CPotD #7 (Swingin' with the Swing-Axle)

Even EMs (Corvair early models – ’60-’64) with their supposedly notorious swing-axle rear suspension can be a blast when driven fast. Here’s a picture of Lucy and I ready to roll off the grid with a couple other EMs at Summit Point Raceway’s Shenandoah circuit. The whole swing-axle sensation is superbly summed up (with pictures) on this Gary Aube webpage, but the bottom line is that under hard turning, the unloaded rear wheel will drop and tilt reducing the contact patch of the tire with the road. Naysayers claimed this scenario would result in the unloaded wheel tucking under if the steering was immediately cranked in the opposite direction causing the car to roll over. It was this unproven myth that caused Ralph Nader to devote Chapter 1 of his infamous book, “Unsafe At Any Speed” to the Corvair and its killing tendencies. In fact, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Board conducted extensive tests in the 1971 the conclusion of which was the “handling and stability performance of the 1960-63 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover, and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles both foreign and domestic." Gary’s Corvair Corsa website contains a great writeup here on this topic as well.

I believe this photo-of-the-day was taken by Scott Trunkhill, and I know it’s posted on his expansive website appropriately addressed as http://www.corvair.us/.

By the way, once we were out on the track, the other two hot cars didn’t stay behind me for long. Since I'm a big fan of both these racing EMs and their owners, I’m sure they will each have their own CPotD someday.