Will the Corvair Kill You? | Hagerty Behind the Wheel - Episode 1 

Mom & Dad bought a Corvair in 64. I loved that car. But he got rid of it in 66, because he said the back seat wasn't big enough for me and my brother to fight in. He traded it in for a Buick Electra 225. (talk about one extreme to another) That back seat was so big, I had to get up and walk over to my brother to hit him.

The problem with the infamous youtube video is that they slid the car sideways down a small hill causing it to roll. Pretty much any car will roll under those conditions.

You forget to mention that on this video demonstration the Corvair was equipped with radial tires that were not available in the 60s. Radial tires make a huge difference in the handling and the safety of any car.

In 1964, I was in the rear seat of a Corvair when it overturned on a sharp curve. The windshield fell out and was collecting gasoline dripping from the fuel tank. I was lucky to survive.

"perfectly maintained car" Aaaa... I can see through the bumper! lol

My Mom had a 1969 Corsa and it was a fun car to ride in and drive. Really responsive and zippy. I used to drive it after I got my license in 1973. Every time I parked it it smoked from oil leaks from the engine. People would come up and say "Your cars on fire" as I walked away. I'd tell them, " I know". Then look at the look on their faces as I kept going. Priceless. Thanks Mom. RIP.

My dad collected, rebuilt, and sold corvairs his whole life. I spent a great deal of my childhood in and around them as we had at least half a dozen of them at any one time. They are really nice cars. This video was a neat blast from the past, I wish my dad could have seen it.

In 1964, I was driving my dad's new Corvair on westbound the NY State Thruway. I was 16 with Mom and Dad allowing me to get some driving experience. We passed over several large high and low dips in the landscape. The highway was built by filling in some low spots and cutting through high spots. We passed one of the cuts, we then drove over a river bridge. A strong wind gust was blowing from right to left across the bridge. We were in the right hand lane doing about 60 MPH. The wind lifted the front of the Corvair. This caused the car to drift uncontrollably to the left two lanes and narrowly missing striking the left gaurdrail. As we left the bridge, and entered the next cut the wind was blocked. We had a terrible scare. My Dad thought I was responsible as I pulled over and stopped. It took a while before he let me drive again

Watching the rear tires crab in on those sharp turns is very disconcerting.

In 1965 GM solved the problem of rear end oversteer by switching to a double jointed rear axle with two constant velocity joints on each axle. This design enabled the rear tires to stay flat on the road instead of undercutting. But by then the damage was done. I had a 1966 model. It got good gas mileage, great acceleration, good handling and never felt unsafe in it.

I thank God for Ralph Nader. Putting the argument as to the safety of the Corvair to one side, we all have much for which to thank Ralph Nader. Now we drive cars with airbags, crumple zones, side impact bars in the doors, electronic brake disribution, anti-skid technology, and so forth. Safety has become a major consideration for car buyers - and rightly so. I myself drive a car with a 5-star safety rating from Euro NCAP. Had it not been for Mr Nader, car manufacturers would have continued to build death-traps. It was thought that the huge expense in R&D into safety features was not worth the investment, and that therefore - as always - the bottom line was how much profit each company made. And, as always, profit comes before all other considerations, even the safety of occupants, or of life itself. Where governments around the world failed to address the issue of car safety, Ralph Nader took on the role which ALL governments from EVERY country in the world failed to do. Governments are very susceptible to corruption and it was cheaper for car manufacturers to lobby politicians than it was to invest in R&D. And when I say lobby I mean giving 'donations' - and when I say 'donations' I mean bribes. Far cheaper to bribe politicians than to invest in R&D - so nothing was ever done and thousands upon thousands died in car crashes, or were seriously injured, all around the world. Nader took on Corporate America, which required bravery and determination. Not many people have been successful in doing that. Nader, by his tireless campaigning, has saved millions of lives, despite being as a major pain in the derrriere by the major shareholders of Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Peugot, BMC, Rootes Group, Mercedes, BMW, Fiat, Toyota, Nissan or indeed any and all other manufacturers. Even now, many cars are very poor in terms of safety - but at least cars are tested so we have reliable information upon which to base our choice of vehicle. Should Ralph Nader have singled out the Corvair? Maybe not. But Ralph Nader was a hero - not a pretend hero like John Wayne or Sylvester Stallone, but a real-life hero.

To be fair, watching that rear tire fold up under the body, you gotta say to yourself "that ain't right". If I recall, the point of the Corvair story was that GM fixed the roll over problem by installing a $12 rear sway bar. They knew that car was prone to roll over but deemed the $12 too expensive. Models after '65 were redesigned and didn't have that problem. I had a '66 in the early 80s. It was a great car. I got about 28mpg. And the new styling looked pretty good too.

Imagine the carnage that the Robin Reliant would have caused here!

I loved that little Corvair, it is so fun to drive. Back when I was in high school I worked at a gas station, that was when they all had garages and worked on cars. My boss had a 64 Spider that he kept in great condition and that is were I learned about the Corvair and how to work on them. Basically there were 2 big problems with the Corvair. The first was tire pressure, most mechanics were taught to put 32 PSI in all 4 tires but in the Corvair tire pressure needed to be 15 LBS in the front tires when cold and 18 PSI when hot. If the front tires were at 32or 35 PSI it would reduce the amount of traction and get you in trouble fast. The tire pressure was printed on a sticker in the glove box, but back in the day mechanics rarely check that and just inflate to 32 PSI or whatever the recommended pressure was printed on the side of the tire. My boss Phil told me that the front tire pressure was critical on the Corvair because all the weight was in the back. I know from experience about passing those big Semi Trucks, especially those with the Cab Overs or that have wide flat front ends. They push a lot of air to the sides. Enough to push the front of the Corvair to the side if you pass one on the highway close, like in the next lane. You have to steer into that wind and be quick to let off that steering when you get through that air. I'm sure some of the VW and motorcycle guys will know what I'm talking about. The second big problem was the "O" ring seal on the valve push-rod tubes, GM used standard O rings, Buna N Rubber, that became brittle with heat and would crack. It didn't help that the Push Rod Tubes were close to the exhaust manifold. The cracked O Tongs would let oil drip down on the exhaust manifold and would cause it to smoke. The bad part of that was if you bought it with out the gas heater option. If you got the standard package, the heat came off the engine from the blower that forced air to cool the engine. With dried out, cracked O rings dripping oil, the car interior would fill up with oil smoke. My Boss Phil could change the O rings out without removing the heads and showed me how to do it. Most of the time I could get one year out of the O rings before I had to change them out. I think that was the biggest complaint people had with that car. Ironically, any of the rebuild kits for the engine have real good O rings that have fixed that problem. Last one I rebuilt was 5 years ago and it hasn't leaked a drop of oil. There are also kits out there that remove the carburetors, use an EFI fuel system making the Corvair far more fuel efficant and add power. But what really killed the Corvair was the Ford Mustang and the V8 engine. The V8 could be cast in one piece were as the Corvair engine was a split block and had to be cast in 2 pieces. That split block was $50.00 more to make than the V8 and it had a lot more power. With gas prices at $.25 to $.32 a gallon no one wanted an economy car and opted for the sexier Mustang. But for an economy car, it had far more interior room than any other economy car and more room in the back seat than most V8 cars like the Mustang or Camaro. One other thing, the Corvair had vents down close to the floor just under the back seat that vented hot or air-conditioned air for the back passengers. I do not know of any other car that offered that. I now own 4 Corvairs, 2 1962's (One for parts) 1 1963 with factory AC and one 1965. All but one 62 are 4 speed manual shift. The 1965 is running the others are being restored as I get the money and time to work them.

Didn't the Corvair switch from a swing axle rear to independent rear suspension in '64 or '65? That probably eliminated most of the instability and oversteer problem (a little bit of oversteer can be a *good* thing for faster turns.) So by the time the book came out, the problem had already been resolved.

I bought my girlfriend, now my wife, a 64 Monza convertible for 125.00 in the early seventies. The Corvair had a tendesey to vibrate due to flywheel delamination. My wife drove that car 68 miles a day from home to college getting close to 30 miles per gallon. A drunk driver pulled in front of her a totaled the Corvair, luckily she was OK. Every time we drive by an early Monza she speaks of how she misses her Corvair. Times were simpler in those days, but cars were more personal.

Same thing happened to the Bronco. Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of physics knows that a short wheelbase 4x4 vehicle, when *very* abruptly turned and the wheels catch, will roll over.

My father Doug Roe spent years successfully racing Corvairs. He was an engineer for Chevrolet - testified in court against Ralph Nader - Worked with a team of Chevrolet professionals to win at the pure oil trials in the 60’s with, You guessed it, a Corvair. Great memories Bill Horton - Paul Pryor - Louis Clements

I am a retired Auto Body Shop owner that was in business when the Corvair first came out , two of my accounts were Chevrolet Dealers , so we repaired a fair amount of Corvairs ,my opinion and estimate was that the Corvair was no worse than any of the other small cars out at that time.Even the full size cars of that era were iffy when in a serious accident. Just my opinion.

When I was 15, I grabbed a Corvair and went for a joyride on a winding, gravel road. As it began to roll over in a curve (I was most certainly pushing it), I remember everything went into slow-motion. I leaned in and grabbed the steering column tightly. The car rolled once and back up onto the wheels. I walked (ran) away. I'm 71 now, hoping that the statute of limitations has run out!

One other thing that I remember about the Corvair, was that the automatic transmission was push-button operated rather than by lever. Also, the handling characteristics came from the Bias Ply tires that were common in that era. Radial tires would greatly improve handling.

Title reads 'will the corvair kill you?' My first thought- not before my wife kills me for pulling up another project car😅

The early Beetles did the same thing (oversteer) until the rear axle was changed to a double jointed affair. I think Nader had a point, though. Unless the salesman was ready to brief a customer on how to properly steer the car the average person could fall into the oversteer trap, just like operators of the early Beetles did, which is why VW did a redesign. I'll bet there wasn't a single Corvair dealership that would brief their customers.

My first car was a Corvair Monza. It was already a bit of a rust-bucket, but I loved it. And I think it saved my life twice. The first time was in the winter and some toughs in a big-block Chevy were sitting next to me a the stoplight, revving away. The light changed, and the Corvair's rear-end traction and 1:1 gears allowed me to slip ahead of them. A block away, I turned into a parking lot surrounded with snowdrifts where, with the help of my suicide-knob on the steering wheel, I was able to quickly u-turn as they were pulling in. I buzzed past them and got away while they tried to get turned around, and never saw them again. The second time, I was driving too fast on an icy road and came to an abrupt turn. I was sure I was going straight down the hill, through a fence, and into a field and I clamped down on the brakes, but the car spun hard and lost its inertia! I was stopped in the middle of the road. So I more carefully puttered away, a bit startled but fine.

"I don't have any grass stains on the roof of my Corvair's" lol love that quote!!

8:57 "Perfectly maintained car" he says as rust holes are clearly visible both in that exact shot and all over the car lol.

My cousins dad had a Corvair. He and three of his friends were driving through New Stanton, PA on route 119, a divided highway. My cousins dad said to his friends "My wife hates when I do this". He was in the left lane next to the median. He drove up on to the median with the two left side tires and then off. He lost control, did a couple sharp turns and the car went over. As it was sliding to a stop on it's roof one of his friends yelled "Now you know why she hates when you do that".

I've been driving (inc. under some serious and dangerous conditions) for over 60 years. Only accident I ever experienced (1964) was in a new Corvair. Slight curve at about 30 mph and the rear end spun me off the street and into a cluster of small trees. Fortunately speed was so low there wasn't much damage.

My dad had one and our family of six went everywhere in it. No trouble ever. In fact, it floated like a Beetle. We experienced this first hand once when in town there was a flash flood and while everyone else was stuck on the side of the street we floated on by everyone. It was the funniest thing you ever saw!

I used to have a '63 coupe ... white with red interior, 4 speed and dual carbs. One of those cars I should never have sold.

My mother bought a 61 Monza Corvair in 1962 just after getting her driver's license when I was 10 years old.and she was in her early 30s. We had moved to NJ from Manhattan and all our relatives were left behind. She drove us everywhere even as far as Bay Ridge Brooklyn to visit grandma an hour and half away. We would then go back to Manhattan to the zoo or Radio City or even the Jersey shore with me, my two siblings and grandma (5 total) and she even said as recently as last year before she passed 12months ago at 92 that she loved the car. 💖 If she had been able to see this video,I'm sure she would have enjoyed this. THANK YOU for posting this video.

I've had a soft spot for Corvairs since owning a '62 Monza 2-dr. for a year in 1970. I needed a cheap ride and bought mine for $150. Who knows how many miles the little car had on it by then. I was young and stupid (I know, an oxymoron). I pushed the little car very hard and it never let me down. Its worst sin was environmental--it left puddles of oil everywhere. It was fun to drive and fairly economical for a lead-foot like me. As with every car I've owned, I fell in love with it. But at the end of that year when I was getting ready to head home, my mother (already storing two cars of mine) said "Don't even think about bringing that car home." So I sold it for what I had paid for it and drove the '65 Olds home with nothing towed behind. The sound of an air-cooler still gives me fits of nostalgia.

I love Corvairs. That said, the American public was not ready for such a radical change. was it the fault of the car? not really. was it the fault of GM not understanding their customer? Most definitely. it cannot be denied that the Corvair handled differently than every other American car at the time, which typically plowed through corners with strong understeer. you can see in the video how the swing axles are folding up underneath the car in hard cornering, losing alignment and tire contact. All it takes for the inexperienced driver to flip the car is to clip a curb with such negative camber in strong oversteer in a hard turn...not an uncommon situation. Plus, the Corvair had very specific tire pressure requirements, where the front and rears were quite different, and American mechanics at the time were accustomed to pressurizing tires equally. Yes there were European cars with swing axles, generally driven by people who expected 'eccentricity' (Euro cars at the time were very eccentric!), but typically the Corvair buyer was just an American family wanting to downsize and expecting essentially just a smaller version of what they were already used to. They were not, typically, enthusiast drivers, such as in the video, who enjoyed the oversteer aspects of Corvair handling. Eventually, Chevrolet fixed the camber problem with a camber compensator, but by that time, the damage was already done.

The first Corvairs, like earlier VW’s, had a swing axle. Both vehicles had a limit if driven very hard into corners. The 1964 model was a definite improvement. By 1965, the suspension and general configuration resembled the contemporary Porsche with full independent suspension. It handled so well that they were slalom racing winners until the arrival of a BMW model. The Corvair ‘Yenko Stinger’ was developed for racing and employed the stock configuration. (See Jay Leno’s Garage on this site.) I owned two Corvairs - a ’65 Monza and a ’66 Corsa. Both had the optional 4 carburetor 140 HP engine. It was an amazing car. Fun to drive and fast. I could oversteer into a corner and the purposely break out the back-end. A calm application of opposite lock and the car would effortlessly obey and track around the corner. I have driven Jaguars, BMW, Citroen SM, Ferrari and others that draw no outrageous criticism. The ’65-’69 Corvair compares very favourably with the best. Enthusiasts have nicknamed the later Corvairs “the poor man’s Porsche”. (Leno agrees!) Moreover, the ’65-’69 body was designed by Ghia - YUM! When Ralph Nader published his book in 1965, he included line drawings representing an earlier model thereby tarnishing the reputation of one of the best handling cars in American automotive history. The engines were very robust and efficient … excellent brakes, and comfortable. The Corvair represented progress and engineering elegance. Its demise was a regrettable step in reverse. Remember the Tucker!

I bought a 1960 model and my Father had one as well. We installed an after market sway bar on both to solve the collapse of a rear wheel. I loved driving it in all types of conditions.

“The most controversial car in history” Ford Pinto: *are you sure about that*

I once saw one flip on the highway. Driver went off the curb and the car flipped. Driver was dead. It was an early one. I owned a 1966 and it was very stable. A semi truck ran me off the road once and I hit the median strip going 70, bottoming out several times. After sitting and shaking for a while, enveloped in a cloud of coffee spray that formerly was a fresh new cup, I turned the key, it restarted and I drove out of the deep muddy ruts, got on the highway and went more than a thousand miles. Loved that car.

I learned to drive in a sluggish, 4-door, 2-speed automatic 1962 Corvair on dirt roads. I'm pretty sure a VW bug, which was it's competitor, would pull it in a drag race. It's main enduring feature was being able to hang the rear wheels out going around corners and teaching me to countersteer, a skill which has saved my life several times since.

I was in the Army when I bought a used 1962 Corvair 2 Door Monza just before Nader's book came out. I loved that car! It was fast, hugged the ground, had no steering problems, it never took me by surprise and the car never rolled (despite the speeds I drove at). In fact, I drove it from Chicago (where I was stationed at a Missile Master site) to Los Angeles where my family was, and back twice. Both times I did it driving solo in less than 30 hours each way using Route 66. I despised Ralph Nader and still do for his cheap shyster book that was - at best - theoretical and misleading.

I actually read Nader's book in the 1990s. It really made a lot of sense. Prior to his book, controls weren't standardized. The way you engaged "park" on an automatic transmission car was different amongst makes. Thanks to Nader's book, that is now standardized. Regarding cars with swing axles, one of the scariest (and funniest) experiences I had was in a 60s Type 1 VW Bug. I was 16 and going as fast as I dared on a long sweeping left hand curve. When I finally chicken out and lifted off of the throttle, I discovered rear engine "lift off throttle oversteer". The VW snap spun on me and I thought I was going to roll the car. Luckily, the passenger door swung open and it hit the ground preventing the car from rolling over. But I 💩 my pants.

At least they didn't put the gas Tank right behind the bumper where it would explode in a rear end accident

So Nader complains about a car he bought being a death trap. Instead of scrapping it, he sells it to be driven on the road some more. That right there says a lot about Mr. Nader.

I think this was spot on. Ability of driver and driving the car for its intended purpose. I saw a guy come into a mechanics workshop and wanted to have a 500+ hp engine built for a Nissan Silvia (If my memory serves), the mechanic suggested it was too much power for that car in stock and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. The young guys response was "I've driven 500 hp Porsche before " He didn't grasp the concept of the Porsche being a different beast and differently designed to use that 500 hp. Same here. Every car has its limits and compromises if you go outside those things happen.

I owned a corvair. Fan belt was forever breaking. I loved spinning doughnuts in it, in the gravel pits near my home! Never an injury.

Look at that positive camber though! Nerve racking!

My friend just bought a working Corvair last month. He paid about 2000 bucks. Same price as when it was new!

The STOCK CORVAIR STRAIGHT FROM THE DEALERSHIP WON THE 1963 CANADIAN winter rally. Considered one of the toughest rallys. My friend had a pure stock 1960 ( first year ) was a delight to drive. With the gasoline heater could defrost all the windows quickly. Great car and handled well.

I think the Corvair was and is a gorgeous car. I would LOVE to own one someday.

You never want to put a oversteering car in the hands of the general public, they can't drive.

Great video! VERY INFORMATIVE AND OBJECTIVE. We NEED MORE JOURNALISTS LIKE YOU. We had a 1965 two-door burgundy Corvair. My brother and I decided to impress our dad by washing and waxing the vehicle. My know it all bro (who was 12 at the time) told me, after we applied the wax, that we had to leave it on in the sun for an hour. When we rubbed off the stuff, the paint came with it. Thank God my old man (RIP) was a reasonable guy.

We had several Corvairs around the time that I got my driver's license in 1976. They were fun to drive. I did have one spin completely around on me one day on dry pavement. I was just going around a corner in a small neighborhood. Kinda freaked me out. One day, while pulling out of a small parking lot, I missed the d/way and drove off the curb. The engine slammed down on the curb. It developed a small oil leak soon after that my father could not fix. I think he was broken hearted. He eventually sold it to a parts counter salesman at a Chevy dealer in Silver Spring, MD (or NW DC). He was able to fix the oil leak and was very happy.

so, the perfect drift car out of the factory?

My first car was a 1960 Corvair. I was 17. I survived.

I’ve had four Corvairs in the last 30 years. They all ran good. I’m now on a 65 sedan , my first four door, which has never been taken apart. The original engine is still in the car with the original carbs distributor etc and it runs good. I had a C5 and it was a nice car but you can’t find many of my Vair. The Vette was more headache for me so it’s gone and I kept the Vair which I have never worked on much. It just keeps running and I love it. This is a great video and thank you for making it

I love Corvairs. My dad bought a 1960 Corvair on the first day they were put on sale, in the fall of 1959. It was AT and all of 88 HP, but it was a great car to learn to drive in. I drove it, sometimes hard, on the highways and gravel roads of eastern Indiana and it never gave me a bit of uncertainty about how it was going to respond. :Yes, driven hard in corners, it would oversteer, and that was a good thing once you understood how to deal with it and what that could do for you. I loved driving that Corvair. I give Ralph Nader credit for getting our legislators and automakers to start thinking about safety. I thank Hagerty for making this thoughtful video.

In 1965, Chevrolet changed the rear suspension to trailing arms which removed the 60-64 handling problems. I owned a 65 Corsa 140 hp. Drove like a dream.

Mine was a '63 convertible. It was noticeably more rear-heavy than the VWs I had previously, and when pushing it in a turn you could feel that outside rear tire tuck inward, which definitely encouraged caution. Driving it aggressively was a learning process, just as, I am told, all the air-cooled 911s.

My great aunt & uncle we’re both quite literally killed by a Corvaire in the early 90s. They had owned the car for years and years, I believe they bought it new. One day my uncle went out to start and warm up the car, and had a heart attack while in the car waiting for my aunt to join him. In the process of his attack, he knocked the car into gear and it began making circles in the front yard and street. When my aunt came out she tried to help him, but both in their 70s, and she fell and was run over by the car and didn’t survive... and he died from the heart attack.

Love all these comments. Growing up, we had both the turbo with the 4-speed and the Greenbriar van, also 4-speed. I think people make a fair point when they say you have to learn to drive them. Trouble is, when you buy a used car nobody's going to tell you stuff like that. Dad learned the hard way when he hit some railroad tracks on a curve and the car started to roll. Lucky for him, the bounce broke the motor mounts and changed the balance in his favor, though it left the motor and transaxle sitting on the railroad crossing. He came home that day with a 5-speed Datsun 510 -- the first brand-new car he ever owned and one of the most fun I've ever driven.

My dad bought a corvair (4 door) back in 1961 (when I was in 6th grade) and we drove it cross country (in the middle of winter) with the only problem being vapor locks in sub freezing climate. I learned to drive with it and continued to use it throughout college. I never experienced any situation that worried me or was dangerous in any way.

"If you know what you're doing" is the key problem. The average driver does not know what he or she is doing. With Porsche, it was a luxury company selling to an exclusive clientele; a 356 or early 911 was a toy for rich people who were deliberately taking their lives into their own hands. Chevrolet was selling a family car with unfamiliar handling characteristics to ordinary people who could put not just themselves at risk, but their spouses and children. Rear-engined rear-wheel-drive cars were always more dangerous before modern suspensions and electronic aids. Even before the Volkswagen, Tatras (big Czech executive sedans that inspired the Volkswagen and had V8s) were called "Czechoslovakia's secret weapon" because so many Nazi officers died joyriding in them.

In the 60's I had three Corvairs and a VW Bug, and three of these had semi-independant rear suspensions, and THIS is the weak link in the car. I bought a new Corvair in 1963, and in Yellowstone Park one rainy night, I was driving too fast in the mountains, and on a sharp curve, the rear end gave way as the wheels tucked under, and I was going sideways. Luckilly, I was able to fight it back and forth until it straightened out, and I didn't even leave the road. A miracle! The same happened in the Park in a friend's Corvair as we headed down a sweeping, steep hill to Fishing Bridge. The rear end broke loose, and we were going sideways, back and forth as I told the driver "Left, right, left, right, etc." We straightened out just before we got to the Bridge, else we'd have hit the bridge abutment or gone into the freezing Yellowstone River. Another miracle! I cured my new Corvair's problem by purchasing a "Fitch Sprint" kit for $200 ... new springs and shocks and a nice set of mellow dual exhausts. With this change, the rear wheels simply COULD NOT tuck under, and this became the best handling car I had in the 60's, including a '63 Stingray and the new Corvair ('66 Corvair Corsa with FULLY INDEPENDANT rear suspension). My VW bug blew a tire on a hilly curve in '66 and immediately turned sideways. I was able to straighten it out, but soon got rid of that car due to it's dangerous nature (semi-independant rear end again) with no fixes available for it. The Corsa was a convertible with a turbo engine. It was a dog to 60mph, but after that it pinned you to your seat and scared hell out of you. It handled great and looked great, but it was years before the world figured out how to design a turbocharged car that accelerated smoothly and safely. I got rid of it for a '68 Pontiac Tempest LeMans convertible.

A guy on my old mail route had a Corvair. In the 90's. He once drove past a group of kids, parked in front of his house, opened the front hood (trunk) and went in the house. When the kids walked past the car, they all looked in disbelief at "no engine". Their reaction was priceless

Hi Larry, Just discovered this video, really well done, thanks! I'm retired now but still doing engine swaps for fun. I now have a 1969 UltraVan hence my renewed interest in Corvairs. It's been years since we met but I'll always look fondly at my experience with you and Car and Driver. It was a dream that came true. Hope you're still in the automotive world and enjoying it. Ross Converse

I owned a 1964 Corvair in 1969. GM added a rear stabilizer bar to the Corvair in 1964 to counteract the serious oversteer tendency. The Corvair had excellent fuel economy and snow traction compared to the typical American land barge of the day. It is interesting how many enthusiasts make apologies for the oversteer tendencies which also plagued Porsche 911 and VW beetles at the time. Speed shops and auto accessory shops did a brisk business in “anti sway bar sales”. I imagine the people who engineered the rear suspension had an awareness of a handling tendency that was well known in Porsche and VW of the time. It could well have been the bean counters at GM that didn’t want to spend the extra $14.98 per Corvair to prevent or tame oversteer. Another plus for the Corvair is that it had a heater that really worked in cold weather. Ask a VW owner who lived in cold weather states. You carried an ice scraper in the VW to scrape frost from inside the windshield in below zero temperatures.

Great piece. My grandfather had one and a friend of mine had one while growing up. Thanks for sharing!

My first vehicle was a 1960 Corvair , and was an awesome winter car , like having 4x4 traction !

My first car. $50. '63 two door and we tweeked the suspension so it handled like a dream. Sucked oil like a locomotive. Fun car.

I think there is some half-trues here. For starts, the part of Nader’s that dealt with the Corvair was not with the model itself, but to its first generation (1960-1963). This has a reason. The design of the car was supposed to include an anti-sway bar, which would shifted weight transfer, preventing from oversteer, but the company’s management voted against it to save costs. In 1964 it was offered as an option, and from 1965 it was a standard feature. But in between a 100 lawsuits concerning incidents with the Corvair (from where Nader started his own investigation), hurt the trust of the public by the time the problem was resolved. And no, a car that is not a sport car it’s no supposed to be always driven by expert drivers. The 1965 Corvair of the video wasn’t goin to roll, but its predecessors did...

This is award worthy film presentation.

I remember people talking about dropping a small V8 in the back seat and making it a mid-engine car. Always thought the Monza body style looked ahead of its time.

My first car was a 1962 Corvair Monza. It was cheap on gas and easy to drive. I had my drivers license for three months when I got into a road race on a gravel road. I had never even heard of the concept of counter-steering or skid recovery. I was amazed when my car swapped ends coming out of the second corner and went off the road. The car was totaled but I walked away without a scratch. This was, without a doubt, ENTIRELY due to driver error. I went on to learn a lot about street/road racing and totally enjoyed making cars do strange things just for the fun of it. I never read Nader's book but I always felt that the American car industry's research and development into new car design became risk averse after Nader's antics. New car development became driven by the horsepower race more so than safety engineering. We could have had much better cars a lot sooner if not for Nader.

“We wanted to make a cheap car that everyone could use daily....but also if you crash it’s because you just didn’t know how to drive it right”

I just bought a '60 4door 700. I'm restoring it at the moment. And I love every second I have my hands on it

"Unsafe at Any Speed" by Nader was ACTUALLY about manufacturing & business practices that were subpar. Read the book please...

Great little car. I've owned several. Yes. The early corvairs had an inherent rear suspension issue. This was fixed on the 1965/66 model year with the addition of a true independent rear suspension. I've owned a couple of early monzas and corsas. They were a bit different to drive as opposed to the later models.

Speaking of Nader, someone gave me a book he wrote on nuclear power plants. A week later, TMI blew and I was in the 5 mile zone. The state had no idea what was going on but it turned out the book was spot on about problems. I would rather have someone like Nader raising issues, even if they are not entirely accurate than having a bunch of children born with flippers instead of hands and feet because no one warned the mothers that taking thalidomide for morning sickness causes birth defects. Or that the dioxin in Agent Orange created more of a chemical weapon than a defoliant.

I had a second-hand '63 Corvair as a teen. There was one corner I took at a fair clip & accidentally did a 360. Thinking that was a neat experience, I would repeat the manoeuvre whenever I took the same corner. I recall it leaking oil from the gaskets & also burning a bit of it. Nader's book came out during the time I owned it, but I never felt endangered driving it. Traded it off on a second hand '64 Rambler.

When I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado (1965-1967), I bought a used 1964 Corvair Monza Spider convertible. While in some ways I liked it, it's turbocharger proved to be an ongoing problem with a high-pitched squeal/whine that at the time I was unable to repair myself. I think I got around $1,000 from it in a trade for a new '67 Pontiac Tempest. It's the Tempest (326) that I wish I still had. One of the best looking 2-door hardtops ever, and it handled well. It was both sleek and subtle.

It was a sport-y car, not a sport car. Too many people thought it was a Porsche. I liked them but never owned one. I preferred a V8 rear drive car. The styling, especially the later models was gorgeous. One of GM's best looking cars.

It’s kinda funny how 90% of the comments are about rust holes

I've driven Corvairs. I had three complaints, the front wheel wells protruded too far into the passenger compartment, taking away legroom, the air-cooled engines would over-heat in areas that got up to 100F, and no matter how many times you installed new gaskets, they leaked oil. They were not race cars, so I never drove them crazy. I do admit that the few times I had to swerve to avoid hitting something, the rear suspension felt squirrely.

Had a 65 Corvair Monza, stick shift, 4 on the floor. Gold color and the styling was beautiful. Drove the hell out of it. My Dad also had a 65 Vair. No problems, except the looooooooong fan belt coming loose once in a while. Note: I've always seen the exclamation about Nader "never owned a car in his life and took a bus everywhere". Funny thing, his picture in the beginning looks like Tommy Shelby of Peaky Blinders fame! LOL

THE CORVAIR WAS MY EDUCATION. WENT ON TO WORKED FOR G.M. WASNT A DEFECTED DESIGN. MUST HAVE THE CORRECT AIR PRESSURE IN ALL TIRES. 32 REAR 25 FRONT. AND MUST USE GOOD HIGH TEST FUEL. VERY NICE CAR. LOVED IT.

I wonder how many of the people who are critical of Ralph Nader's book have actually read it. He blamed the handling problems on the early Corvairs on a number of factors, among which were the cheap, unreliable tubeless tires and unconventional tire pressures. At the time tubeless tires hadn't been perfected, and were prone to sudden deflation when the bead holding it to the wheel broke under some circumstances (such as hitting a pothole while executing a sharp turn). Tires have improved since 1959. It's impossible to accurately test the original Corvair's handling when the original equipment tires are no longer available. I like Corvairs, but I understand that they require a different driving technique, and (thankfully) they are now equipped with modern tires.

My brother had a Corvair and he carried two 80 lb sacks of concrete in the front trunk. He also mounted an aircraft landing light in the middle of the front grille….for those oncoming drivers who refuse to dim their headlights. He became a mechanical engineer.

My dad bought a 1963 Corvair, if I recall correctly. I was 5 years old at the time, and I thought it was a neat car. The only reason that Dad had to get rid of it was that one Sunday, a few years later, Dad was driving me along with two of my sisters to church in suburban Sacramento when another driver ran a red light and rammed our car and pushed it all the way across the intersection before both cars came to a screeching halt. No real injuries, though Dad sustained a cut on his forehead from the rearview mirror, and my sisters and I were pretty shaken up. Since the engine was in the back, the car would still drive; my sisters went back home, and then Dad and I continued to church. But Dad decided not to repair the Corvair, and that was the end of it. Thankfully, the car didn't overturn; but it is strange to see another vehicle racing right at you and have little time to react. . .

Same argument for three wheelers in the '80's. All it takes to make a recipe for disaster is the dumb ass who has no knowledge of what they're doing who tries to drive something like they're a pro racer. The point that this car was fun to push in corners could may well have been the cause of more 'accidents'.

I had a 4 door Corvair in the early 60's and did a 180 4x in that and also rolled it down a steep grassy slope once. ...In all cases heavy rain was a factor and not speed ... the car was unstable to say the least. I was not hurt and surprisingly the car was not damaged in the slow roll over...amazing!.

My dad bought a 1967 4-door Corvair as our family car. In 1974, I took it over and drove it until 1982; gave it to a friend of mine with 225,000 miles on the OD. My friend fixed it up and the old Corvair became a show car. It was an awesome car. There were two things tho: the fan belt and the oil seal rings on the pusher rod tubes. Every 2,500 miles or so, the fan belt would break. And about every 3,500 miles, I had to replace the oil-seal rings (24 rings total) or just keep filling the car with oil. After a few years, I got it down to where I could replace the fan belt in about 10-15 minutes, and all 24 oil seal rings in about an hour. And thinking back, it wasn't all that bad. Never felt more in touch with a car since.

Being a air-cooled Porsche fanatic, the Corvair is simply amazing, flat-6 with horizontal fan and coil spring! If fact, when I owned a air-cooled Porsche I found it less likely to roll-over, simply because its lower center of gravity. And yes, when handle it wrong it do spin. It is funny that the air-cooled, flat/rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout has the world's most sold car, one of the best sport car series, and one of the 'worst' car in the world. And their basic design is almost identical.

I've owned 3 Corvairs-stock, warmed-over, and mid-engine V8-zero one-car accidents. In fact, zero accidents.

I owned a 1963 monza and loved it. It was my first car and i beat it a bit. It got great gas milage and it was ablast to drive. I even took it to a 1/4 mile drag strip and raced it. It handled great in winter on ice and snow and never got stuck.

My Brother owned three Corvair's, a 63, a 64, turbo, and a 66 ,all two doors. One time we were going fast on a county type road at Night, came over a hill, and There 100 yard's ahead was a "T" in the road. My brother was a good driver, and knew he couldn' stop with the brakes, so He threw the car sideways, and we slid sideways for 250 feet, came to a stop and we were fine. Their was a small amount of dust on the road that helped. My brother bought a camber compensator for the last two and they handled great. This story was in the one with out the addition, the 1963...Nadar was once asked "do you know the VW BEATLES IS WORSE THAN THE CORVAIR?" HE REPLIED "yes..". "then why didn't you say that in your book?" Nadar replied..."My book was about the Corvair, not the VW"..... that says it all!

I love the Corvair. 😍 When I grew up we had a car much like the Corvair. Four doors, engine in the rear, questionable reputation: an old Škoda. But that Škoda made me the car geek I am today. Funny how ONE car can do that. 🤗

In my senior year in high school, around 1977, while my older brother was in the Navy, I drove his 1969 Corvair convertible around. Late one night, while out with my buddies on the weekend, being bored and aware of Nader's comment, I decided to test the suspension. I performed a sharp turn and the tail end of the vehicle started fish-tailing. There was no recovering from it. The only random event that saved our lives was that the back end struck a tree after leaving the road and straightened the car right out. Broke the bell housing on the transmission and dented up one of the rear side panels but thank God we didn't roll. I believe Nader was right.

We purchased a new Corvair in 1963 and owned it for 8 years. It was dealer maintained and we routinely checked tire pressure. It spent its first two years in Rochester, NY and the only issue we had was during the heavy snows frequently had there. We often had to stop and help push 'normal' cars out of our way because they were stuck in snow that we easily drove through. We never experienced any sense that the car might be unstable, and always delighted in driving it. Because of Nadar's comments, we installed 3-point seat belts in the front seats. In 1971 we tried to move up in the car world and bought a new Volvo. It proved to be mechanically incompetent in numerous ways, twice eating a cam lobe, and drove like a Russian truck. We really missed the Corvair.

It was my first car back in the late 60's, with a 4 speed, and man that thing would fly!

I had a basic 62 Corvair. It was very fun to drive. Unfortunately at highway speed (55MPH and higher) the blocky front end seemed to catch the air and served to 'lift' the front end. One could feel the loss of contact with the road, but you had PLENTY of warning to slow down before it got really bad. Never had a problem with turns at higher speeds - and I was a a 16 year old AJ Foyt... I never felt the car wanting to roll. The only problem I had with it was that the aluminum block, as it heated up and cooled down, would cause the rocker arm cover gaskets to leak (the pistons moved horizontally so the rocker arm covers were actually on the sides of the engine). I had to make sure I checked the oil level at each fill up. I would LOVE to have one today....

I have owned two Corvairs. They were excellent cars. They handled well, and were very fuel efficient. The only fault I found was they tended to leak oil at the front (rear of the car) main seal..I always thought it to be the way the cooling fan belt was designed. Other than that, If I could find a decent one, I'd consider buying one today.