Taha, The Corvair has been called the Poor man's Porsche for years. A way to have a rear engine sporty car without the cost. That's all.
Corvairs have been racing since they came out...and I would like to make sure I mention that Don Yenko's first "Yenko" car was the Corvair. To this day there are still late models racing in vintage SCCA classes and *winning* against those old Porches, Vettes, etc...
In 1971 The NHTSA did a full safety/crash test of the early model Corvair. Their conclusion? It was just as safe as anything else on the road and not any more prone to rolling than anything else.
BUT by 1965 The rear suspension had been fully redesigned to have fully independent rear suspension rather than swingarms (so now there were 2 u-joints per axle rather than one on the inner side) and the trailing arms were straight rather than cocked A-arms like the earlies have. The late models are far superior in handling. Unfortunately the Mustang and Camaro were coming out and with Ralph's silly book and the sporty new V-8 cars, no one wanted Corvairs anymore and sales dwindled until they made a mere 6000 of them in 69 and ended production. All said and done they made somewhere near 1.8 million Corvairs.
Most of what people think is wrong with the Corvair is incorrect. Either silly rumors they heard 30-40 years ago or just stuff that has been said since then and people just regurgitate it for fun. I've heard some real doozies and usually just let people sound like idiots at car shows. The reality is they are economical (not a lot of 60's cars getting 20mpg), fun to work on, handle very well with 40/60 weight distribution and definitely fun to race! :-) The aftermarket is still strong for them and nearly every part can be found for them!
Here's the 64 I'm turning into a track car... it's also my DD.
