June 17, 1965, Appleton Post-Crescent
An example of Gibson Company advertising. The Corvair was featured in the book, Unsafe at Any Speed, by Ralph Nader. His book led to significant legislation in 1966, mandating the installation of seat belts as a required feature of new automobiles as well as other safety features. By the time this model came out, the unsafe Corvair written about in the book had been rectified but by 1969, it was discontinued by Chevy. It was the only American-designed, mass-produced passenger car to feature a rear-mounted air-cooled engine.
My dad was a salesman at Gibson (later Bergstrom) and my parents drove Corvairs. I don't think we ever owned our cars-- one of the perks back then was "demo" cars so we always had new ones. And occasionally letting your son take a new Z-28 to prom...
ReplyDeleteI used to wash neighbors' cars as a kid on the Island, and the family across the street got a new 65 Corvair Monza convertible that I was very fond of as an 11-year-old. 52 years later I just had to own one and bought a 66 convertible. Way fun.
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer of "65", my cousin and I were in the back seat of our uncle's Corvair, on Hwy. 114, returning from trap shooting at High Cliff. He pulled off the road when he noticed a "warning light". Lifting the "boot" we saw that the serpentine drive belt (generator and air-cooling fan)had disintegrated. We mentioned that we had heard a loud noise/thump many miles back. He called the wrecker/tow truck from the Oldsmobile dealership he worked to haul the smoking/overheated Corvair away. An intelligent mechanic, which he was, sold it in a few days. Forrest Gump on the West Coast
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