Pipe dream crushed!(?)

[BigIrish]

I've been seriously wanting to build an early 60's sedan that I can cruise with my wife & boy. I want a '64-5 Falcon or Comet hardtop most likely. Update it with better brakes, a/c, seat belts, etc. Something I could also drive to work a few days a week.

Then I saw this...my god! This is a parking lot wreck (you guys probaly already saw). It is shocking to see how this LeMans folded in like a beer can and how little the Lexus is damaged. This is a car most would consider a "tank" but obviously not. I suppose a 2-door post or 4-door would have faired better but....dang!

Anything that can be done to make these old rigs safer? Partial cage, with a cross-braced hoop behind the front seats?

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Night...hed-Lexus-Into-Car-Show-Wrecks-Show-Cars.html

 

[TiredIronGRB]

It's pretty hard to defend against an airborne Lexus no matter you're in.

 

[Flipper_1938]

Build them like modern cars. Door bars inside the doors and quarters and GOOD door latches would go a long way.

Go to pull-a-part and study how some of the "safer cars" are put together. ....peel back the carpets and take off the door panels and have a look. Pay attention to how the sheetmetal is shaped and layered in key locations. It is a great place to do research.

 

[sneakysnake]

Oh man thats proof of some dumba$$ not paying attention. I think the damage was so bad because it hit high above the door sill and over the frame but a square on Tbone that pontiac wasnt gonna come out well.

 

[Sam_Fear]

That's pretty rough to look at. You can tell the Lexus was airborne when it hit - there aren't a lot of cars out there even now that will take a T-bone that high up. I would think a center post would have made a huge difference since the door was ripped away from the quarter. That's got to be about the worst place that car could have been hit. ....unless she had ramped it right through the glass...

 

[BigIrish]

Build them like modern cars. Door bars inside the doors and quarters and GOOD door latches would go a long way.

Yeah I think a 2-door post with beams inside the doors and re-enforced post would do much better. It may be difficult to pull off and still have the windows work, but a/c would solve that issue.

Hate to sound like a weenie, but if my wife or son were sitting in that seat...yikes. And right where that lexus hit is about the height of a big SUV which we have a jillion of.

 

[Sam_Fear]

The door held it's own really. The latches are what failed first. If the door would have stayed with the quarter, it would have looked a lot better - may still have mangled the passenger though.

That was a worst case scenario - full 90 degree t-bone, on a parked car up above the rocker, and another car as a backstop. Forward momentum would have helped glance the blow and would have probably ripped the front of the Lexus off instead.

Sure like to know how fast she was traveling at impact.

 

[HOT40ROD]

You got to remember that car was pushed in the the 40 Ford. The 40 Ford also had some damage. The la mans was setting were the lexus set now. It So if you look on the ground by the left front wheel of the lemans you can see it slide side ways about 3 -4 feet then hit the ford. If the Ford was not there the lemans may have slide sideways about 10 feet or more. So would a new car held up in the crash?

 

[Tripper]

If it crushed a big car made of real steel... imagine what would've happened to a stupid modern car. If that was my Goat or '40... there would have been bloodshed!!!

BoB

 

[Willowbilly3]

Yep, those old cars crumple pretty easy. Look at the bumpers on a 65 Mustang ot ^5 Impala for instance. They cave in from a shopping cart. These cars were before the days of keeping people alive through a wreck, before legislated safety when you had to actually think and drive, not drink a frappachino and text while putting on makeup in the rear view mirror.

 

[maverickmk]

not drink a frappachino and text while putting on makeup in the rear view mirror.

LOL, exactly. Here's an eye opening video someone sent me a few weeks ago - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

Check out how far the dash comes into the passenger compartment in the '59.

 

[Willowbilly3]

WOW!! That poor old Belair really wadded up. It's kinda sad to watch because I had an identical Belair, same color and everything, and it was one of my favorite cars ever.

 

[Sam_Fear]

From 2009. Keep in mind that Bel Air had one of the worst frame designs ever conceived from a safety standpoint - the X-frame. Also there is a reason motors tilt down now. I'm thinking that crash was set up specifically to take advantage of the Bel Air's weakest spot. It does make a valid point though, modern vehicles are generally safer than the old ones.

On a different note, watch a Smart Car crash test. Those are built like a brick, but they get bounced around like a ball and the driver sure gets seriously jolted.

 

[rex1927]

Freak accident

Forget about it.Freak accident.
That lexas was airborne or pontiac would be fine.Try jumping that pontiac airborne into that lexus and see what it looks like.My Mom got T boned right in drivers door about 10 years ago and walked away fine and she was in a classic car.
P.S. If anyone wants to give away their classic car,I will take it.[dr