Word: corvair
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Every U.S. auto company is contributing to-and benefiting from-this surge, but none so much as General Motors. With its standard models reinforced by the pizazz-laden Corvair Monza and the compact Chevy II, G.M.'s Chevrolet division alone has grabbed off more of the U.S. auto market (30%) than the whole Ford Motor Co. (26.2%). Between Chevrolet's runaway success and solid, though less dramatic, increases for Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick, General Motors as a whole now accounts for 52.2% of all the cars sold in the U.S. (The only company that ever did better...
...committee system has the sound of bureaucracy but is saved from stultification by the drive and competitive urge of the line divisions. The decision to build the compact rear-engine Corvair in 1959 took G.M.'s committees about four months to approve. But the fact that the Corvair was built at all was due to the initiative of then Chevrolet Division Chief Edward Cole (TIME cover, Oct. 5, 1959), who on his own time put together plans for the car long before he had any authorization at all. "Let's face it," sighs a rival automaker. "That...
...death of the American car buyer's traditional urge to move up to higher-priced cars. For a time, this skepticism seemed likely to lead G.M. into serious trouble. In 1959, when Ford's compact Falcon scored an immediate success while Chevrolet's rear-engine Corvair was something of a dud, it appeared that Ford might grab off the lion's share of an important new market. Almost by chance, however, Chevrolet dressed up some Corvairs with pizazz features to attract customers into showrooms to look at the ordinary Corvair. With that began the Monza...
...Falcon compact, the Challenger I, with a tuned 244-cu.-in. engine and special suspension designed to cruise at 120 m.p.h., and the Cougar 406, with gull-wing doors and a top speed of 160 m.p.h. Chevrolet's sports compact is a 150-h.p. version of the Corvair known as the Monza Spyder, and there are two special show models of the Corvette-the Shark and the Kelly...
...golden boys are Edward N. Cole, 52, and Semon ("Bunky") Knudsen, 49. Cole (TIME cover. Oct. 5, 1959), who piloted Chevy and fathered the fast-selling Corvair and Chevy II before recently becoming group vice president for all car and truck divisions, can take much credit for the fact that Chevy alone has captured 33% of the market. Vice President Knudsen, who was Pontiac boss before he succeeded Cole as Chevy chief, was the man who souped up the Pontiac styling and is now seeing the new Chevy II compact selling briskly without eating into sales of the regular Chevy...