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1965 Plymouth Hits a Tree


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I have sort of followed this story a lil. Stories say and that is all they are stories that during one surgery they found teeth in the kids stomach that he swallowed. I. Have heard a range of broken bones of 17 to 60 but average is 25. I did read he is looking at life long surgeries and brain damge

Here is my take on the accident 150 on the street no way 90-130 very possible (done it in my dumber days) since it was a nostalgia stock means it had to have some sort of cage and that help him survive. I'm guessing from the pics it wasn't a head on collision. I think he was going sideways scrubbing away some speed before he hit what ever it was. This is just my opinion

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Here's 120 in a modern car...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRkPyuet_o

That video makes it even harder to believe that this Plymouth crashed into a tree at 150 and the driver survived. Like I said way back... impossible. And the damage is inconsistent with a head-on crash into a fixed object at 150. Something in this story doesn't add up.

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As far as building replicas, there are a couple fo resin '65 2dr sedans available now (MCW and R&R), maybe a caster eventually will make one optimized for the upcoming Moebius ht kit, or maybe Moebius will do a sedan eventually...

Edited by Rob Hall
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That video makes it even harder to believe that this Plymouth crashed into a tree at 150 and the driver survived. Like I said way back... impossible. And the damage is inconsistent with a head-on crash into a fixed object at 150. Something in this story doesn't add up.

Tend to agree with you, Harry. I actually just saw the re-run episode of 5th Gear last night, with this very test. There is absolutely NO way anyone, in any car, old or modern, could survive a 120mph, let alone 150mph, ( 197kmph-240kmph ) crash head-on. They estimated the G-force from 120mph - 0mph at 400Gs!, going from such excessive speed to zero in under 1sec... Not survivable.

Something is not adding up... & just looking at the pictures... It doesn't look like a head-on... Nor does it look like it was a 150mph crash. Looks like a front side impact.

There's only 1 way to get to the bottom of this "myth".... Gotta write into Adam & Jamie & let them test the 150mph crash.... See if Buster makes it out alive ??

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Tend to agree with you, Harry. I actually just saw the re-run episode of 5th Gear last night, with this very test. There is absolutely NO way anyone, in any car, old or modern, could survive a 120mph, let alone 150mph, ( 197kmph-240kmph ) crash head-on. They estimated the G-force from 120mph - 0mph at 400Gs!

And if the G-force didn't kill you, the fact that the entire car was crushed into a two-foot-long mess would certainly kill you instantly. There is absolutely no way a human can survive a 150 MPH crash into a fixed object.

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And if the G-force didn't kill you, the fact that the entire car was crushed into a two-foot-long mess would certainly kill you instantly. There is absolutely no way a human can survive a 150 MPH crash into a fixed object.

Let alone a 150 mph crash into a tree.

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I remember this car from an article in Mopar Collector's Guide.....I believe that in the article the driver of the car was a young man with some personal demons that he was dealing with....do not know if it was drugs or mental illness.....he decided to end his life and stole this car which was outside the shop. I cannot recall the exact speed but I do know that he hit a tree and HE did survive!!! In the article it did not state what his injuries were, but that he would have to be taken care for the rest of his life. No mention of a wall...but I could be wrong....and I am sure that many of you have seen drunks or people under the influence of drugs survive car accidents on the local news. It would seem that being under the influence makes your body more relaxed?? Maybe that is why they survive while sober people tend to get killed. I am only going by memory, and without having to dig through my umpteen boxes of magazines to try and find it....if i can find any info that could be more beneficial...I will update.

Curt

Edited by dieseldog1970
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A tree is not immovable, 3500+ lbs hunk of steel traveling anywhere near the reported speed would knock over alot of trees (they didn't say how big the tree was did they?). Me step brother hit a tree at a off angle similar to that car with a 71' Nova at like 60-70 mph and the tree (which was pretty good sized) was no longer standing, and the car in was two pieces while he survived with no serious injuries

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I remember this car from an article in Mopar Collector's Guide.....I believe that in the article the driver of the car was a young man with some personal demons that he was dealing with....do not know if it was drugs or mental illness.....he decided to end his life and stole this car which was outside the shop. I cannot recall the exact speed but I do know that he hit a tree and HE did survive!!! In the article it did not state what his injuries were, but that he would have to be taken care for the rest of his life. No mention of a wall...but I could be wrong....and I am sure that many of you have seen drunks or people under the influence of drugs survive car accidents on the local news. It would seem that being under the influence makes your body more relaxed?? Maybe that is why they survive while sober people tend to get killed. I am only going by memory, and without having to dig through my umpteen boxes of magazines to try and find it....if i can find any info that could be more beneficial...I will update.

Curt

And there's a very, very, very looooooong list of dead drunk/drug drivers that can attest to being that the ones who do survive, do so via pure luck.

Surviving a head-on, sober or under the influence, has nothing to do with it. It's just not their time for Mr Reaper to come calling... Plain & simple ???

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Here's 120 in a modern car...

That is the video I was referring to. I thought it only 100 mph. I was wrong it was 120 mph. But that is the video. Looking at the results, with a modern Escort, I'm sorry to say but I have a hard believing the Plymouth was doing 150 mph.

Scott

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A tree is not immovable, 3500+ lbs hunk of steel traveling anywhere near the reported speed would knock over alot of trees (they didn't say how big the tree was did they?). Me step brother hit a tree at a off angle similar to that car with a 71' Nova at like 60-70 mph and the tree (which was pretty good sized) was no longer standing, and the car in was two pieces while he survived with no serious injuries

They need to redesign trees to snap off at the base in a crash like they do lightpoles on freeways..

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My 68 gts 340 dart has randomly seen 130-140 mph speeds. The issue is the gearing in it. I could put 323s back in it and it would live there easily. Not so much with the 391s and a short tire. I can believe that 65 could do 150 but not prolonged plus most writers tend to exagerate a bit. What people do not see is whats under the car making it safer at speed as far as handling. All rebuild suspension and upgraded brakes. New steering etc. This would have undoubtably been under this restored 65. Wasn't this a few years back and it was a Moser car iirc.

You are right about that mr68gts.I have the same set up in my 65 dart.Short tire,3.91's and 904 with a manual valve body.

Look closer at the rear tires.You will see tread.

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I hit a telephone pole and pecan tree at about 40 mph as I was making a turn on rain slick streets. My face hit the steering wheel and cracked it in half, must've been when I bit the steering wheel. On impact my white t-shirt turned red. Been eating with rubber teeth ever since. That was in 1970 and the car was a 442, 345 hp and 4 speed.

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