Photos: When GM's designs ruled the road

The Chevrolet Corvair came on the scene in the 1960 model year. It was part of a crop of smaller cars from GM around that time, including--in the 1961 model year--the Buick Special, the Oldsmobile F-85, and the Pontiac Tempest. It proved controversial for GM for a number of reasons. According to Howstuffworks.com, "The problem with Corvair was a radical design that made it too costly for its original economy-car mission and too 'foreign' for its target audience. Had it not opened up an entirely new market--and almost by accident at that--Corvair wouldn't have lasted even half of the ten years it did hang on."

It didn't help matters at all that the Corvair, with its rear-mounted engine and potentially dodgy suspension, had a featured role in a landmark of consumer activism, Ralph Nader's 1965 book "Unsafe at Any Speed."