1965 Chevrolet Corvair - Museum Peeks
When Ed Cole was made Chief Engineer of Chevy, one of the first things he did was set up a research and development department.
Cole was convinced that there was a growing market for smaller cars, especially those with unusual engineering. The Corvair was sure to impress with its air-cooled, rear engine.
The trick was convincing the President of General Motors, Harlow Curtice - who believed that cars should be as large as possible!
After a spin in the prototype, Harlow admitted “I think you’ve got something there, Ed.”
The Corvair did prove itself innovative, in fact, a Corvair engine was used to power a mobile laboratory which Apollo astronauts would train on in New Mexico.
This Corvair features a beautiful hue, an original General Motors color. When Chevy used this color, they called it “evening orchid” and Pontiac called it “Iris Mist.”
If you’ve heard of the Corvair, you’ve probably also heard of Ralph Nader. In 1965, Nader published “Unsafe at Any Speed” which took aim at several cars but dedicated its first chapter to the Corvair.
He claimed that the Corvair’s swing axle design made it accident-prone. Ironically, Nader didn’t even have his own driver’s license!
In 1972, after a two year long investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cleared the Corvair’s name by declaring that there was no evidence to support Nader’s claims. Making it the only car officially deemed “safe” by the United States government.
Nader is often credited with killing the Corvair, and he certainly hurt sales, but that’s not quite the full story… It’s possible that no one would have even noticed Nader had it not been for a misguided move on behalf of GM. In the hopes of learning more about the young Connecticut attorney, General Motors hired a team of private investigators to follow and, ultimately, harass Nader. Nader promptly sued GM and received a nearly half a million-dollar settlement. It was this drama that shot him into the limelight and his book up the bestsellers list. At this point, General Motors could have quietly pulled the Corvair, but chose to double down – Deliberately extending production!
Nearly 2 million Corvairs were produced in that ten-year span, all of which were made at the Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Willow Run stands out in history as the birthplace of the “Rosie the Riveter” iconography, thanks to Rose Will Monroe who built B-29 and B24 “Liberator” military planes there during WWII. J. Howard Miller would immortalize her image with the ever popular “We Can Do It!” Poster.
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