You'd have to be over 60 to remember the Corvair. As soon as I had a good paying job, I plunked down $2100. on a new 1960 Corvair Monza. I was attracted to the unusual engineering and features that no other car could claim. It had a heater that started warming your feet in 1 minute, the first comfortable bucket seats on any American car, and drove like a kiddy car around curves. The dash was simple and no nonsense, but since the Corvair was advertised as an economy car, I didn't mind the Spartan treatment. The first thing I did was rub down the Roman Red paint with white compound to a brilliant cut-glass shine, coat all the chrome (cars still had chrome bumpers) with clear lacquer, and insulate the engine from the interior. The six cylinder engine had plenty of power, but I wanted more and drilled out the economy carburetor jets for 15% more horsepower.

All the furor about the Corvair handling badly was brought out by Ralph Nader's book,