Ultimately the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tested the early Corvair and found it to be the equal of its contemporaries. (See www.corvaircorsa.com/handling01.html.)
There is some double think in corvairology. If there was nothing wrong with the early rear suspension and handling, it would not need to be fixed. But when “Bunkie” Knudsen succeeded his rival Ed Cole (the father of the Corvair) as general manager of Chevrolet, he said he would not be responsible for the Corvair unless he had permission to fix it. He got permission, and it was fixed.
I will have to forward your article to my Corvair mechanic, who has been featured at least once in The New York Times. He referees my Corvair publications.
Allan Pilloff, MD
Rheumatologist
Skokie, Ill.
