page_title: List of automobiles known for negative reception
section_title: Chevrolet Corvair (1960–64)
hierarchical_section_title: List of automobiles known for negative reception / 1960s / Chevrolet Corvair (1960–64)
caption_attribution_description: English: Chevrolet Corvair - 1st generation (Y-body) coupe finished in white
context_page_description: This is a list of automobiles known for negative reception. They are judged by poor critical reception, poor customer reception, safety defects, and/or poor workmanship. For inclusion, these automobiles have either been referred to in popular publications as the worst of all time, or have received negative reviews across multiple publications. Some of these cars were popular on the marketplace or were critically praised at their launch, but have earned a strongly negative retroactive reception, while others are not considered to be intrinsically "bad", but have acquired infamy for safety or emissions defects that permanently damaged the car's reputation. Conversely, some vehicles which were poorly received at the time ended up being reevaluated by collectors and became cult classics.
context_section_description: While the Chevrolet Corvair was popular and critically praised upon launch, it earned scrutiny for its rear-engined layout with a swing-axle rear suspension, which gave it different handling characteristics from other cars and caused a high number of highway accidents among drivers not used to the Corvair's unusual handling. Over 100 lawsuits were filed against General Motors in response, which resulted in consumer advocate Ralph Nader specifically scrutinizing the Corvair in his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed. This negative publicity was compounded by the revelation that GM declined to include suspension upgrades on the 1960–63 model years that would have given the Corvair safer handling for cost reasons. These suspension upgrades were included in the 1964 model year, before Chevrolet completely redesigned the suspension with a fully independent setup when the second generation was released in 1965. However, GM's attempts to discredit Nader further brought negative publicity, at the same time that the Ford Mustang was putting significant strain on Corvair sales. CNN included the Corvair on its list of "The Ten Most Questionable Cars of All Time", and it was included on Time Magazine's "50 Worst Cars of All Time". Former GM executive John DeLorean asserted in On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors (1979) that Nader's criticisms were valid. Former Ford and Chrysler President Lee Iacocca said the Corvair was 'unsafe' and a 'terrible' car in his book, Iacocca: An Autobiography. Dan Neil wrote, "Chevrolet execs knew the Corvair was a handful, but they declined to spend the few dollars per car to make the swing-axle rear suspension more manageable. Ohhh, they came to regret that." The controversy around the Corvair eventually led to the founding of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as mandatory safety testing in the United States. Ironically, two years after production on the Corvair ended, a NHTSA report studying the handling of 1960–63 Corvairs argued that a properly maintained Corvair handled comparably to its contemporaries. Edmunds.com ranked the Corvair as the 62nd worst car of all time, stating that "Nader had a point." The Truth About Cars-offshoot site Curbside Classic named the Corvair as one of the major "deadly sins" that led to GM's downfall; "The Corvair was the product of GM’s repeated tendencies to go off in directions that were an engineer’s dream, but were either flawed from the initial concept, or diminished by the bean counters. In the case of the Corvair, it was both."
caption: Chevrolet Corvair
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