[RWebb]

by fall 1965, Chevy faced 106 liability lawsuits in the US and Nader had popped up on their radar screen as he was an expert witness in several of them

Chevy had redesigned the suspension for 1964 but Sports Car Illustrated had had recommended this 4 years earlier - Chevy did not advertise the improvement much (apparently the very terse press release was b/c they did not want to call attention to the previous tricky handling)

The May 1964 C&D named the Corvair the best Compact Sedan.

GM's General Counsel asked his staff to look into Nadar. They hired an investigator who sent back trivia (like the name of a restaurant that Nadar "frequented" - turned out it was owned by his dad). GM then hired an outside attorney who in turn hired a private detective agency, which in turn, farmed out some of the work to others.

They found out that nadar was of Lebanese origin, "smart, hard-working, dutiful, and with out [any] apparent vices." They also could find n evidence of anti-semitism. Nadar began getting strange, late-night phone calls, was hit on by beautiful young women (one blonde accosted him at a magazine stand and asked him to come up to her apt. and discuss 'foreign affairs'). Nadar mentioned these events and their timing to a magazine reporter who was working on an article for the New Republic. The NYT then picked up the info and did more investigation for an article about harassment of auto industry critics. GM's competitor, Ford immediately jumped in with a strong denial of any involvement, and some suggestive comments about other companies.

Roche, the head of GM immediately directed his staff to prepare a similar denial stmt., but then he learned that the people his people had hired (!) were indeed culpable. GM got blamed - directly in the public's mind.

The very next day Roche got a nastygram from Senator Ribikoff informing him that Ribikoff's Senate Committee would be looking into the GM-Nadar affair (and sending him a nice invitation to explain WTF he was up to). Roche couldn't refus. At the hearings, GM's General Counsel began sparring with the Comm. as to the definition of harassment and tried to explain away the questions about Nadar's personal life as being "in fairness to Ralph" and trying to help him. Various Senators pounced on that, incl. Sen. Robt. F. Kennnedy.

Time & other magazines dumped all over the Corvair and GM (Time had praised the car highly 6 years before). Nadar sued GM for invasion of privacy (using his winnings to finance consumer protection groups).

Many consumer protection laws date from this - not just for motor vehicles (1966), but also for pipeline safety, meatpacking, poultry, and medical X-ray devices (all the next year, in 1967).

The Ribikoff hearing and its publicity is likely the main factor that killed the Corvair. Too bad NHTSA was not quicker with their exoneration report.

So, GM's attempt to build an cleanly shaped (no tailfins), trim, and economical car died.

And poor Ed Cole went down in history for the (bad) Corvair instead of as the leading champion of the (good) catalytic convertor.

But in 1974, Nader and Ed Cole met in a head to head debate. Nader went after the car, the factory conditions and rich people's living expenses (touting his ascetic lifestyle - he lived on $5,000/yr). Afterwards, behind stage, Nader shook Cole's hand and complemented him on getting the lead out of gasoline.

- facts & quotes from Ingrassia, P. 2012. Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars.

- very readable book; but not real technical; recommended