<VV> Unsafe

[Padgett]

>  but I'm glad that someone got the ball rolling on simple design
> >changes that have reduced highway fatalities dramatically over the last 
> 40 years.

Actually the ball was rolling long before "Unsafe" was published (my copy 
is 1965) and all the changes he called for were already there or in 
production design before the book was published (he mentions that the '64 
design was fixed and called for a recall of 60-63 Corvairs to update.

In fact the 1956 Fords had many safety features (deep dish steering wheel, 
padded dash, seat belts) but the public was not willing to pay for those 
things.

But back at the book - his rants about the Corvair were old hat when it 
came out and had been fixed (there is even an illustration of the 65 
suspension) and he is very selective about quotes - he says "Corvair" but 
the expert says "The ordinary swing axle..." which at the time (1959) meant 
Volkswagen whose success was the reason for the Corvair. No mention is made 
of the rope-drive Pontiac which had some interesting characteristics also 
(a period MI has a shot showing both rear wheels off the ground).

So the only reason that Nader and Corvair are synonymous is because that 
was in the first 32 pages which was probably as far as the media ever got. 
Who knows, if chapters 1 and 2 had been reversed, maybe Buick would have 
taken the hit.

In the end though the book did have an effect - Corvairs continued to be 
made until 1969.

Padgett