Quote:
I heard that they stopped [Corvair] production because they were deadly if you were rear ended ( the fuel tank ruptured ??)
Not that I recall.
The real reason they stopped production is that sales dropped and that the car received a bad reputation. The huge flaw in the car was the handling -- it had volkswagen-style rear engine and swing arm suspension, and could flip under some conditions. Anyways, GM fixed all that, made the Corvair near-perfect, but people were still leary of it. They even had turbocharged versions!
Any automotive enthusiast should enjoy reading the book that caused the Corvair controversy -
Unsafe at any speed by Ralph Nader. I enjoyed especially the sections about Pontiac and John Delorian -- there was a guy with some great ideas, who apparently was bogged down by GM infighting.