Auto Safety - How far we've come

[MadMonk]

This is a very cool video showing a 1959 Chevy Bel Air crashing into a 2009 Malibu. It's interesting to see how the two cars hold up. It seems a shame to trash that old Bel Air though.

[kevinpate]

killer vid, so to speak.

[silvergrove]

This was a collision at 40 mph.

[MadMonk]

Yes. Yes it was.

[gen70]

Hated to see the 59 get trashed.

[ronronnie1]

Wow! Just wow. You would think the older, heavier car would have faired semi-well compared to the new car, but damn. We have come a long way in regards to safety for sure. The person in the Malibu would probably have lived, but the driver of the '59? Just think how it was back in the day -crazy.

But yeah, too bad about the vintage chevy.

[USG '60]

Wow! Just wow. You would think the older, heavier car would have faired semi-well compared to the new car, but damn. We have come a long way in regards to safety for sure. The person in the Malibu would probably have lived, but the driver of the '59? Just think how it was back in the day -crazy.

But yeah, too bad about the vintage chevy.

I usta sorta hope I would have a wreck in my Corvair so I could see if Nader was right. It got stollen before I had the chance. Drat.

[mugofbeer]

Wonder how that Chevy would have stood up to a collision with a Scion, a Mini or a Smart Car?

[USG '60]

Wonder how that Chevy would have stood up to a collision with a Scion, a Mini or a Smart Car?

I have no idea.

[windowphobe]

The Corvair was a strange duck. Unlike every other American car of the time, it had an independent rear suspension, via swing axles, a technique used by, among others, Mercedes-Benz, where it worked pretty well, though very hard cornering could be treacherous: at some point you'd send the car into oversteer and the rear end would swing out. The problem with the Corvair was that with the engine in the back, it had a serious rearward weight bias, so the rear end would swing out that much more readily. (Porsche 911s used to do this, even without swing axles.)

GM's fix for this: call for exceedingly low tire pressures (15 psi!) up front, which would create an understeer effect to counteract the car's tendency to oversteer. But as everyone up to and including Barack Obama has noted, rather a lot of cars don't have the correct tire pressure.

In 1965, the next-generation Corvair had a much better suspension design, but by then sales were already starting to tank.

[USG '60]

The Corvair was a strange duck. Unlike every other American car of the time, it had an independent rear suspension, via swing axles, a technique used by, among others, Mercedes-Benz, where it worked pretty well, though very hard cornering could be treacherous: at some point you'd send the car into oversteer and the rear end would swing out. The problem with the Corvair was that with the engine in the back, it had a serious rearward weight bias, so the rear end would swing out that much more readily. (Porsche 911s used to do this, even without swing axles.)

GM's fix for this: call for exceedingly low tire pressures (15 psi!) up front, which would create an understeer effect to counteract the car's tendency to oversteer. But as everyone up to and including Barack Obama has noted, rather a lot of cars don't have the correct tire pressure.

In 1965, the next-generation Corvair had a much better suspension design, but by then sales were already starting to tank.

Mine was a '65 Corsa which was meant as a "racing" car. The speedometer went to 140 but when you hit about 105 it would get very unstable as though it wanted to "take off." Some dragster-building friends of mine rebuilt it to do about 180. I couldn't go that fast due to the suspention but I could wipe Corvette butts til 3 gear. It was in the shop waiting for new heavy duty suspention when it was stolen. The thief probably saved my life.