Safety in the 50's

[TarheelRick]

I have been recently reading through my collection of older R&C magazines (little books Apr '56-Jul '61, regular Sep '61-Feb '65).  Came across this article about a chopped, channeled, drag sedan. Body cost him $20 (my first car a '56 Chevy 150 6X3 cost me $100 in '67) and overall he has $1500 in the car.  I do not have any idea what that would equate to in today's money.  However I was taken aback by his roll bar.  Technological advances have not all been bad.

[iamsuperdan]

I suspect most of the custom cars from the 50s and 60s would crumple like a paper bag in any sort of accident.

 

 

[The Junkman]

Well, he HAD a lap belt so there's that.  I don't like the short distance between the steering wheel and his face and the attitude of his legs.  With  no upper body restraint the first impact will be his head on the wheel as he submarines into the footwell should there be a front end collision.  Oooof.  But he did the best he could with the knowledge that there was back then.  (Soft steel water pipe....)

[Muncie]

some history here...  This 1932 Ford sedan became the Orange Crate with another chassis.  I kind of like it this way.

Edited November 1, 2023 by Muncie

[bobthehobbyguy]

When dragracing started there was little thought to safety. There were no fire suits. I remember reading the Don Garlits got burned badly and was lucky becuase he was wearing a heavy leather jacket.

Every rule that is in place today come from learning the hard way unfortunately.

[Rodent]

Who cares about the water pipe rollbar, the fuel tank is in the back seat!

[LDO]

I’m a plumber and I find this fascinating. Scary, too. 

[Fat Brian]

2 minutes ago, LDO said:

I’m a plumber and I find this fascinating. Scary, too. 

Same here, I work for the gas company and this looks like the piping we still use for meter sets and stuff.

[iamsuperdan]

16 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

When dragracing started there was little thought to safety. There were no fire suits. I remember reading the Don Garlits got burned badly and was lucky becuase he was wearing a heavy leather jacket.

Every rule that is in place today come from learning the hard way unfortunately.

No kidding!

Just look at Formula 1 racers in the 50s and 60s, or early NASCAR. 

Normal street clothes, no seatbelts, leather cap for a helmet, no roll cages, F1 cars basically had nothing next to the drivers. No doors or side panels.

 

It's a wonder anyone survived.

[thatz4u]

17 hours ago, Rodent said:

Who cares about the water pipe rollbar, the fuel tank is in the back seat!

some earlier cars had the fuel tank in the cowl,  worse yet..

[GLMFAA1]

Safety! We didn't need no safety! I rode to Florida from Ohio and back sitting on a Coca-cola cooler in the front seat of a new 1954 Ford station wagon between my dad and mom.

greg

[Tabbysdaddy]

Back when men were men, and boys became men a lot faster. 

[jaymcminn]

On 11/2/2023 at 10:03 AM, iamsuperdan said:

No kidding!

Just look at Formula 1 racers in the 50s and 60s, or early NASCAR. 

Normal street clothes, no seatbelts, leather cap for a helmet, no roll cages, F1 cars basically had nothing next to the drivers. No doors or side panels.

 

It's a wonder anyone survived.

Who needs safety when you have a sweet mustache.

[Muncie]

Not saying things were great...  Things did happen but drag racing was different in 1955.  100 miles per hour was a rare and an extremely fast car.  There wasn't much to run into because most sanctioned local dragstrips were airport runways - there wasn't much to run into. (racing stopped so planes could land or take off)

[THarrison351]

In the mid-eighties a local dirt track near Plattsburgh, New York, I was acquainted with the street stock champion. His car's (Duster) roll cage was stick welded black pipe (iron) that had been previously used in a Charger that was wrecked too badly to continue to use. They just cut the top off each of them and welded the cage in to fit. Can't even begin to imagine what would have happened if he'd ever been hit in the side.

[Tom Geiger]

And just when you think we are a safety society…

Pennsylvania Turnpike. I’m going at least 80 and a Harley screams by me like I’m standing still, weaving through traffic!

Two riders, guy driving with a girl hanging on. No helmets! Wearing shorts and flip flops!

[peteski]

49 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

And just when you think we are a safety society…

Pennsylvania Turnpike. I’m going at least 80 and a Harley screams by me like I’m standing still, weaving through traffic!

Two riders, guy driving with a girl hanging on. No helmets! Wearing shorts and flip flops!

We call them "future Darwin Award winners".

[Bugatti Fan]

My first cars did not have seat belts, but must admit feeling safer in later cars I had with belts fitted. From the outset UK seatbelts fitted across the lap and diagonally across the chest, even the pre inertia ones.

I could never understand just lap belts being fitted and being expected to save anyone. Agreed they stopped one from being thrown through a windscreen, but not from being killed smacking your head against a steering wheel or metal dashboard back in the day.

Oh well!      The risk averse society we live in today makes me wonder how anything ever gets done!

Edited November 4, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[WillyBilly]

As much as I love old car styles, the reliability, performance and safety of newer vehicles is hard to overlook. This video should put things in perspective.

 

[heyjohnxx]

20 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

And just when you think we are a safety society…

Pennsylvania Turnpike. I’m going at least 80 and a Harley screams by me like I’m standing still, weaving through traffic!

Two riders, guy driving with a girl hanging on. No helmets! Wearing shorts and flip flops!

A friend of mine that worked in the insurance biz called them "Donorcycles".

[bobss396]

On 11/1/2023 at 6:21 PM, Rodent said:

Who cares about the water pipe rollbar, the fuel tank is in the back seat!

Black pipe (less the cast fittings...) was permitted in the stock care we drove. Heavy, but strong. It was standard for rub rails and bumper embellishment. We built one stock car with 2" water pipe, fairly thin wall compared to black pipe. We got to tech inspection and with some back and forth, they tested it and it passed the crush test.

Another guy rolls in with a new car, it goes to tech and draws a crowd. The workmanship on the welding was great.. only it was made with SWING SET tubing. The inspector just said... OUT. It wasn't even painted, still green and yellow.

One guy we raced with had this huge "fuel cell" in the trunk. Most of us back then used VW tanks. This thing was a huge cube, the owner said it held 20 gallons and it was FULL. It was made from .050" thick COPPER. With paint, it passed for steel.

[bobss396]

On 11/3/2023 at 10:07 PM, THarrison351 said:

In the mid-eighties a local dirt track near Plattsburgh, New York, I was acquainted with the street stock champion. His car's (Duster) roll cage was stick welded black pipe (iron) that had been previously used in a Charger that was wrecked too badly to continue to use. They just cut the top off each of them and welded the cage in to fit. Can't even begin to imagine what would have happened if he'd ever been hit in the side.

I bought a "project" Nova stock car in 1982. It came with a black pipe roll cage from something else. Possibly an old coach modified. The cage was loose, so out it came. We borrowed a frame table and tackled it. Cut off the ugly and replaced anything sketchy with good quality roll cage tubing. It wound up being a good cage. The trick with those cars was tying it into the unibody construction.

[Big John]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:02 AM, WillyBilly said:

As much as I love old car styles, the reliability, performance and safety of newer vehicles is hard to overlook. This video should put things in perspective.

 

NOOOOOOO! Not the 59 Chevy!!!!!!  I Can't Look!!!!

[bobss396]

Pop-out windshields used to be a safety thing. I still pass the site of the 1st car accident I saw every day, probably in 1964. It was by a supermarket exit. A car was exiting and a car on the road (a '58 Ford) hits it directly on a front fender on the front wheel. 

The windshield on the Ford does pop out... it skips over the hood of the other car, keeps on going, skips along the pavement and comes to a stop. It never fell over or cracked. The trim and gasket were still attached to it.

[Bainford]