Ralph Nader always seemed a bit sanctimonious to me, yet it wasn't he
who can take exclusive credit for killing the 'vair. General Motors'
unsavory activities, once they came to light, may well have had
significant bearing on its demise. The text in his book about the
Corvair filled only about 1/3 of the book, with the remainder about
things we don't even consider today.
He worked up tire weight capacities for a number of cars, then found
that their standard tires were too small to carry the car and passenger
weight, for one thing.
He wrote about hostile dashboards, the graceful toggle switches that
we all admire, that are pretty damaging to passengers in sudden stops.
Another topic was insecure doors that burst open easily.
We like to think that Ralph Nader will not be happy until everyone is
driving a black, four-door sedan. If that's true, then he must be a sad
fellow these days. But I suggest that we are all driving stronger, safer
vehicles today, to some extent encouraged by people like Ralph Nader.
BTW, his mother, wrote cookbooks with some assistance from Joan
Claybrook.
Bob
On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 12:39:05 -0500 "Rick Lindsay"
<rolindsay@stoolhead.com> writes:
> Despite the fact that what Charles says is true, I
> still despise that sorry ba$+ard; to sugar coat
> it a bit...
>
> rick
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