PLRX

The one car accident

figure that one out.

Coupe89

I when from a 89 to a 90.
But it wan't because of the dash.

The 90 feels more like a cockpit.

azrocketman

No, it was Ford and Iacocca.

The Corvair was introduced in 1960 to compete against the Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant. The Falcon, being 100% conventional in design, outsold the Corvair by a large margin. Chevrolet responded by taking the Corvair upmarket by introducing the Monza and in 1962, it introduced the Corvair convertible, the Spyder turbocharged engine, and four on the floor. The 1962 Corvairs introduced the sporty compact. In addition, Chevrolet introduced the Chevy II, a completely conventional car to compete with the Falcon.

The upmarket Corvairs paved the way for the sporty compact. Lee Iacocca saw the success of the Corvair and modified the Falcon chassis to create the Mustang in early 1964. The Mustang was a total success and had significant power advantages over the Corvair for straight line performance. The Mustang was also cited in later chapters of "Unsafe at Any Speed" by Nader for poor handling but most people never got that far in the book.

Chevrolet's response to the Mustang was the Camaro in 1967. There are indications from Chevrolet memorandoms that Chevrolet wanted to kill the Corvair in 1966 to avoid internal competition with the Camaro. Chevrolet did kill the Corvair performance options (Corsa model, turbocharged engine, 140 HP engine became a Central Production Office Option, COPO) for 1967.

In the 1965-1966 time frame Chevrolet was trying to dis-credit Nader (by illegal methods in some cases). The theory is that Chevrolet continued production of the Corvair through 1969 to avoid the appearance of capitulation to Nader. Production numbers did not justify Corvair continuance with only 30,00 produced in 1967, 15,000 produced in 1968, and 6,000 produced in 1969.

The 1960 through 1964 Corvair's handling was not atypical of a rear engine, swing axle car (like a Porsche). Chevrolet countered the oversteer tendency by specifying 15 psi in the front tires and 26 psi in the rear tires. Problem is that people did not pay attention to tire pressures and put 30 psi all around. The result, heavy oversteer. I've seen early model Corvairs (including vans) put through their paces on autocross tracks. I've seen the camber change and I've seen the spins but I've never seen one roll. Again, if somebody had READ "Unsafe at Any Speed" they would find that Nader praises the handling of the 1965 Corvair that uses a C2/C3 style suspension.

So, Nader prolonged the life of the Corvair and Iacocca was the cause of death.

Steve
Corvair owner since 1976

delphipgmr

breadbox is a poor mans airbag..

actually, its there so that when you get into an accident, the ER will know what kind of car you were driving..

the word "CORVETTE" will be embedded in your forehead backwards...

ch@0s

FOURSPEEDVETTE

You mean I've been shoving loaves of bread in mine every few days for nothing? I like the feel and power of my 85 just fine. Plenty comfortable for me even though I'm a bigger guy (not fat ) Probably everyone here feels the same about the particular year of C4 they own. Every year newer they are, the more refinements and power they had. Plain and simple facts. It does'nt make them superior to me, just newer and different than mine. I'll keep mine.

Bronze85

To keep bread fresh?

shawn 84&92

Breadbox was designed to be an airbag, but they didn't have to do it so they didn't.

socalman

Nader did it. He was 'the word' back then. The public wasn't buying the car. GM can twist it anyway they wanna.

mgafun

Here's what mine is for ('88 Vert):

H P Bushrod

Now that's a first! Never seen that set-up before.

delphipgmr

Where/how did you get that?

Im assuming its sold somewhere since the front of the breadbox is soft, that one looks molded.

RichsC4Vette

My fiancee summed it up pretty well. When she drove my 84 she wasn't impressed, just another car to her. The first time she drove my 94 to work, she came home and said "we always have to have one of those".

RedLS1GTO

The glove box is a cool idea but why is it that I see anything in the cup holders being turned into a projectile the first time you hit a bump?

darrylg

From http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/1984-5.php:

"Rather obvious for the passenger is the large lump thing called the "breadloaf" because of its shape. At the time it was anticipated that federal regulations would include a safety impact for the passenger, not unlike the collapsable steering column in front of the driver. The breadloaf was designed to meet this requirement which ultimately did not materialize. "

mgafun

Was made in CA, but no longer made after the producer died. I found it for sale on another forum by a former C4 owner in Denver.

mgafun

Hasn't happened yet.

jsims002

We had an 86; it was a fixer upper at least 15 years ago. I loved that car, but the first thing I replaced was the wheels. I remember it riding fairly rough.

Got my wife a 06 C6 vert with F55 which I modded the poop out of. I had idle hands so I recently got myself a 94 C4, it brought back memories of the 86 ride, but seemed much more refined. The interior is a major upgrade. Now comparing the two to the C6....not even close. I love the rawness of the 94 but the C6 with magnetic select ride is smooth as silk and pulls like a rocket, either way it's hers and I'm extremely happy with the 94.

Aurora40

Any links to pictures?

To the OP, I had an '87 and now a '90. The digital dash is pretty cool. The gauges are much more accurate. But I prefer the later style of the whole interior, especially the center stack. I also much prefer the ZF6 to the 4+3.

SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84

I remember the big stink Ralphie made about the car. People who should have listened to both sides and didn't (Nader's Raiders), bad-mouthed Corvair incessantly without mercy! The loudest wins.... After awhile you couldn't look at a Corvair without thinking of Nader, even if you thought he was full of BS. The connection was made and sales dropped like a rock. Ralphie did it.. When people see a Corvair, they don't think of the competing cars back then, they think of nader and roll-overs.......go figure.