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On 10 May 99, at 13:12, Steven Ayres wrote:
> Good question, I don't think I've heard anyone discuss this in quite a
> few years. I have no privileged information, but I think Ralph Nader had
> something to do with it. His book slagging the Corvair for exhaust
> and other problems ("Unsafe at Any Speed") was a real turning point for
> consumer awareness. Unfortunately it has taken decades for consumers to
> approach real sophistication, so disinformation and wrong information
> circulated widely for years.
While Ralph Nader has gotten much of the credit and blame for the end
of the Corvair, he has really gotten no credit for the demise of the
aircooled VW. It always surprised me that the part of the Corvair
that he really went after, the swing axle, was just as vulnerable in
the VW and yet he never mentioned it.
Somehow I manage to be a fan of both the Corvair (I learned to drive
in a 1960 Corvair 700) and of Ralph Nader. I think that it is
important to understand that while his stated target was the Corvair
swing axle, Ralph's real target was the blatant disreguard which GM
displayed at the health and safety of the US public. The unfortunate
part was that it was not just GM.
Jim
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Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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