[Spridgets] Ralph Nader. . Corvair

[Kitterer Bob]

There was no question that in the 1950's; 60's and 70's almost all American cars in particular were not even reasonably safe.  Most had brakes that were inadequate for the power and speeds the car was capable of achieving, many you needed to take sea sick pills to go on any extended trip because they wallowed around so much and heaven help you if you needed to make any kind of rapid maneuver.  Among the various problems with Nader and his crusade was that he had no hesitation to lie if it would fit his purpose and as best as I can tell never consulted any technical person as to his claims to mechanical items.  

As for the VW van almost the entire report that his group did was false.  This is not to say that there were not safety problems with the VW van.  But the Nader group report was aimed at killing the van as they had done with the Covair by the use of false information.  Times had changed by then and Road & Track took them to task to support their claims which they could not do.  Even in the light of this Nader refused change his support for the report.  Maybe some one has a big collection of R&T and can look this up, mine are gone.

As far as Nader making the world a better place is a matter of opinion but having spent a life time doing research I can see where the work done by me and my colleagues has improved our world.

Bob Kitterer

1960 Austin Healey Sprite (Mk IV in disguise) - in storage
1966 Austin Healey Sprite Mk III (Trevor) - still in boxes - in storage

On Jul 3, 2010, at 6:16 AM, Mark Wemple wrote:

> Funny guys, cause I remember indepedent video, not by Nader, that showed the carvsir's propensity for not only spinning but for flipping. Aldo, having owned a VW bus I would not want to be the one to argue that they were safe. I love them but they are very dangerous in the wrong hands. Also, having met Nader several tes, I am proud to have known him and the world is a better place because of him. Can the same be said of you?