<VV> Nader and the book!

[Bill H.]

                                              B"H

I actually read Nader's book (good bathroom reading material).  Honestly I can't say that it's fiction.  A lot of what he says was true about the American auto industry, and cars WERE NOT safe in major collisions.

The Car and Driver article that came out in the summer of 1969 bashed GM for the cancellation of the Corvair, not Nader.  I don't remember the name of the author, but he was angry at the men in the grey suits who didn't have the guts to invest in the Corvair as a high-grade sporty small car, which it could have been.  The Corvair had the potential to be a domestic version of a sexy Italian 2+2 touring coupe, with the advantages of a rear engine, Corvette suspension, and air cooling.

Essentially the Corvair was a sound design and good little car.  Had GM marketed it and invested the same enthusiasm and effort in 1967-8 that Ed Cole put into it back in the late '50s, it might still be produced.

Remember that back in the 1950s, interior structures deformed and crushed occupants and steering columns skewered drivers during a severe crash.

That doesn't have any relationship to Nader's vile anti-American politics or the fact that he's a power-hungry tyrant who stops at nothing to forward his crazy agendas.  I just think his 1960s safety campaign did benefit American (and overseas) motorists in a big way....Bill Hershkowitz 69 Monza 110 PG