Word: corvairs
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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When small, low-priced imports took over a 10% share of the domestic auto market in the late 1950s, General Motors fought back with the Corvair, Ford with the Falcon, and Chrysler with the Valiant. So successful were these com pacts that by 1962 the foreign share of the market had dropped to under 5%. Figuring that the battle was over, the Big Three made the mistake of allowing their compacts to grow in both size and price. The result has been a new upsurge in the popularity of imports, which grabbed 9.4% of U.S. sales...
...literally point in two directions at once. As a result, the four wheels on each segment remain firmly planted on the ground, even as the Twister crosses the crest of a small hill. The fore and aft sections are powered by two independent 140-h.p. air-cooled Corvair engines, modified so that they can operate even at a sharp tilt. The driver pilots the eight-wheel-drive vehicle from the rear body. He has at his disposal a steering post for the lead wheels and twin seven-position gear levers for the two automatic transmissions...
...house, scoop up an armful of snow and heave ten decimal points against the stop sign on the corner. On a summer morning, he can go out to his small garden and properly cultivate a nice crop of lettuce. Almost any day he can get into his dented 1963 Corvair, drive down to Crane's Beach and walk in solitude or, at low tide, drive golf balls along the beach...
...problems, increased its share of the market by nearly 2%, taking 49.85% of the total. Pontiac is a big star this year, with first-half sales climbing from 392,863 to 426,874. Both Buick and Oldsmobile have held their own, but Chevrolet models have proved a mixed bag. Corvair has slipped by about 10,000 units from a poor 17,986 sales last year. So far this year, Chevy II and Camaro have saved the day. Cadillac continues at its phenomenal pace, selling all the models that the division can turn...
Cole's reputation soared still higher when he not only designed the revolutionary rear-engine Corvair, but outflanked several layers of unwilling management to sell then Chairman Harlow Curtice on the lively little car. The Corvair has since had its troubles, but Cole's baby is often credited with creating the current taste for sporty cars...