[NBF823]

Kept trying to see the other car - couldn't find it.

Terrible loss for him. That was a beutiful car.

I remember years ago seeing a '64 in demo derby near here 90s; The car crushed really easily.

Trying to gauge what kinda reinforments one needs to keep the classics both safe and repairable against the newer easy to find cars. I'm gonna cage mine - damned if I'll let a Taurus wipe out half of my car.

Good thing he welded on that Pontiac roof - the chevy one probably would have teepeed.

[Racer81x]

Originally Posted by NBF823

Kept trying to see the other car - couldn't find it.

Terrible loss for him. That was a beutiful car.

I remember years ago seeing a '64 in demo derby near here 90s; The car crushed really easily.

Trying to gauge what kinda reinforments one needs to keep the classics both safe and repairable against the newer easy to find cars. I'm gonna cage mine - damned if I'll let a Taurus wipe out half of my car.

Good thing he welded on that Pontiac roof - the chevy one probably would have teepeed.

All Pre 71 fullsize GM's make a poor demo car, except the 68-70 caddy's

[Ragtop Man]

Yep, they look good, but in the early years, the crashworthiness was terrible.

There is a film in the GM archives that shows a staged crash test of a '61 Impala going into a late '50's GM C-Body (fergit which) and the force of the impact is so great, the Chevy body shears away from the X frame and goes sailing into the obstacle making a hideous wreck that would have been a certain fatality if it were not at Milford.

The great Pontiac perimiter frame was a partial answer to this, instead of perching on the frame like the X-frame cars did, it is nestled down in the frame, and you have pretty heavy steel beams on either side of you.

In racing, when these cars wrecked, it was spectacular. Fireball wadded up the '61 Catalina that came within three gallons of winning Daytona a few races later, and it was such a mess that Smokey had it crushed into a cube and delivered to Knudsen.

[MOJO Catalina]

Here's a collision of a 2009 Chevy Malibu and a 1959 Chevy Bel Air.

http://online.wsj.com/video/chevy-cr...91DE4035D.html

It demonstrates not only the advances in safety technology but also how fast your life can end and how much trust we place in that he other guy will stay on his side of yellow line in the middle of the road.

I cringe when I see it because my '60 Catalina is the same color scheme and everyone always asks me, "Is that a '59 Chevy like in the CARS movie?"