When bad things happen to good cars

[roym]

One thing I can't help thinking is how crumpled they all are. i.e. I'm glad I wasn't in any of them when that happened. I always thought US cars of that era were built like tanks (relative to similar vintage Euroboxes and even more so Japanese cars of the same era). While the white Charger does look like it was hit by a freight train I would love to know what actually happened. If that's from a hit by another car I'm not sure I like Chargers anymore!

Even more so for the storm damaged cars. Wow. were they made of paper gauge steel or soda can aluminium?

Back in the 70's here, Fords, all German brands and some UK brand cars were made of a heavier gauge steel in comparision to the paper used by the Japanese cars and the even thinner gauge used by the likes of Fiat and Lancia. This may have something to do with how fast the latter 3 dissolved into rust. To be fair, the Japanese marques seriously raised the bar on reliability, but as the cars usually rusted out faster than anything else that became a moot point... Except when trying to start a Ford Cortina/Hillman Hunter on a cold damp morning....

[Maindrian Pace]

One thing I can't help thinking is how crumpled they all are. i.e. I'm glad I wasn't in any of them when that happened. I always thought US cars of that era were built like tanks (relative to similar vintage Euroboxes and even more so Japanese cars of the same era). While the white Charger does look like it was hit by a freight train I would love to know what actually happened. If that's from a hit by another car I'm not sure I like Chargers anymore!

Make no mistake, those are all very hard hits. Those cars react to lighter hits like anything else - fender benders and the like.

-MJS

[pharoah]

Old cars are not as safe as you think..

[pharoah]

I've wondered about that too.When I think back to my childhood,I kind of shudder. Standing on the front seat of my parent's 50 Chevy. No seat belts,unpadded steel dashboard. The good old days...

In that video with the 59 chevy said the driver would have been killed. The steering wheel was real close to the seat. The new car driver may have gotten a broken leg.

[1972coronet]

In that video with the 59 chevy said the driver would have been killed. The steering wheel was real close to the seat. The new car driver may have gotten a broken leg.

How much of a role did the notorious "'X' Frame" (1959 Chevy) play in that "new versus old" collision ?

[Joe Handley]

How much of a role did the notorious "'X' Frame" (1959 Chevy) play in that "new versus old" collision ?

Not to mention it was off a farm in Indiana, IIRC. Spent my whole life in the midwest, no doubt that in my mind that if were a Full frame GM or Unibody Mopar from Arizona that things might have been a bit more even.

[slusher]

Not to mention it was off a farm in Indiana, IIRC. Spent my whole life in the midwest, no doubt that in my mind that if were a Full frame GM or Unibody Mopar from Arizona that things might have been a bit more even.

I have wondered how true the video may be. The 59 Chevy may have had some serious rust issues. I would have liked to see it redone with a 77 Cadillac or a 77 Monte Carlo...

[Joe Handley]

Yeah, a X-Frame GM car that supposedly came from a rust belt farm would seem to have a disadvantage vs the same car from a friendlier climate if those two were run together let alone into one of these modern tanks. It would probably make a modern car look even better than when compared to a more structurally sound platform (in both in original design and current condition) of the same vintage as that Chevy..

[Erik Smith]

I have wondered how true the video may be. The 59 Chevy may have had some serious rust issues. I would have liked to see it redone with a 77 Cadillac or a 77 Monte Carlo...

YouTube videos and you can see other examples. One pits a '62 Cadillac against a newer one - straight on head on collision. You can see in all of them how the passenger compartment in older cars fail in accidents.

Then google smart car cement wall and watch a video of a smart car smashing directly into a concrete barrier at 70 - you would die (due to you body's inability to withstand 70 - 0 in a tenth of a second) but the passenger compartment is amazingly intact.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Erik Smith

[DrKerry]

Ouch X's 10

[PARTSMARTY]

THE MOPARS CAN GO TO GRAVEYARD CARZ TV SHOW

[pharoah]

Yeah,the dreaded X frame didn't help at all. In one article about this,they said the older car bodies are more or less metal boxes. No crumple zones like newer cars. If you listen to Car Talk,they said many times about old cars not being very safe.

[62rebel]

we've been lulled into believing that our lack of attention/skill/training can be replaced by having new cars with crumple zones while everybody has been churning out 6,000 lb 600bhp trucks and suvs for the past few years that render said "crumple zones" null and void imho. there's a reason "smart" cars are built like steel volleyballs.... that's how "normal" sized cars are treated by drivers of oversized overpowered leviathan pickups/suvs on our roads.

you want people to drive safely and direct all their attention to the proper task at hand? take the driver's side airbag OUT and replace it with a six-inch long hardened steel spike and remove the shoulder belt from the driver's side.

I hazard a guess that more than a few of those wrecks involved someone pushing their personal envelope of ability far past what the CAR was capable of doing. owning a beautiful classic muscle car in no way grants you the skill to use every last iota of it's power. in other words, stupid HURTS.

[Tom Geiger]

Guys, don't even begin to dispute the accident video of '59 Chevy. That wasn't some old rust bucket they pulled out of a field. That was a show condition car. There was a piece I read where the owner of that car was seriously upset when he saw the video. When he sold it, all he was told was that it was going to be in a 50th anniversary ad campaign.

As said, modern cars fare much better in accidents than the oldies. That's another 50 years of automotive technology and design by modern computer models. It's called progress. Today the lowliest Hyundai performs better than any of these old tanks. Fact, because the government standards demand it!

If indeed, as described above, this was a parking lot hit at a car show... this performance isn't acceptable at all. What hits home here was that my father bought a similar LeMans new in 1966, and I spent a lot of time riding in it.

Now here's a modern vehicle in a similar situation. My daughter got t-boned at an intersection by a lady going at least 40 in a 25 zone and never braked. Celica was pushed sideways through the intersection and up the curb and onto the sidewalk across the street. Nobody hurt. Not a scratch. You can even see the steel beam outline in the door. Yup, a modern vehicle doing exactly what it was designed to do. Thank God!

Edited February 22, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[pharoah]

Good points guys. There's no replacement for driver education,which is seriously lacking in this country. One thing I really believe would help is to BAN cell phones and texting while driving. They passed a law here that if you're under 18 you couldn't text and drive.

But it's OK if you're over 18?

[THarrison351]

Texting is illegal in most places, but eating, drinking , reading maps, even adjusting the radio can take your attention away from driving long enough to cause an accident.

There are a lot of things that are illegal, but unless the criminal is caught by the law, they keep on getting away with it. Sure, you could add more law enforcement, but then we become a police state and I don't think anyone wants that.

I have driven in almost every continent in the world. I think the Germans and Scandinavians have some of the best drivers. The act of driving in those countries is a privilege, costly, and requires lots of tests. In some other countries the act of driving only seems to require possessing a car.

The US drivers have some of the best roads in the world, and some of the worst educated. Most high schools use to have drivers education programs and gave the students a good start on how to drive properly. After the driver receives their license it is their responsibility to drive safe. The problem is there are no more tests to see if the driver has developed bad habits. Only if they get caught doing something illegal and the court decides to take their license is there a chance for reeducation on driving. Of course this doesn't stop some drivers from driving anyway.

Today's cars are some of the safest and sensory depriving cars built. So many cars do things automatically for their drivers, a blind person could almost drive them. This puts the driver in an almost unconscious state. I remember when the proponents said if we raised the speed limits above 55 MPH the drivers would have to be more attentive to driving due to higher speeds. This may have held true for the cars built at the time, but now we have family sedans capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH so driving at even 80 MPH seems pedestrian.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I will leave you with this. It doesn't matter how powerful a vehicle is, If it is driven unsafely, 80 hp or 800 hp can kill you.

[dieseldawg142]

.....

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[The70judgeman]

Here's the green '70 Charger from a few pages ago that got rear-ended. It's at Graveyard Carz being repaired right now. These pics were posted on their FB page within the last couple of days.

Edited February 22, 2014 by The70judgeman

[Deathgoblin]

So sad

My late uncle Bobby had a Superbird almost exactly like this, nose damage and all. His was Limelight green. It was like that when he bought it about '74or '75. It sat and rusted for about 15 years, and he still ended up selling the thing for about $10k. He had a personal junkyard where he "parked" cars that weren't driveable anymore. Most of them were crushed when he passed away. He had a '70 Chrysler 300, '68 Road Runner, '73 Satellite, '69 Nova, the Superbird, and others.

[Erik Smith]

Last year an $800,000 (insured price) AC Cobra burned in a tunnel in Zion National Park - I have some pictures somewhere...

[dieseldawg142]

...

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[RodneyBad]

what a hard hit, good to see it come back to life!

unfortunatly it's not exactly what you could call "all original" anymore...

It has the Original Vin#

[dieseldawg142]

....

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[JM485]

I honestly feel like all of the "upgrades" modern cars have make us worse drivers. Take backup cameras for example. I was told that every new car must have it to comply with government standards, in order to solve some sort of problem. So now what does everyone do? They rely completely on the camera and think it will show everything around them. If you forced everyone to take their driving test in a 5 speed manual with no power stearing and no "upgrades", I have a feeling there would be a lot less drivers clogging up our streets and causing accidents. To be honest, I have quite a few friends who have no business whatsoever driving a car, but passing a drivers test is easy as pie here so they get unleashed onto the general public who have no hope of defending themselves. I'm absolutely thrilled that my truck and I made it through high school without being destroyed coming out of our school parking lot considering the lack of skill most kids have. We got luck I guess, I don't know what I would do without that thing, it's my prized possession!

[slusher]

I honestly feel like all of the "upgrades" modern cars have make us worse drivers. Take backup cameras for example. I was told that every new car must have it to comply with government standards, in order to solve some sort of problem. So now what does everyone do? They rely completely on the camera and think it will show everything around them. If you forced everyone to take their driving test in a 5 speed manual with no power stearing and no "upgrades", I have a feeling there would be a lot less drivers clogging up our streets and causing accidents. To be honest, I have quite a few friends who have no business whatsoever driving a car, but passing a drivers test is easy as pie here so they get unleashed onto the general public who have no hope of defending themselves. I'm absolutely thrilled that my truck and I made it through high school without being destroyed coming out of our school parking lot considering the lack of skill most kids have. We got luck I guess, I don't know what I would do without that thing, it's my prized possession!

When I took my drivers test you had to parallel park, how many drivers do that anymore. I do not think its required anymore here..