Word: backed
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Corvair handles so easily that it needs no power brakes or power steering, and its automatic shift, at $135, is $50 less than on Chevy models. Cole expects that many Corvair buyers will not even want the automatic shift, will prefer the stick shift on the floor to get back the "feel of driving." Thus the Corvair, with the minimum extras needed, will run several hundred dollars under the Biscayne, and as much as $2,000 under the most expensive car in Chevy's line, the Impala. One thing that will help Chevy salesmen is the fact that...
...Welcome Back." What will the new compacts do to those gnatty foreign bugs, which started the rush to smallness? "We never worry about competition," says Britain's Lord Rootes, whose Rootes Motors Ltd. makes Hillman, Singer, Sunbeam. "We welcome our American competitors back after the years in which they designed themselves out of the market...
...less luggage space-only 15.6 cu. ft. in the Corvair v. 24.5 cu. ft. for the Falcon and 24.9 cu. ft. for the Valiant. (But the Corvair has an optional folding rear seat, for $32.50 extra, that provides another 13.3 cu. ft. of luggage room in the back.) Many engineers insist that a rear engine is not practical on the basis of present knowledge for cars of more than 2,800 Ibs. (Corvair's weight: 2,375 Ibs.). G.M.'s forthcoming Buick and Oldsmobile compacts, which will be bigger than the Corvair, will have front engines...
...This Is It." Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Corvair is the way Cole designed it and sold the idea to General Motors. He put the Corvair wheels in motion way back in 1952, a most unlikely time. Detroit then was riding a crest of chrome, and it looked as if anyone who bucked the trend to bigness would get honked right out of the industry. Henry Kaiser's chromeless little Henry J. was a flop. Romney's Ramblers were losing money. Just a few years before, Chevy had started to tool for a compact model...
...September of 1957, Ed Cole casually asked Red Curtice out to take a look at something new at the G.M. Technical Center. With a knowing wink, Cole lifted the canvas protecting the clay mockup. Red Curtice stood back, his blue eyes narrowing. Then he peppered Cole for two hours with questions. There were many obvious problems...