The Chevrolet Corvair, which came equipped with a rear engine, was supposed to be the company's answer to the Volkswagen Beetle, but the number of accidents the car was involved in rose steadily in the months after its release. A young lawyer named Ralph Nader wrote a book called "Unsafe at Any Speed" which claimed that Chevrolet had cut corners to save money, which now meant the Corvair was an unsafe vehicle. Nader called the car "one of the greatest acts of industrial irresponsibility in this century." General Motors began investigating Nader, resulting in strange phone calls being placed to the lawyer and private detectives following him. A Senate subcommittee held a hearing about the harassment, and the news about the hearing made Nader a celebrity.
