GM recall, Unsafe at Any Speed all over again?

[werepossum]

I googled and couldn't find anything. Gotta quote?

He has talked about poor treatment by some corporations and how rather than being decent to their employees they move their factories to China where workers are treated much worse in his article, "Stripmining America - Unpatriotically". That's dehumanizing.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/22-9

Dude, there was one right in your own link. http://blogs.reuters.com/great-deba...rvairs-rise-and-fall-changed-america-forever/

But Cole would be remembered as the “father of the Corvair” instead of as the “father of clean air.” In October 1974, after retiring from GM, he debated Nader on television’s Phil Donahue show. When Nader derided factory work as inhuman, an irritated Cole snapped, “IT ISN’T INHUMAN.” But afterwards Nader shook Cole’s hand and said, “You got the lead out of gasoline. Now how about getting the lead out of GM?” In May 1977 Cole died in a crash while piloting his own small plane.

In fairness, Nader does deserve some credit for making automobiles safer. However, besides killing the Corvair, an innovative and sweet handling car from '65 on (and even earlier when in sport trim), he did more than anyone to usher in the era of parasitic lawyers. And throughout his career he was a staunch opponent of practically everything I value.

 

[bradly1101]

Dude, there was one right in your own link. http://blogs.reuters.com/great-deba...rvairs-rise-and-fall-changed-america-forever/


In fairness, Nader does deserve some credit for making automobiles safer. However, besides killing the Corvair, an innovative and sweet handling car from '65 on (and even earlier when in sport trim), he did more than anyone to usher in the era of parasitic lawyers. And throughout his career he was a staunch opponent of practically everything I value.

I missed that. I wish I could find Nader's entire quote. I'm sure he meant how some factories treated their employees, and that factory work was not paying as much as it used to.

Ralph Nader on Main Street can still see the flatbed trucks hauling textile machinery out of his hometown in the 1950s, his high school years. The work of Winsted and New England mills was bound for the Carolinas and Georgia, then Mexico and Asia. In 1900 there’d been 100 factories and machine shops in Winsted, making useful things for the world — cloth to clocks. In Ralph’s boyhood, a factory worker could raise a family on one paycheck in a 6-room house with a 2% V.A. mortgage, and drive a second-hand car. Then as now the green hills of northwest Connecticut were a breezy walk or bike ride away. “You could hear cows mooing one minute, and the milk would be in glass bottles on your doorstep a few hours later…”

http://radioopensource.org/ralph-nader-one-citizens-view-from-winsted-ct/

 

[DietDrThunder]

Dude, there was one right in your own link. http://blogs.reuters.com/great-deba...rvairs-rise-and-fall-changed-america-forever/


In fairness, Nader does deserve some credit for making automobiles safer. However, besides killing the Corvair, an innovative and sweet handling car from '65 on (and even earlier when in sport trim), he did more than anyone to usher in the era of parasitic lawyers. And throughout his career he was a staunch opponent of practically everything I value.

Nader didn't kill the Corvair, the Ford Mustang did. The Corvair's sales numbers plummeted so badly that GM was going to cancel production after the 1966 model year. With Nader's publicity, GM decided to continue production through 1969. So in a way, Nader actually saved the Corvair.

In the 1960's, nearly 2 million Corvairs were produced and it was considered a failure. Today if any automaker produced 2 million of anything, it would be considered a great success.

 

[bradly1101]

Nader didn't kill the Corvair, the Ford Mustang did. The Corvair's sales numbers plummeted so badly that GM was going to cancel production after the 1966 model year. With Nader's publicity, GM decided to continue production through 1969. So in a way, Nader actually saved the Corvair.

In the 1960's, nearly 2 million Corvairs were produced and it was considered a failure. Today if any automaker produced 2 million of anything, it would be considered a great success.

Also Chevy came out with the Camaro, which the later Corvairs competed with in looks, size and sportiness. When faced with conventional vs. unconventional designs, people seem to choose the conventional one.

But I thought the early ones were cute (mine was a red two-door):

And the late one wasn't bad either (mine was a yellow two-door Monza with a quad-carb Corsa engine):

 

[werepossum]

Nader didn't kill the Corvair, the Ford Mustang did. The Corvair's sales numbers plummeted so badly that GM was going to cancel production after the 1966 model year. With Nader's publicity, GM decided to continue production through 1969. So in a way, Nader actually saved the Corvair.

In the 1960's, nearly 2 million Corvairs were produced and it was considered a failure. Today if any automaker produced 2 million of anything, it would be considered a great success.

That's certainly an, um, unique position. Certainly the Mustang hurt a lot, especially considering that the Corvair had just been redesigned as a much more capable, up-market vehicle rather than an econobox competing solely on price, but I believe the idea that Nader's publicity actually saved the Corvair may be unique. I urge you to copyright it. Take your time though. Incidentally there was no production in 1969; 1969 models consisted of unsold 1968 inventory assembled and sold as '69 models until the part supply ran out.

Another interesting tidbit - AMC had a potential Mustang killer set to go to market in late '64, directly against the 64-1/2 Mustang. Called the Tarpon, it was an adorable four seat two door sporty yet inexpensive fastback model built on the small Rambler American chassis and aimed at the younger crowd. After tooling was 100% complete, the leadership of AMC changed. George Romney was elected governor of Michigan and was replaced by Roy Abernathy. Romney has built American Motors primarily by designing and selling small to midsize cars. Abernathy, declaring that Americans wanted big cars, killed the Tarpon and ordered it redesigned as the Marlin which was a much larger car built on the Rambler Classic. Tooling was scrapped and the Tarpon given an up-sizing from compact to mid-sized, acquiring the name Marlin and incidentally becoming one of the ugliest cars of its day. The Marlin debuted in '65 and took three years to achieve its well-deserved death.

Also Chevy came out with the Camaro, which the later Corvairs competed with in looks, size and sportiness. When faced with conventional vs. unconventional designs, people seem to choose the conventional one.

But I thought the early ones were cute (mine was a red two-door):

And the late one wasn't bad either (mine was a yellow two-door Monza with a quad-carb Corsa engine):

Matter of taste I suppose. To me the early model is butt ugly, its only saving grace being its low cost, whereas the late model is one of the most beautiful cars of its day.

 

[bradly1101]

There was great coverage of the hearing and a detailed (and very revealing to me) explanation of the whole issue and its history on The Newshour tonight.

I can't tell you how much it irks me that GM initially blamed drivers. To me it is a whole lot like how they dealt with the early Corvair issue. Except this is on a much larger scale with perhaps as many as 300 deaths.

Part of the bailout was a liability shield from claims from pre-2009 accidents.

 

[bradly1101]

Matter of taste I suppose. To me the early model is butt ugly, its only saving grace being its low cost, whereas the late model is one of the most beautiful cars of its day.

There's something about the belt line of the early model that's a little European, but better.

The styling was unconventional for Detroit: subtle and elegant, with no tailfins or chrome grille. Its engineering earned numerous patents, while Time magazine put Ed Cole and the Corvair on the cover, and Motor Trend named the Corvair as the 1960 "Car of the Year".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvair