Forget Ralph Nader ....

NMNA: Corsa, Monza, 'Vert; Oh my!

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/cto/4821809360.html

I'm a huge Ralph Nader fan. If any of you have actually read the book, you'd know he was right. Now, as to the cars, he referred to the 1st gen, which were a nightmare. GM fixed the issue with the 2nd gen and were pretty good cars, thanks to Ralph. (Oh and I actually KNOW him, he has done a ton to make our world a better place)

" . . . he referred to the 1st gen, which were a nightmare."

If he was really serious about saving lives, wouldn't he have gone after Fiat, Renault, Volkswagen and the host of others that were using swing axle tech at that time? I think that he was more of a grand-stander who looked at the then current field of manufacturers and went after the biggest one he could find in order to pump up his own profile. That Christ he was SO damned un-photogenic and over bearing or he might well have run for office, and where would we be then. Probably all wearing puffy padded suits and living in foam rubber buildings in case we inadvertently bumped into something and possibly hurt ourselves. Imagine that know-it-all having a hand in this country's law making process ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? !

I've owned three first generation Corvairs and never managed to flip one yet . . . came MUCH closer with my '56 Beetle and DID flip my Fiat 600.

I guess you didn't read the book (actually I'm sure of it) He hit VW just as hard.

I'll never understand ignorant hate. Especially towards someone who created the notion of consumer protection. Or would you rather have exploding gas tanks and ignition switches that randomly lock and kill people. Hell why do we as racers have to wear hans devices or helmets or belts or......

In reply to markwemple:

Pretty sure this is a thread about Corvairs, not a love fest for Nader.

$2k for 4 cars isn't a bad deal.

In reply to Toyman01:

That'd be easier to buy into if the thread's title didn't name Nader directly.

It, to me, implies "ignore Nader". Not Nader was wrong, or a jerk, or whatever.

About the cars: I agree about the deal being a good one, probably

markwemple wrote: I'm a huge Ralph Nader fan. If any of you have actually read the book, you'd know he was right. Now, as to the cars, he referred to the 1st gen, which were a nightmare. GM fixed the issue with the 2nd gen and were pretty good cars, thanks to Ralph. (Oh and I actually KNOW him, he has done a ton to make our world a better place)

Well I'm a huge Corvair fan and I've read his book and while he made some interesting points, he was not entirely correct.

The NHTSA in 1972 concluded after their own tests and tests conducted by engineers from Texas A&M that the '60-'63 Corvair was actually more favorable for handling than other cars in it's class and wasn't any worse than the others when being tested in extreme conditions.

As for the early models, a nightmare? Obviously you've never owned, let alone driven a Corvair. My dad and his friends raced Corvairs in the 70's and nobody ever flipped their car. I've been driving them since I was 15 and haven't flipped one.

It's been known and well documented that tire pressures are critical on Corvairs, Early or Late. You over-inflate the tires, especially in the day of Bias-Ply tires, it's going to drastically change the handling characteristics.

Oh and Ralph had nothing to do do with the Late Model redesign.

Wrong. I owned a 66 years ago. My aunt owned 2 and have had friends own them over the years. I'd love to see the research you are referring to as I've read and seen video testing that agrees with Nader's testing and results. Do you work for GM as I find it odd the complete change in rear suspension in timing with the book. Kinda like saying the position of the fuel tank in the pinto had nothing to do with all the negative media coverage in the mid 70s.

Feel free to read Denise McCluggage's opinions on the corvair.

In reply to markwemple:

You know, I fell for it. I took the bait hook, line, and sinker. I made the mistake of responding to you. You came here trolling to get somebody to get riled up. Well you were successful sir.

Your question was pedantic at best and I will not justify answering it. You have the internet in your hands, use it and find the answer yourself.

Keep on trolling my friend, you are good at it.

Ignoring the squirels, this looks like a great deal on some cool cars. Just the two verts make this a great deal. Huge restoration work, but great potential.

Toyman01 wrote: Pretty sure this is a thread about Corvairs, not a love fest for Nader.

Thank you !!

I will tread more lightly on the future.

Dan

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Nope. Wrong again. Just don't like ignorant haters as I said. If I were anti-Corvair, I wouldn't have owned one. I also am willing to recognize weaknesses in my cars. In other words, I'm not a blind fan of anything.

I didn't catch it, but if one is a Monza, that's worth the deal right there. Mine was a Monza and is one of the cars I wished I'd kept (along with a couple dozen others, but who's counting)

wow, wut?

good deal on pretty cool cars.

Mark Wemple = Ralph Nader?

How far can we take this topic....

Didn't Nader run for President with the Green party at one point.

I hate the color green. Unless it is on a swing axle car.

That's like 4 $500 corvairs. Seems like only good things can come of that.

I'm only a Corvair follower, not a fanatic; but I think the Corsa with the 4 carbs is more desirable.

markwemple wrote: In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid: Nope. Wrong again. Just don't like ignorant haters as I said. If I were anti-Corvair, I wouldn't have owned one. I also am willing to recognize weaknesses in my cars. In other words, I'm not a blind fan of anything.

Nobody here was being a hater. It was a joke the OP made. There has always been a joke between the Corvair and Nader. You're the one who came in here with guns blazing with what looked like hope to get a rise out of someone, hence the troll comment. Some people got defensive, it happens.

Ralph Nader isn't a bad guy, never said he was and he's been a huge advocate for automotive safety. Did GM handle his investigations properly? Hell no. Did a federal organization find several years later that the Corvair didn't lose control any worse than it's than it's contemporaries? Yes.

I'm not blind to the Corvairs flaws, if that's what you're getting at. Swing Axles as a whole is a flawed design. It was used on many cars at that time and there were lots of negative handling effects, especially for rear engined cars, which there were a lot of.

Listen, we can keep going back and forth this, but at the end of the day you're going to think what you want to think and I'm going to think what I think.

That's great you owned a Corvair and liked it enough to wish you never got rid of it. I hope you get another one day.

I don't know whether to bemoan or be glad that this is so far away from me- a Corvair 'vert is my top pick for what I want as a long-term convertible to add to our small 'fleet', but SWMBO would (rightly, given the space we have...) read me the riot act if I bought FOUR more cars...

LSx will fix all of that...

the book came out after the lates were introduced.

and i read the thread title as "yeah, forget him right in the ass!"

Nader shoulda gone after the Mk 1 GT6 -- THAT was an evil swing axle. Corvairs. Pfft. Grandma cars in comparison.

These cars have slowly been growing on me. I see more and more of them around dreamcruise time in the metro area.