When I first met my wife in 1975, she was driving a 66 Corvair Corsa coupe.

I was a not a fan at first, but over the years, I realized they were a pretty nice car in a lot of respects. Regardless of the Ford/Nader film debacle, which was proven to be fake anyway, the second series cars had solved any issues with handling when driven in a normal manner. If you tried hard enough you could bring the rear end around on a late model (2nd gen), but it was significantly harder to do than on my swing axle 59 190SL.

Style wise, they were one of Bill Mitchell's outstanding designs when he was at his peak. Like the pony cars, you could get them in mild to wild trim. If you could find a nice one with a 4 speed, and either the turbo or the 4 carb engine, they were pretty quick and agile. Brakes were from the intermediates and for the time, they were exceptional. Very easy to modulate, and not prone to fading. Car was light enough to not require power steering or power brakes, and also delivered respectable gas mileage.

We had a 66 Corsa 140 four carb, dual exhaust car with a saginaw 4 speed for years. Even had factory air and a AM/FM radio. I kept it stock except for a set of magnum 500s and low profile tires. With the 2 gen suspension cribbed off the Corvette, camber change wasn't an issue. Also had a decent 68 Monza convertible with powerglide and 110hp engine (2 carb, single exhaust). Much slower car, but it was for cruising, not canyon carving.

I still enjoy seeing the occasional one, I think they are even prettier than when we owned ours.

It wasn't Nader that killed the car, it was the Mustang and the Camaro that matched it's price with a much more conventional car AND a V-8.
It's considered by the Corvair nuts that Nader's interference actually led to production past 1966. GM put zero into development for the after 1966. They killed off the turbo and the Corsa premium series, and production plummeted after 1966. The prevailing thought is that GM wanted to cancel the car, but it would look like they were capitulating to the safety accusations.

It was a different engineering approach, something we likely won't see again, had some teething problems, but hit a home run with the second series introduced in 1965. Ultimately, complexity and cost killed the car, it just couldn't compete with it's sibling, the Camaro.

If the right one came along at the right price, I'd have to think pretty hard on why I would not want to get it.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles