Nader’s Rear-Guard Action Was Flawed
* Ralph Nader’s desire to make a movie about his campaign against GM’s Corvair is outrageous [“Nader’s Goal: Crash Hollywood,” June 9]. I still remember when Nader first made a name for himself in pushing, correctly, for car seat belts. To me, that was the last useful stand he ever took.
His next big move was against the “dangerously unstable” Corvair. With the help of a wall of propaganda, he finally drove it off the market. But everyone who knew cars and the Corvair (including me) knew it was an excellent car and a pleasure to drive. I never heard of any knowledgeable person except Nader saying it was unstable. After it was discontinued, used ones were very popular and brought premium prices right up until, after many years, they all wore out.
Nader’s only argument against the car was that its rear engine made the Corvair inherently unstable. He never mentioned that Indianapolis racers also had rear engines.
I’m reminded of a similar case. In 1837, Sir William Symonds, chief surveyor for the British navy, in commenting about the then-new proposal that steamships be driven by rear propellers, said that they wouldn’t work because such a vessel couldn’t be steered.
Both Symonds and Nader were wrong, but Symonds at least didn’t make the mistake of mounting a campaign to outlaw rear propellers.
JOHN HAMAKER
Laguna Niguel
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* The report about the cancellation of a projected movie based on Nader’s historic book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” goes into great detail about various influences that might have affected the decision to cancel.
But conspicuously absent is the main one. The members of the corporate community are in no mood for a movie in which Ralph Nader is the hero, now that he is running for president and threatening to take away votes from the major parties with which they are comfortable. No way they could allow that.
EUGENE KUSMIAK
Fallbrook
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* I can assure your readers that Mr. Nader is not paranoid. Corporate America media magnates would probably eliminate Ralph Nader’s name from dictionaries and encyclopedias if they could.
Two years ago, I sent my literary agent a manuscript, a personal account of the consumer icon’s first foray into national politics via the Green Party. My agent was unable to get any major publishing house editor to read my manuscript. Without exception, they advised him that no one wants to read about Nader.
One has to ask the question: Just what is it that corporate America fears?
LINDA B. MARTIN
Del Mar
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