Was the Corvair really unsafe at any speed?
 

Hagerty sends a guy out to test a Corvair. Not just *any* Corvair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9Hq0_Mhy0

https://youtu.be/NI9Hq0_Mhy0

Nader didn't drive.

My Corvair has the late rear suspension. Never had a handling issue. But even swing axle cars aren't unsafe at ANY speed.

Ted Kennedy was unsafe at any speed.

Okay, so thoughts on why the Corvair flipped in the old footage, at ~1:45?

Tire pressure? Seemed like maybe the tire rolled over and the rim dug into the asphalt.

I wonder what pressure they were running in the Haggarty footage.

It's probably somewhat lost to history. Rear-engine cars are notoriously difficult; that alone might be unsuited to Joe Q. Public. The flipping has probably always been overstated.

Tire pressure has always been thrown around. Likely the car in the old footage was on bias ply tires, carrying less pressure than the radials on the subject of this video.

Anyone else notice how the other clip, where it flips into the dirt was basically designed to make anything roll over at will?

I wondered about that too (tire type). Supposedly the Haggarty Corvair was also running on bias ply.

That second rollover was clearly set up!

A lot of the problem is caused by the swing arm rear suspension.
You can see the wheel almost folding under the car. The old Beatle has it too but it was even worst as it could literally fold under the car, the fix was to put a chain on the suspension to limit its movement downwards.

I've seen YouTube vids of GM testing that showed the tire darn near rolling right off the rim. Undersized tires + not enough air pressure. Plus trying to induce failure.

If you watch the footage as he is swerving on the runway you can see the tyre is lent over so far it is running on the sidewall you don't see that with moden suspension. I'd imagine he is running radials as bias ply are pretty rare these days unless they are very old tyres (doubtful). Bias ply would have rolled over even more.

With gripper tyres a flip could be possible even on a flat surface.

Toyota Hilux moose test showed gripper tyres aren't always safer :)

The only bias ply you find these days are most of your smaller trailer tires (not tractor trailer) and the more extreme off road muder tires.