Bad day at a car show

[CHILI442]

Anyone care to discuss the safety aspect of our old cars? Look at how the Pontiac caved in and the Lexus is hardly hurt. I'm building a '66 A-body right now. I already planned to put a cage in it, but now I'm certain. I do worry about a head injury with a cage, but I believe if the cage is constructed properly and 4 or 5 point harnesses are used it shouldn't be an issue.

https://picasaweb.google.com/ankurva...at=directlink#




Sorry if this is a repeat.

[absintheisfun]

I noticed when setting up my doors how flimsy they were. Modern cars have bars running through them for side impact safety.

But, another exception that this picture shows is that the Lexus was booking it and got air from a curb and launched into the side of that Pontiac between the structural rigidity points (roof and floor). She had to be moving pretty damn quick to move a parked car 8 feet sideways and another one next to another couple!!


And while it may not look that bad, the Lexus is pretty toasted too. Modern cars are built to crumple, and if you look closely the fenders on this lexus are pushed back
Look at this pic:


and then look at the same fender once the door is open. They had to bend in the fender to open the door:

[rockytopper]

Thats why you should be driving a post coupe. Lighter and stronger than a hard top.

[damannhw]

Toyota product...........Probably had runaway throttle.

Shame that nice American cars got destroyed/damaged :(

[Randy67]

If the Lexus had hit the rocker, it probably wouldn't have gone quite as far in. The early cars unfortunately don't have side impact beams which would have helped some.
I have a 12-point cage in my Camaro for autocross, but there is no way it would be safe to drive on the street without a helmet, halo bar is just too close to my head. I would have had a similar problem in my 67 El Camino I had as well. The main hoop isn't as much an issue, an 8-point would be a better choice for street use.

[oestek]

This is awful.. that was a nice Pontiac. Note the complete lack of giant sheets of body filler crumbling off the car. That sucks. Hope nobody was hurt.

[Off Duty]

Everyone's made the points.
Anyone know what happened?

[silver69camaro]

If the Lexus had hit the rocker, it probably wouldn't have gone quite as far in. The early cars unfortunately don't have side impact beams which would have helped some.
I have a 12-point cage in my Camaro for autocross, but there is no way it would be safe to drive on the street without a helmet, halo bar is just too close to my head. I would have had a similar problem in my 67 El Camino I had as well. The main hoop isn't as much an issue, an 8-point would be a better choice for street use.

I couldn't agree more with this post. Also note that some newer cars have two locking mechanisms instead of one, which stiffens the structure when the door is closed.

Cages are real risky without a helmet, I wouldn't do it.

[fbody_mike]

I have been wondering about the where and when myself. The photos are tagged as May 31st, ~9 AM. That was a Tuesday, kind of a weird day for a car show or cruise. Definetly is in California, but ????? The deptuties in the picture look like LA County's.

[moreHP]

I think if that was my GTO, the toyota driver would have "been hurt" in the crash!

[MarkM66]

It's just a Le Mans .

But seriously, if no one was hurt, that's what matters. Could of been bad...

[65convertSSl79]

This would have been a totally different outcome it if both cars were flat on the ground(how crashes are suppsed to happen). The A-body C frame would have absorbed quite a bit of the force(not all still would have bent the frame). Its hard to stop an Asian lady in a flying 4500lb car coming in your window! I don't care if its a modern car with door beams. Kamikaze lexus! paint a raising sun on her door. Every complains on how heavy modern cars are, engineers now have to design for situations like this.

[John Wright]

^^^ Agreed. I would think that if the car had of hit in the side while in the same plane to each other, the full frame of the Pontiac would have helped to keep the Lexus off of the passenger's seat. That Lexus appeared to have hit the Pontiac above any real structural components.

[rustomatic]

Motorcycles "are risky without a helmet." Nevertheless, roll bars have been stock equipment on many cars over the decades, whereas helmets are not likely to come without extra dollars. Roll bars, much like one's skull, may wear padding...

[Tig]

Thats terrible.

What happened?????????????

[Ripped]

Does that Pontiac, have the same X-frame, as my old '62 Impala? If so, there is not much there. Mine was toasted by a toyota at low speed. No door replacements, so it was hammered and bondoed :(

[Jim Nilsen]

From all of the accidents I remeber seeing in the 60's, the Lemans held up rather well. The cars used to go much deeper in than that in side collisions. the crush zones in the Lexus seemed to be much more forgiving than a 57 Chevy used to be.

I always wondered why they didn't put lights on the side of cars so they didn't get hit while sitting crossing an intersection. Some cars were totally invisible at dusk from the side. It saved a lot of accidents when sidemarkers came out, I have to remember when driving my 67 to not go out in the middle and sit because of it.

We could debate all day about having cages in a car on the street but I feel a lot better with my sidebar to keep the door from coming in during a crash like that and having a car parked on me vs hitting my head on the top sidebar bar or if it wasn't there the roof, either way you will get hurt if you are strapped in , it's just 3 inches difference from the roof bar to the roof .

I feel for the Lemans owner, that is just a stupid accident no matter what!

[chaz75]

A lemans is pontiac version of the chevelle, it has a perimeter frame.

[Steve1968LS2]

I would also say the front of any car is stronger than the side of any car.. I imagine if this was reversed the Lexus would have fair worse.. BUT.. modern cars do have a lot of safety built in that didn't exist way back when.

[socalfandabodys]

Been to that car show many times. It is right off of the 605 freeway in Cerritos/Norwalk area. Right by Cerritos College in the home depot parking lot. The drivers around here are terrible compared to the east coast.