<VV> fuel tanks & Nader

[Mel Francis]

There's one car that escapes the usual discussion of rear-impact gasoline 
fires and it's the mid-year Corvette, the ones built from 1963 to 1967.

The engineers mounted the fuel tank above the rear frame extension, and when 
hit from the rear, the rear body skin panel would occasionally release from 
the interior tub,
especially in the coupe model, allowing the splash of gas to move forward 
into the interior area. I worked in body shops during that period and saw 
several cars that had burned
right down to the frame rails, sometimes involving fatalities. It was common 
to see them in scrapyards in that condition.

This was such a problem, that in the early '70s, GM eventually wrapped the 
fuel tanks in a molded plastic upper cover, which helped contain the fuel 
and direct it downward on impact. This saved lives, but the cars still 
suffered from rear-impact fires during the '70s and '80s. It was only with 
the introduction of the '96 cars, that the fuel tank moved forward to the 
safer rear-impact position, ahead of the rear axle, where it had been 
located, during the early years, in the '53 to '62 cars.

But the Corvette has always been such a desirable car, that this fault was 
easily overlooked for the mid-year cars, and they are considered the most 
valuable ones to own!

Mel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frank DuVal" <corvairduval at cox.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 12:47 AM
Subject: Re: <VV> Corvairs and values-fuel tanks & Nader


> Our friend, Mr. Nader, actually used the Corvair as the example of the
> proper placement of a fuel tank during the Pinto discussions. It was on
> TV in a talk with Michael Medved.
>
> Frank DuVal
>
> Tony Underwood wrote:
>
>>I even heard that some "sources" had stated that the Corvair was a
>>"fire hazard" because of its forward located fuel tank.   They
>>evidently had no freakin' clue what you have to actually hit, and how
>>hard, to rupture a Corvair fuel tank.   I parted out a '66 coupe that
>>had actually hit one of those "hypothetic" bridge abutments only this
>>one was real.   It killed the driver who bent the steering wheel into
>>a "reverse" of its original shape and bent the steering column.   The
>>front of the car was flattened up to the crossmember and the roof was
>>warped and buckled.
>>
>>I saved the fuel tank, which is currently in the '62 ragtop after
>>having been stuffed in the basement for about 20 years.   It's
>>fine.   I still have the rear fenders and decklid from that car.
>>
>>I certainly don't fear fire from any sort of Corvair altercation.
>>
>>
>>
>>tony..
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are 
> the property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, 
> mailto:vv-help at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, 
> http://www.corvair.org/
> Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
> Change your options: 
> http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
> _______________________________________________
>