So how did such a promising and glamorous beginning disintegrate into oblivion? His name was Ralph Nader. Today, politicians court controversy as if it were as common as their morning cup of coffee but, back then, stirring political unrest was highly unusual at best and ridiculed at worst. Barely 30 years old, Nader was a political activist who saw opportunity in the Corvair….the opportunity to destroy it while creating a platform for himself. The first chapter of his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed branded the Corvair “the one-car accident.”
Mr. Nader went right for the jugular pointing out a design flaw in the rear suspension that made the Corvair susceptible to flipping over when driven recklessly or at very high speeds. Chevrolet repaired the problem, but it was too late to repair the Corvair’s reputation.