Safety in the 50's

[StevenGuthmiller]

On 11/8/2023 at 1:38 PM, Big John said:

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

They had to have stolen that '59 Chevy for this comparison!

I certainly can't see anyone in his right mind donating it, and if they bought it, they absolutely didn't tell the previous owner what they were going to do with it!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

When I jump into the seat of my 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix to take it out for a spin, the absolute last thing that enters my mind is how "unsafe" it is.

Don't care, and never will.

 

 

I don't even wear a seat belt!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bainford]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

When I jump into the seat of my 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix to take it out for a spin, the absolute last thing that enters my mind is how "unsafe" it is.

Don't care, and never will.

Ditto my Lotus Europa, which is quite likely the most dangerous road car ever built. And, it is driven in the enthusiastic corner-carving manner for which it was intended.

My sig is testimony.

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

When I jump into the seat of my (insert terrifying death machine here) to take it out for a spin, the absolute last thing that enters my mind is how "unsafe" it is.

Don't care, and never will.

Agreed...though I do wear a seatbelt simply for better car control.

Edited January 13, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

9 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Ditto my Lotus Europa, which is quite likely the most dangerous road car ever built. And, it is driven in the enthusiastic corner-carving manner for which it was intended.

My long gone Lotus 7 would challenge that title...and my current Beck 550 Spyder runs a real close second.  

EDIT: Though I gotta say that driving tiny fragile cars these days with the increased population density and the vast majority of dozy incompetent drivers multitexting makes me a little more "uneasy" in traffic than in days of yore.  

 

Edited January 13, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bainford]

5 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

My long gone Lotus 7 would challenge that title...and my current Beck 550 Spyder runs a real close second.  

Hhmmm... curious, this correlation between exciting driving experience and dangerous cars. I find modern sports cars, in all their engineering excellence, to be cold and uninspiring. It begs the question; is the most exciting drive also the most dangerous? Is it a necessary element? I think it is more a product of the fact that the most engaging drives are in the cars with the lightest weight, which by extension, are the least protective. But nonetheless, I do think the danger element is an significant ingredient. Mortality in your own hands, stuff like that.

How much does a Beck Spyder weigh?

[StevenGuthmiller]

18 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Agreed...though I do wear a seatbelt simply for better car control.

Not even sure where all of the seat belts are.

Crumpled up under the seats somewhere most likely.

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

27 minutes ago, Bainford said:

How much does a Beck Spyder weigh?

Around 1400 pounds. And there's no more structure next to you than there is in a Europa...fiberglass door shells and pillars.

Though the Beck has a tubular steel chassis just like its real Porsche granddaddy, as opposed to the folded sheet-steel backbone of the Europa, none of the steel is anywhere where it will do you any good when some mommy in an Excursion drives over you.

EDIT: The dry shipping weight on my Seven when I brought it over from England was listed as 843 pounds on the bill of lading.

Driving hyper-light sports cars has a lot of the same attraction as riding motorcycles, but it's different somehow.

I don't personally find it to have anything to do with "danger" per se, just a much more intense and visceral experience.  

Edited January 13, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

9 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I don't personally find it to have anything to do with "danger" per se, just a much more intense and visceral experience.

I agree.

Doesn't necessarily need to be an old car to have the same experience either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I agree.

Doesn't necessarily need to be an old car to have the same experience either.

Yup...one of the last real sports cars, with an absolutely wonderful high-winding engine. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yup...one of the last real sports cars, with an absolutely wonderful high-winding engine. 

It scares me a little sometimes!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

32 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Mortality in your own hands, stuff like that...

Well, there is that. But any road-racer is aware that there's a very fine line between finishing a race and ending up in a pine box.

Which tends to raise one's general awareness.

When the awareness of the possible terminal nature of the sport begins to intrude too much, it's time to hang up the string-back gloves.

[Tabbysdaddy]

I wear my seatbelt, to hold me to the seat.

[wrenchr]

12 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

When I jump into the seat of my 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix to take it out for a spin, the absolute last thing that enters my mind is how "unsafe" it is.

Don't care, and never will.

 

 

I don't even wear a seat belt!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Steve

Agree 1000%, my 65 F100 has manual drum brakes, manual steering and no seatbelts and I love driving it. 

[redscampi]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:54 AM, Brudda said:

Plus I bought that car for $150

In about 1980 I wrecked my 69 Grand Prix. I ended up buying a 1962  Falcon 2 door post car from a friend for $100. Had to tow it home because it had a window in the side of the block you could see daylight through. We stripped the motor in my rental driveway and my friend and I lifted the bad block out by hand with no hoist. Set the new block in the same way. Maybe that's why my back hurts all the time now...

[PatW]

 I passed my driving test in 1966 and my mother had bought one of the first Mini Countryman cars with the wood side embellishments. My first job was to get it up on ramps and bolt in the lap and diagonal  seat belts through the floor where the nuts had already been welded in at the Morris Cars factory. These made us feels so much safer!

Edited January 14, 2024 by PatW

[redscampi]

4 hours ago, PatW said:

 I passed my driving test in 1966 and my mother had bought one of the first Mini Countryman cars with the wood side embellishments. My first job was to get it up on ramps and bolt in the lap and diagonal  seat belts through the floor where the nuts had already been welded in at the Morris Cars factory. These made us feels so much safer!

 I love those little cars but I would never drive one, physics being what they are. That being said, all the seat belts in our cars growing up were mashed between the seat cushions with the spilled food and gum. You didn't put your hand in there if you knew what was good for you!

[PatW]

8 hours ago, redscampi said:

 I love those little cars but I would never drive one, physics being what they are. That being said, all the seat belts in our cars growing up were mashed between the seat cushions with the spilled food and gum. You didn't put your hand in there if you knew what was good for you!

It became law soon after, so we put them on for safety and not to lose the licence!

[Brian Austin]

There were some fascinating books published on automotive safety in the middle of the last century.

This one comes from 1940.  Interestingly the commentary regarding outward vision parallels my experiences with the Chevy HHR I used to have.  The body pillar blind spots were similar.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002901885&seq=5

 

 

 

[BlackSheep214]

On 1/13/2024 at 7:37 AM, wrenchr said:

50's Safety car from the minds of an insurance company. Henry Ford museum.

 https://www.thehenryford.org/artifact/139983/

 

Sliding doors? Ugly and big....

[wrenchr]

19 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

Sliding doors? Ugly and big....

Looks like Homer Simpson's car.  

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

There was a lot of ridiculous, hideous stuff built in the name of "safety"

Edited January 15, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[CaddyDaddy]

We're talking here about safety and the "Nanny-State". To me, cars have also gotten too.......antiseptic.

I take my "toys" out for the visceral smells and sounds that I don't get in today's conveyances........exhaust when running too rich, hot gear lube smell, the sound of secondaries opening, a Pete Jackson gear drive whine, solid lifter tap, motor oil burning off a header, a Franklin Quick Change playing it's tune, clutch slip "stink"......... 

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, CaddyDaddy said:

We're talking here about safety and the "Nanny-State". To me, cars have also gotten too.......antiseptic.

I take my "toys" out for the visceral smells and sounds that I don't get in today's conveyances........exhaust when running too rich, hot gear lube smell, the sound of secondaries opening, a Pete Jackson gear drive whine, solid lifter tap, motor oil burning off a header, a Franklin Quick Change playing it's tune, clutch slip "stink"......... 

 

Agreed!

Same reason I’m no fan of “resto-mods”.

I want my “old cars” to feel like old cars.

I can get all the “mod” I can stand with my 2023 Acura.

 

 

 

Steve

[BlackSheep214]

Wut….? That  Datsun mated with an AMC Pacer or Ford Pinto rear end? ?