<VV> Drive Your Corvair on Corvair's 49th Anniversary...October 2n d!

[chevrobilia at juno.com]

Hi Dave,
This is one of the most common questions I hear. It seems like every year or so, a new article or book comes out stating that the Jetfire was first. And I get emails.
Part of the problem is that there are so many hack journalists who simply copy "history" from other writers. Or who were just too young in '62 (or not even born yet) to really understand what went on in those days. So they parrot other sources that are often incorrect.
Both the Spyder and Jetfire were introduced after the regular '62 Chevies and Oldses were introduced. Unfortunately, there was never a specific introduction date to the public for either one. Both divisions were in a race to be first with a turbocharged car. Some of the buff book writers and editors back in the day even commented on the rush to introduce the turbos. And Chevy engineers involved remember it that way.
Olds actually introduced the Jetfire to the media in the Fall of '61 (November, I think) but the cars didn't go into production until at least April. Olds had production problems but I think their early press intro was done to get the jump on Chevy and to make it appear that they were first.
The Spyder was first shown to the public at the Chicago Auto Show, which ran February 17 to 25, 1962, where the new Vair convert was also first displayed. But the Spyder wasn't officially announced to dealers until March 9th, which meant they could begin ordering them then. The cars didn't arrive at dealerships until April, though most contemporary sources report that Chevy had Spyders in dealer showrooms before Olds dealers got Jetfires. In the end, the two divisions were pretty closely tied in the turbo race.
Fortunately most writers in the recent GM 100th deluge seem to embrace the idea that the divisions were tied. So revisionist history is now tending to be correct, at least for the moment!
BTW, the Jetfire wasn't a bad design. In fact it worked pretty well. The problem was getting owners to refill the turbo-rocket fluid reservoir. Plus the engine had the corrosion problems that the 215 aluminum V8 had since it was first introduced. The Jetfire was really a stopgap measure until the 1964 F-85 A Bodies came along with a bigger, cast iron V8. After that, the Jetfire wasn't needed.
Hope this helps,
Dave 


-- "Dave Thompson" <dave.thompson at verizon.net> wrote:
[SNIP]
Subject: <VV> Drive Your Corvair on Corvair's 49th Anniversary...October
2nd!

The most important date in Corvair history, many of us agree, is October
2nd.
[SNIP]

OK, Here's a history question;
What day were the 1962 Spyder introduced and what day was the Oldsmobile
Jetfire introduced? I heard the Spyder was early April and the Jetfire was
late April. Does anyone really know the actual dates?
For those who don't know, the jetfire also came out with a turbo in 63. I'd
like to know if the Spyder was ACTUALLY the first production GM vehicle or
was the Jetfire.

Dave Thompson
63 Spyder vert