Bear with me. This is going to be detailed response to an article in Road and Track, "Ralph Nader Can't Slow Down."
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The article is a new interview with Ralph Nader, written by Patrick Carone, and reprinted on their website on July 13, 2021. In this article, Ralph Nader is quoted as justifying his feelings about the Corvair through a reference to John DeLorean's book, "On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors." He says DeLorean agreed with him. He says DeLorean references executives on the subject, and that there was something about "the kids killed at Grosse Pointe" in DeLorean's criticism of the Corvair.
"Since we’re clearing the air, do you have a message for Corvair fans?"They should be worried about how the Corvair treated people. Just look at [John De Lorean’s account] On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors. There’s a lot of stuff on the Corvair from the executives themselves about the kids killed in Grosse Pointe and all that. You know, 30 years ago, I was invited to speak to the Corvair Society of America. They had a gathering in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington. They had hundreds of Corvairs in the parking lot, all nice and shiny. I walk in and everybody was very cordial, but there was a real silence in the room. So I said, “Look, there’s one thing we agree on: In this room are some of the best drivers in America—because you have to be.” Have you ever been in a Corvair? They’re unbelievably tight and uncomfortable if you’re anything over 5'10". I don’t know how anyone bought that car in terms of comfort. It’s a pretty car, no doubt. You know, we have one at the tort museum."
Mr. Carone does not challenge him and Ralph Nader gives no references. I would also like to point out that the tort museum Ralph refers to had an event scheduled by Corvair lovers, twice, in recognition of July 20th being Corvair Vindication Day, but it was cancelled in 2020 for Covid19 reasons, and again in 2021 out of respect for the passing of Nick Gigante, grandson of Frank Winchell, Chevrolet's head of research and development and fierce defender of the Corvair in its time. Nick used to say that the 1963 Corvair at Nader's "tort museum" (air quotes intentional, see the links regarding Vindication Day) was a hostage.
Concerned with what was being said in Road and Track about the most innovative car that was ever built in an American factory, I determined to do the journalism that Patrick Carone did not, and checked DeLorean's book (not really his book, but we'll get to that) out at an online library. There are nine references to Ralph Nader, two of them in the index, and referring back to the other seven. Seven different uses of Ralph Nader's name, in the service of DeLorean's complaints about his own treatment.
When the book first mentions the Corvair, it is in reference to the GM corporate attitude regarding executive viewpoints, and the lack of respect given to those viewpoints, in DeLorean's opinion. Specifically, he mentions the concerns raised in 1959 by engineers (who were not a part of the project). Well, "specifically" isn't the right term. On page 6 of "On A Clear Day You Can see General Motors," DeLorean says that "Charlie Chayne, vice president of Engineering [at GM], along with his staff, took a very strong stand against the Corvair as an unsafe car long before it went on sale in 1959." He also said Chayne was threatened with termination if he didn't "shut up."
There are several things wrong with Ralph Nader's exploitation of this statement. First of all, he fails to take into account the context of the entire book itself. The "DeLorean book" (air quotes mine) wasn't even written by DeLorean. The author is listed as J. Patrick Wright, interviewing John DeLorean. DeLorean had been fired and was participating in the book as retaliation. Wright's work was a thematic study of what was wrong with the way General Motors was run, not the quality of its cars--except in service of that theme. John DeLorean had wanted to become president of General Motors, and had been denied that. He (DeLorean) tells the Corvair story to illustrate the stifling nature of the General Motors corporate environment, not as a vindication of Nader. He was merely using Nader's complaints as a way of reinforcing his own position. Like Nader's book, John DeLorean and J. Patrick Wright are talking about the industry in general, not the Corvair specifically.
Neither of the positions John DeLorean takes are expressed in the form of direct quotes, they are interpolations he makes based on what he experienced. His specific use of the engineering complaints, and saying they originated long before 1959, is extremely suspect because the Corvair was a secret project within the company, supervised by Ed Cole until they were ready to reveal it, not just to the higher up executives but to the world. Seperate departments of General Motors at that time had autonomy on development and research. With the Corvair, Code names and dummy cars were used. Much of the development took place in Australia. Charlie Chayne, from sources I can find, is not mentioned as having any involvement. If he had objected to the Corvair specifically before its public announcement in May 1959, he was too late to do anything about it, because he didn't know it existed: Ed Cole revealed the near-completely developed car to the engineering department after the launch of the 1958 models, and after he had the backing of GM president Harlow Curtice.
Engineers were of course used, but Corvair history says that executives in the top engineering department were surprised by and suspicious of the project. If DeLorean is to be believed regarding the corporate culture, this would be because "Chayne and his staff," Chayne being the only executive mentioned in "On a Clear Day..." by name, knew they couldn't take the credit. They weren't on the team, as DeLorean says.
Furthermore, any examination of the history of rear engine vehicles in America in general shows a bias against them, perhaps due to the designers' inability to find a way to integrate the technology into American design standards of the time. An article in the April 1949 issue of Mechanics Illustrated, provides a very interesting insight into what the American automobile establishment was doing with and saying (and rejecting) about rear-engine technology at the time.
As long as DeLorean and Nader are speculating, why not speculate that Ed Cole and Charlie Chayne would each have read that same article? After all, it was published only a few years before Ed Cole began developing the Corvair project in 1955. At any rate, the Mechanics Illustrated cover story gives some context as to why development of the car was such a massively covered-up secret. The top engineers of the time, who were often the least innovative men with the most to lose, had not dismissed the Corvair; it didn't exist. They dismissed all rear engine vehicles in general.
The only references John DeLorean makes in Wright's book to the idea of the Corvair killing people, are when he is making the point, summarized on Page 6, and expanded in pages 64-67, that, often because of peer pressure, men will approve something as a group that they would never approve as individuals. In his indictment of corporate culture, DeLorean uses the Corvair and its victims (all cars have their victims) as a symbol, without any consideration of whether he gets the facts right about the Corvair. His only point is to, well, be seen making a point.
But getting back to Ralph Nader and his use of John DeLorean as an authority: Much like people who also use Ralph Nader's own book as an authority, it is clear that Ralph hasn't read "On A Clear Day..." in a long time. Nader says, "There’s a lot of stuff [in the DeLorean book] on the Corvair from the executives themselves about the kids killed in Grosse Pointe and all that."
Hmm. We've seen where that mention of "the executives" gets us, now let's talk about Gross Pointe. Which we can't, because the words are not uttered anywhere in "On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors." Not even in the index. The only reference I could find was in a Wikipedia footnote about the book, indicating Grosse Pointe as the origin of publication. But the actual book's copyright page mentions only New York and Chicago. Perhaps he was refrencing the fact that many GM execs gave Corvairs to their teens--who yes, crashed them--and that they lived in Gross Pointe, but Nader's statement seems to be a complete fabrication. Or, being charitable, a dim recollection. Much like his recollection of not owning a car after his 1949 Studebaker, while failing to remember that he owned and sold a Corvair in 2016.
Nader does give an accurate description of the time he was invited to speak at the Corvair Society of America, at least as far as he remembers it, but his audience no doubt remembers it quite differently. Memories are subject to our experience. What isn't subject to experience is the written word. And the written word on the Corvair is that it is fine, at least in comparison to every other American car made at the time. You can read the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration's 1972 statement about that for yourself.
I invite Ralph Nader to do a bit more reading of his own. To read particularly J. Patrick Wright's work, "On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors," before claiming any knowledge on the subject. I invite Patrick Carone to do the same.
Eric C. Player
President
Panther Pictures, LLC
P.S. - One other thing, I have been in three road accidents in my life involving the Corvair, in 1989, 2006, and 2007. Each of them were the result of the other driver's inattention to the road, as verified by their insurance. All resulted in substantial damage to my Corvair, and one completely totaled both cars. I walked away from all of the accidents unharmed. Probably why it was Car of the Year in 1960. Consider that.
Footage of a car expert testing out Ralph Nader's Corvair
Framing John DeLorean, the Movie
Blue Ribbon Corvair - 1960 Car Commercial
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