I was impressed to find a crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. I automatically assumed that the much bigger, heavier 1959 car would have it all its own way in comparison with the much lighter, flimsier-looking 2009 vehicle.
Here's the video of what happened.
Boy, was I wrong! As the Wall Street Journal pointed out:
This is an uneven match in part because the 1959 Chevrolet, like most cars of the era, doesn't have the simplest seat belts. Air bags, crumple zones and other energy-absorbing features were also decades away. But even the older car's structure proves weak compared with the modern model. The old Bel Air's body buckles severely. It loses its windshield, the driver's door opens and the rigid steering column rams the test-dummy driver. The 2009 Malibu holds together and protects its driver well enough to get the insurance group's top rating.
There's more at the link.
I suddenly have more respect for modern car construction!
Peter
5 comments:
Most people who think modern cars are flimsy only consider the body damage at point of impact.
While crumple zone technology is more expensive, and significant body damage almost always totals a car, what is overlooked is the lack of damage to the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Motorists can walk away from wrecks in which they demolished their modern cars because crumple zones did what they were designed to do - dissipate kinetic energy before it reaches the occupants - and restraint systems are so efficient.
I am impressed.
How about respect for modern car DESIGN. After a long string of lemons, I'm quite disgusted with modern car construction.
Uh, there's a bit of a problem with this video. I've seen it before, if you look closely at the moment of impact, pay attention to the clouds of brown dust that erupt from various parts of the '59. What we're seeing here, is a 50-year old X-frame car that may appear to be sound on the outside, but is actually fairly well rusted beneath.
I'm familiar with this, I own a 1959 Cadillac which shares the same X-frame...if rust weakens it at the forward junction of members, the car will fold to one side, just as it shows in the video, causing the entire body to implode dowwnard into the side being impacted.
Wow! I would have expected the steel construction of the Bel Air to make mincemeat of the Malibu. But as Anon above notes, this isn't an entirely fair test. The Bel Air has racked up 50 years of wear versus little or none on the Malibu. It would have been a lot more accurate to compare a 2009 replica Bel Air with old-style construction to a 2009 model.
Archie
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