They Don't Build Them Like They Used To

[WENGINE]

These vidio's are and have always been rigged to provide the most paranoia as possiable and this one is no different. You have fallen like a lead weight. You are now primed and ready for the coming fall of the home of the free and the brave were paranoia is essential not only in the take over but to maintain control. And as easy to maintain as showing you the next vidio of you and your families horrific death. Believe me the last thing I would want is anything bad happening to you or your family but if you let this vidio effect you the way it seems to have done already then " they have won" and we may all be doomed. You need to get a grip on your self. I don't know you personally but I'm real concered about you. sorry for the rant

 

[Richard/SIA]

I've been reminded that several years ago my Mom was hit head-on, off center by a drunk.
She was in a four door 59 Cadillac, the drunk was in some sort of nearly new U.S. made car.

Mom was unscratched, the Caddy could have been repaired, the drunk went into an ambulance, his car went to scrap.

I used to have a pic, but misplaced it years ago.

The 59 Chevy and impact point were chosen carefully to make the desired political statement.

The line that "Mr. Zuby said he doesn’t know of any (vehicles) that performed worse than the Bel Air" is strait out of fantasy land, it's must be one of the worst lies ever told! no1:
I listed several vehicles that would have been crumpled end to end in an earlier post, I know the Subaru 360 was tested.
They were rated the most unsafe car in America, and became impossible to sell overnight.
Trivia question, what famous auto manufacturer started out selling them?
Even that claim was an exaggeration, have you ever SEEN a model T? :eek:
And I know people who still drive their T daily!

 

[tripower]

These vidio's are and have always been rigged to provide the most paranoia as possiable and this one is no different. You have fallen like a lead weight. You are now primed and ready for the coming fall of the home of the free and the brave were paranoia is essential not only in the take over but to maintain control. And as easy to maintain as showing you the next vidio of you and your families horrific death. Believe me the last thing I would want is anything bad happening to you or your family but if you let this vidio effect you the way it seems to have done already then " they have won" and we may all be doomed. You need to get a grip on your self. I don't know you personally but I'm real concered about you. sorry for the rant

Very well said,,,, As I said in another thread it has become the era of what if....Son, if you want to live your life that way go ahead.....

 

[58 Guy]

You've got to be kidding

If you had told a GM engineer in 59 that the car he was designing would be crash tested against a car 50 years in the future he would have said you got to be #%$@ing kidding me. Did anyone notice all the rust dust shooting out from the under door area I'd like to see a picture of the frame and floors, before the crash. I can tell you that my 58 floors would have collapsed also but not not neasly as much now since the rusty parts have been removed. Not exactly a fair test A car from 2009 is better designed for impact I SHOULD HOPE SO. Rented a PT Cruser about a year ago (Thats all they had) notice in car says no one under 12 years old should be in front seat because air bag could kill them, don't know about you bur there are alot of adults the size of 12 yr olds what about them. Not arguing about safety the are better at it now but the newer drivers seam to think that the safety features make the almost invinsible, talked to a cop who had regular dealings with a particularly dangerous stretch of highway in Alberta Canada and he said that more drivers and passengers survived who were thrown from the vehicle than survived when strapped in I thioght he was kidding but he wasn't So Pick your poison. I also noticed that there didn't seam to be an engine a friend of mine many years ago had parents in a head on collision in a 65 Pontiac the engine came right through the firewall and aside from minor injuries the both came out of it OK (Maybe just lucky maybe not)
I've also heard of many new cars involved in low impact crashes which would have done fixable damage to one of the old ones but because of all the sensors and air bags in the newer cars they were insurance write offs. And I'm not proud of it but I had my share of accidents when I was younger in cars without seat belts and was never more than bruised. Also that dummy looked like it survived even though it didn't react at all.
Hey we all do what we think is best Just keep yoour eyes open and don't start off from a green light until you know the others are going to stop STUFF HAPPENS

Anybody know where I can get seat belts for a 58
John

 

[Brian Thompson]

I think it should become law that every driver should have to learn how to ride a motorcycle. To pass the test, they should have to ride in a busy city. This will teach defensive driving and it will be retained!

"Not arguing about safety the are better at it now but the newer drivers seam to think that the safety features make the almost invinsible"

John, 58 Guy, is dead on with this statement. Too many people think they are invinsible , including the 18 year old girl that thought text messaging was more important than paying attention to the red light she just ran!

 

[impalamike.com]

The video is pretty suprising. I'll a little bit stunned that a '59 Bel Air would fold up like an accordian. I've owned three '59s (Biscayne, Bel Air and Impala) over the last twenty years and always felt pretty safe. A few years ago I got pulled over for going 62 mph in a 35mph zone in the '59 Biscayne two door sedan (no seat belts) and the cop told me "slow down, if you hit a Honda you'll kill somebody." I grew up on sit coms so I always need a solution in 22 minutes, plus commercials. So...if you take the video at face value you have three alternatives:

(1)Ignore it and keep driving what you're driving,
(2)Swear off old Chevies (and other old cars) and buy a new Malibu (I personally like them - I hope my wife gets on e for her next ride),

-or-

(3)Upgrade the safety features of the old vehicles. Any ideas? Three-point seat belts, roll bars, ABS brakes, adapting air bags???? Just thinking out loud. -Mike

 

[tripower]

If you had told a GM engineer in 59 that the car he was designing would be crash tested against a car 50 years in the future he would have said you got to be #%$@ing kidding me. And I'm not proud of it but I had my share of accidents when I was younger in cars without seat belts and was never more than bruised. Also that dummy looked like it survived even though it didn't react at all.
Hey we all do what we think is best Just keep yoour eyes open and don't start off from a green light until you know the others are going to stop STUFF HAPPENSJohn

I think it should become law that every driver should have to learn how to ride a motorcycle. To pass the test, they should have to ride in a busy city. This will teach defensive driving and it will be retained!

"Not arguing about safety the are better at it now but the newer drivers seam to think that the safety features make the almost invinsible"

John, 58 Guy, is dead on with this statement. Too many people think they are invinsible , including the 18 year old girl that thought text messaging was more important than paying attention to the red light she just ran!

Both 58 Guy and Brian hit the nail on the head.

Speaking from experience here my buddies and I all conducted our own crash tests many times in the 70's. As young lads 17-25 or so we would buy old beaters for 25-75 bucks and then have our own D-derby. There were 58',59',62',66' impalas as well a number of other GM cars Mopars and Fords. We would hammer them. Some lasted a week a month and then there were those that would only last a day or even an hour. The imperials and Mopar wagons where the killers. We did many rear to head on crashes and never saw any damage like that video. Also we never got hurt. That I can't believe looking back. Once the cars were to banged up to drive if they still ran they got the rock on the gas pedal for the finally. Then towed to the scrap yard. This was very common as we lived in a rual area. Now I am sure there are others here that have done the same in their youth.

Son, I guess what I am trying to say is I have been driving these cars way to long to let some bogus video scare me.....no1:

 

[bobs409]

I'm sure most of us here have seen Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. (one of my favorites!)

In the movie, (first pic below) we get to see a 59 Chevy wagon SLAM into a full size Mopar. (not some soft, plastic car today and not some rigged "buy a new car" test) This is what damage really happens. The front sheetmetal like any car gets mashed but I'd say the occupants do just fine!

The last 2 are pics of wrecks I've been saving for a website update but you get to see them now:

 

[jim_ss409]

I was just watching that video again and clicked on the next video. I don't know if these tests are done at some kind of standard speed but they really hit hard.
I still think a 59 Impala's a pretty safe car. At 3,650 lbs the new Impala is just as heavy and being a new car it would be much tighter than a car that was probably just restored to look good for the crash.

 

[Brian64SS]

Not so far from SoT

I understand and sort of agree with SoT. If you can only afford one car right now and you have no choice but to take your child in it regularly, these cars aren't the ones.

You can go down a list a mile long of features the '09 has for safety that the '59 doesn't. ALMOST ALL of the 3600 lbs in the '09 is designed for these tests. ALMOST NONE of the '59's 3600 lbs is where it is for safety. There is NO side crash protection. Even my '64's rear seat speaker is a hazard in a rear-end crash. Image a child's head getting cracked on that speaker grille. You have to wonder what the designers were thinking back then. My 11-year-old has his eye on a '64 Chevelle for his first daily driver - I wasn't going to let that happen even before I saw this video.

My wife and 3 kids (5, 8 and 11) take our '64 SS out regularly, but only on nice days, with child seats, usually on quiet 2-lanes or the I. I drive defensively but still enjoy it and everyone in the family looks forward to Chevy-rides.

As for rigging the test, I think most replies have missed the boat. The offset test they did was probably the most realistic test you can do. It folded as though it had a straight six. Rust in the '59 is more of a concern. X-frames are prone to rust about in line with the firewall, which would have allowed a lot of the folding to take place. We'd need to see close-ups of the '59 flipped over.

As for SoT, it's time to get rid of the '61 for peace of mind. In a few years when you can swing two cars, get another '61 to drive it only when and where you're comfortable. No cowardice or paranoia in doing that.

 

[dq409]

I read a post on another site about the '59 and the guy that sold it for his friend.
He was unaware that GM bought it to do this test and would not have sold it to them if he knew what they were going to do with it because it was a low mile solid 6 cyln car !

I guess the best advice for us owners of these older cars is if we are about to crash into a newer car steer head on to get the best protection !!!

If we all get too carried away with worrying about safety we would never drive our cars, ride our motorcycles, sky dive, have sex or eat fast food !!!

Shoot,,,, I've even ran with a fork in my hands!!!!

I would rather go out with a smile on my face knowing I had fun in my life and did the things I enjoyed doing with the toys I enjoy then sit around worrying about what could happen!

Personal choices are a freedom of the USA but if we continue down this road, we will have very few of them left,,,,

 

[Brian64SS]

I guess I was right about the 6 cylinder.

I'm not trying to get into a peeing match with anyone, but it makes a difference if you need to take your kids places in the dark, the rain or snow and in heavy or medium traffic.

I'd love to drive a '58 Del Ray 4 door sedan or a '64 Impala 4-door hardtop to work everyday, but that's because I'd be alone in the car. Put the family who I'm responsible for in those cars every single day in 2009 traffic with other drivers talking on the phone or with their German Shepherd on their lap? Nope. Wouldn't do it.

 

[mac1]

Check this one out. Looks like the Caddy's gas tank dropped out and engulfed the car in flames. The Belair looks like it faired better even though it weighs at least 1500 lbs less.

 

[bigblockwilly]

58 Guy i know in illinois and i think (dont quote me on this) in the U.S that if you take your car back to a Dealership the legaly have to put seatbelts in your car. But I dont know about Canada

 

[models916]

Hunertcar pileup

Bigblockwilly, you showing your car at the pileup or the Morris swap next couple of weeks? I never miss either show.

 

[bigblockwilly]

I will definatly be at the pileup headin out there with about 5-7 rods no W stuf but stll cool i never miss that and i would sugest anyone in the area to go, tons of cool old rods. Just look for the 64 black with flames and a big guy next to it. And i will be at the swap meet but probably wont show the car just try and find more parts for the 64

 

[bigblockwilly]

looks like i wont be goin to the pileup carrier bearing went out today

 

[models916]

what do you mean?

In stock a most NAPA stores and about 20 minutes under the car, 30 minutes to change out and 20 back in. The pile up is on Saturday. Do I have to come down there and do it for you? (just kidding)

 

[bigblockwilly]

lol no i think i can handle it but im broke and cant get one till i get paid a week from now plus i got to work which really sucks

 

[65FO-OH-9]

Crash Dummy...

I wonder if the Crash Dummy in the '09 Malibu had any legs left ?
A real person would be crippled after that!