My wife sent this to me tonight, check it out

 

I think the driver of the Belair is pretty much dead. Thank god there aren't a whole lot of them on the road anymore.

 

So....other than screwing up a perfectly good classic, what did they prove?

That the old tanks aren't as crash worthy as the modern day machines? ()

Well Duh......

 

Why mess up a car like that? Those things are few and far between now days and it looked like it was in good shape. Cool video though

 

the guy in the bel air is fine...you knew how to take a fall back then and dont need all that saftey junk...

 

That '59 was the infamous X-frame design IIRC, which was one of the, if not "the" worst car designs from a safety standpoint ever manufactured. There is literally nothing but glass and sheetmetal between a frontal/side impact and the cabin. It was an inline six, so no mass/deflection there. Last but not least, I'll bet it was already coming apart due to rust. You can see the brown cloud coming out.

To be fair, the new cars really are much safer due to crumple zone technology, airbags, etc. But I'm pretty sure they picked that particular '59 to be a good "bad" example.

 

There is absolutely no doubt that today's cars are safer by any standard

In these old tanks, the only airbag you had was the one sitting next to you, and in a frontal impact, everything came straight back and slightly upward (can you say decapitation?)

I just hate to see them waste a classic for crap like this There's no comparison.

 

Well it sure as heck is keeping me out of riding in one. Didn't know they were that poorly built.

 

What do you care if there are classics on the road? I know my '56 chevy sedan isn't as safe as anything brand new. I willingly and knowingly risk my own personal safety driving it and I'll be darned if anyone else tells me I can't drive it because it's not safe for me.

I know for a fact that in several accidents I've been in with classic cars (both as a driver and passenger), everything held up extremely well due to the full frame and thick, strong sheet metal, I was glad to be in full framed metal cars instead of some of the 90's soda cans. My '56 is literally built like a truck. The crumple zone on my '93 S10 was my femur and rib cage with my face for an airbag. I'm a ridiculously lucky s.o.b. to have lived through that experience.

As already mentioned, the '59 Belair was an absolute failure from a structural standpoint. As far as crash safety, it might as well have been an early Nova.

 

And that's why I said I'm happy there isn't hardly any Belairs on the road anymore. I didn't mention any other makes/models.