Ouch!!!!
#7
I can tell you guys from experiance that the front end on these old cars just does not hold up to an impact. Mine crumpled like a tinker toy at only 35 mph.
IMG00184-20111004-1105.jpg
IMG00189-20111004-1106.jpgIMG00183-20111004-1105.jpg
IMG00184-20111004-1105.jpg
IMG00189-20111004-1106.jpgIMG00183-20111004-1105.jpg
#8
Agreed, IIRC 1972 was the first year of the breakaway steering wheel. I also hate the shoulder harness on my 72 so I never wear it. But all the new cars combine the lap and shoulder belt as a blended unit. Plus they are way more comfortable with their inertial locking system.
#11
Here comes the vin swap legality debate.
My '68 GTO has a collapsible steering column and a breakaway outer rim on the steering wheel.
It looks like the the one car is green and the black one was a repaint over green.
I'd rather have six feet of steel in front of me, a boxed perimeter frame that looks like it's for a truck, and an airbag.
My '68 GTO has a collapsible steering column and a breakaway outer rim on the steering wheel.
It looks like the the one car is green and the black one was a repaint over green.
I'd rather have six feet of steel in front of me, a boxed perimeter frame that looks like it's for a truck, and an airbag.
#12
I would much rather be involved in an accident driving a late model car than my 67. As a volunteer fireman responding to 1000's of accidents in 8 years, I've seen people walk away from impacts that 30 - 40 years ago would have been a fatality!
Yes, I enjoy my car, but not for the safety aspect!!
Yes, I enjoy my car, but not for the safety aspect!!
#13
That's the sad thing about the 1968-72 cars, very weak front collision engineering. I was in a 1974 442 that hit, and broke a concrete light post in half and knocked it over. It put a half inch dent in the front bumper. I was also a passenger in a 1972 442 that hit a small wood parking lot post, going about 10 mph, in the front bumper,and it almost totalled the car. $2000 in 1982 money.
#14
I don't see it listed now. Do you know what it sold for? I didn't see a way to search "sold" results.
That's a cool auction site. What's the cost to join? There are some interesting cars there. Are they the major auction site for classic car insurers to unload their "total" cars?
This one's going to take a buffing to get it straightened out:
item #23605051
#15
Here is '57 Olds 88 4-door sedan on the copart site -
http://www.copart.com/c2/classic_auc...SEARCH_RESULTS
http://www.copart.com/c2/classic_auc...SEARCH_RESULTS
#16
Here is '57 Olds 88 4-door sedan on the copart site -
http://www.copart.com/c2/classic_auc...SEARCH_RESULTS
http://www.copart.com/c2/classic_auc...SEARCH_RESULTS
#18
Randy, I'm not sure any car would hold up well hitting a solid object like a tree or power pole. I'll have to look for the pictures, but in the mid 1980's I was driving a 1970 Cutlass S at 55-60 mph. The oncoming car (Subaru wagon) driving a similar speed lost control and came across the center line hitting not head on, but at an angle in the left side grill of my car. Allen, I had a bruise 12-16" long from the shoulder strap but it kept my face out of the steering wheel. It all happened so fast I didn't have time to brake, but was steering toward the ditch. I remember thinking to myself "My God, they're going to hit me" and the next moment I was on my side with dust in the air. There was a rock wall beyond the ditch and I wound up on my side in the ditch, everything but the deck lid was wrinkled. I broke my little finger where it must have punched against the dash, and the rear of the hood came through the windshield about an inch. But I crawled out of the car and walked away. That was my experience and I'm glad I was in a big heavy car. I really don't know if airbags would protect a person if the front of the car folded into the passenger compartment and compromised the space of the driver. I guess it all depends on the speed and direction of the impact. John
#20
I have great empathy for the owner/driver of that Oldsmobile. Idiot in a Beemer, driving toward me, turned across me. I was going 29 MPH (limit was 35); he said he "didn't see me", but "it looked like I was speeding"!!! I remember realizing what was about to happen, and thinking "just like at the State Fair of Texas - Bumper Cars"! Whiplash, partial torn rotator cuff, lower back pain, and bump on forehead and cut on right forearm. Big Red totaled, of course. His BMW was sure totaled, also. Badly. ;-)
Last edited by Aron Nance; February 19th, 2012 at 11:30 AM.
#21
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