Crash test-1959 Chevy Bel Air.

[Fernando Mendes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk:eek:

[1940_dodge]

Here I thought the heavier car would demolish that newer one. Now I know if I ever get into an accident in my dodge I'll probably have to be buried in it.

[Rusty O'Toole]

59 Chevy pfffft. They should have used a 51 Chrysler New Yorker, they would be sweeping up the new car in a shoe box.

[Young Ed]

that era of chevy was known for having a somewhat weak X frame. and it looks like they intentionally aimed the modern chevy to hit right outside the frame rail. Let me tell you I hit an F150 in the side with my p15 and walked away fine.

[John-T-53]

Right on the x-frame. I think they started that in '58.

I hit a deer last weekend in my truck. Right here in town on el Camino Real, going about 35.

It bounced off the front and flew into the bushes...No damage!

[TodFitch]

I'm wondering how this thread is different than the one started a year ago....

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=25777

[Plymouthy Adams]

I think that every remaining 59 Chevy be crash tested..

[Rusty O'Toole]

Some years back a guy in an 84 Pontiac skidded one rainy night and hit my 1970 Dodge pickup truck at about 50 MPH while going BACKWARDS.

The accident bunted my pickup into a 4 foot deep ditch. The Pontiac stayed on the road. The back of the Pontiac was folded up until the rear bumper was in the back window. They towed it away to the junk yard.

The Dodge had a broken tail light lense. I drove it home and continued driving it for the next 5 years (after putting in a new lense).

[Plymouthy Adams]

todays cars are built with crumple zones built into the body and frame sectons if truck/suv...these are designed to fold at these preformed lines to absorb impact and protect the passenger compartment...I have seen some rather nasty looking crumpled up cars int he wrecking yard with the passenger compartment still pretty much intact..todays car's are thow away by design also..after X years repair parts are no longer available..used to be at 10 years dealers purged their shelves of the older stock to make room to stock current model parts. I do not think very many cars are being build with future antique value in mind..a few of the classic will hold value and such but the common car..like a Timex watch..except for taking a licking part..

[TodFitch]

.... I do not think very many cars are being build with future antique value in mind..a few of the classic will hold value and such ....

That has always been the case. Do you think that Henry was considering future antique value when he built the Model A or Model T?

My personal preference for old car ownership is 1940s or earlier so I haven't paid much attention to the newer cars. But I'll say this, the more plastic in a car the less likely it will be possible to restore it on a reasonable budget. The '63 Belvedere Suburban I learned to drive on hand almost no plastic and would be something that I could conceive of restoring. By the mid-70s there was so much plastic trim that I can't imagine trying to restore one. The only chance would be that it was something so popular with collectors that someone starts reproducing parts. Maybe someday when desktop parts printing from a computer becomes cheap that could change, but for today I don't see much hope for restoring an average make/model car built after the 1960s.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Henry Ford was not thinking to the future as for collector status as the age of automobile was just coming to birth..however since that time we have had many makes and models come and go..and with that being said...I would think to some degree thoughts of the future and collectability of cars being made did have a slight play in how some cars were designed...I assure you some makers of limited production vehicles chosse design firms for that reason....I will offer the foreign design studio of Pinafarina as a leader is timeless design and you will see what I mean..the use of plastics to the extent they are in todays cars can very well be the exact factor in restoring or ability to maintain the exact look of a modern car..a car that comes to mind is the Morgan...I assure you they know this baby will be a classic till the end of time..

[Young Ed]

Tim how about when they try to make collectibles. Ask anyone who bought a last of the GM convertibles 76 caddy how it worked out for them. Or the pace car replica corvettes that sold so well they kept making them and now they are everywhere.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I feel that cars like the Plymouth Prowler, the Viper and other such limited production cars will be desired and collected to times end..now I cannot nor will I ever think that the cars like the PT Cruiser will come into this group, they were mass production items as was any other car of the era only they were a specific looking item. The SST and HHR and the last generation T-bird also fall in the latter group...we have the baby boomers to applaud for the sustainability of the so called muslce/pony car era for the reprodcution of parts to keep some of their first rides on the road..and who knows, someone into the future may well see to it that the Pontiac Aztec fall in this area..heaven forbid..!

and for the limiteds of some corps...pure greed played a factor there..did not know when to call it quits and make the car a legend..instead it became a cash cow.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Tim Adams

[Flatie46]

I saw the video but I don't know if I believe it. I don't think the '59 had an engine and trans in it. If it didn't it's not a fair test in my opinion. I know newer cars are suppose to be safer with the air bags and such but I've done some accidental crash testing of my own in old cars back in the day. I was always impressed with how they held up. The '59 chevy can be jacked up by the bumper. Put a jack under the bumper of the other car and you'll do $1500 in damage after the air bags go off.

[Fernando Mendes]

Here is a Chevy Impala 1960 with 6 cylinders engine.Look the space between the fenders and engine.

[Dave72dt]

There's ways of making the older vehicles safer. Most of us run seat belts at least. A collapsible steering column could replace the rigid spear the factory installed and crash bars and better latches in the doors could be installed. It seems the more safety items built into a vehicle the more invulnerable people seem to think they are and the driving practices seem to show it. You can always find someone driving too close or too fast for road conditions.

[ggdad1951]

my old "renter" (bastid never did pay me) ran into a bridge abutment at 55MPH and walked away because of air bags, he was NOT wearing his seat belt.

[Reg Evans]

my old "renter" (bastid never did pay me) ran into a bridge abutment at 55MPH and walked away because of air bags, he was NOT wearing his seat belt.

The lord works in mysterious ways

[55 Fargo]

Here is a Chevy Impala 1960 with 6 cylinders engine.Look the space between the fenders and engine.

Them 235s were good engines.....