual design for an American auto and somewhat complex for such a low-cost car.
The marketing also appealed to an economy-minded consumer. Television ads presented the Corvair as a rugged auto capable of corralling cattle and handling rough terrain.
In 1966, a young consumer advocate named Ralph Nader published the book Unsafe At Any Speed that chronicled and documented a series of accidents, proof for his allegation that the car had been underengineered. In 1966 Chevrolet responded by repackaging the Corvair into a low-priced sports sedan, like the Ford Mustang. However, years of intense controversy including congressional hearings, lead to its cancellation by Chevrolet in 1969.
 QuickTime 4 is required to view these video files.
Click here to download QuickTime 4. |
