If a car from the late 50's collided with a new car today....
10-20-10 | 01:05 PM
#1
If a car from the late 50's collided with a new car today....
10-20-10 | 07:46 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,593
Likes: 88
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Today, I'm definitely not a fan of Ralph Nader politically, but there is no question that what he did in the 1960's got us started on the road to safer cars. I read his famous book "Unsafe at any Speed", and, while I didn't totally agree with his assessment in the book of how auto companies operated and lobbied in those days, a number of the points that he made about how the cars of the 50s and early-60s were designed, and their shortcomings, were, in fact, true. Unlike many CL members today, I grew up with a number of those cars, and remember them well. Those old, ultra-solid Ford/GM full-length frames, Chrysler unibodies, and body sheet metal were like tanks compared to today's smaller, lighter cars, but, as the video showed, in those days, the gross lack of safety features and the lack of cabin-protecting engineering devices like crumple-zones often made them deathtraps in all but minor accidents.
And if you think that the BIG cars of that era, like that full-size 1959 Chevy Bel-Air, were dangerous in a wreck, you should see what it was like in the small, subcompact cars of the era, like the old air-cooled VW Beetle, Fiat 500/600, Renault 12, and Nash/Metropolitan. And, of course, the danger of the compact, rear-engine Chevy Corvair in accidents (Nader's favorite target for criticism) and its swing-axle/tire-tuck-under rollovers, was legendary.
And if you think that the BIG cars of that era, like that full-size 1959 Chevy Bel-Air, were dangerous in a wreck, you should see what it was like in the small, subcompact cars of the era, like the old air-cooled VW Beetle, Fiat 500/600, Renault 12, and Nash/Metropolitan. And, of course, the danger of the compact, rear-engine Chevy Corvair in accidents (Nader's favorite target for criticism) and its swing-axle/tire-tuck-under rollovers, was legendary.
Last edited by mmarshall; 10-20-10 at 07:49 PM.
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10-20-10 | 08:48 PM
#10
Pole Position
Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Los Angeles, CA
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10-21-10 | 08:30 AM
#14
Out of Warranty
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 14,926
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From: Houston, Republic of Texas
Prior to the mid-60's, serious crash testing was almost unheard of. The solution to almost any structural failure was more steel, on the assumption that it would result in a stronger product. The result was that "road-hugging weight" so proudly proclaimed in automotive advertising of the era.
The problem was not the thickness of the steel, but its location and applicaton. In the pre-computer age, structural mechanics was primarily determined by the eyeball and seat of the pants. Items like the "dished" steering wheel, introduced by Ford in 1957, were proclaimed great safety advances - made possible by shortening the steering column that routinely impaled drivers in front-end collisions.
But the problem wasn't just with the steering column, it was the whole matter of designing a rigid spear tied to the front frame rails that was pointed at the driver's chest. When the front end of the car was displaced in a collision, the driver got the worst of it. Smaller European cars that necessarily located that steering box even farther forward eventually, put a couple of offsets in the steering shaft - connected by U-joints or splines - would de-couple that direct link from the front end to the driver's chest, and allow the steering column to "fold" or telescope with the surrounding structure.
With that hazard out of the way, Europe discovered crumple zones and passenger packaging that allowed front and rear components to absorb impact, burning off energy, while the cabin remained sufficiently strong to protect its occupants. Because the steering shaft was no longer such a threat, it wasn't important to deflect energy away from the steering box, and it, along with the engine itself could be sacrificed as a part of the occupant protection system.
Early crash tests had indicated the efficacy of such a structure, but the idea wouldn't be fully developed for another twenty years until computer power allowed element-by-element analysis of the structure under load. Fully instrumented crash tests could then confirm the success of the design, and move both the automobile and the computer closer to one another's roles in design and analysis. Oddly enough, it was the microprocessor that made possible the high levels of passenger protection we see in today's automobiles. It turned out that the "pig iron part" became an equally sophisticated piece of the 21st Century automobile - with a little engineering.
The problem was not the thickness of the steel, but its location and applicaton. In the pre-computer age, structural mechanics was primarily determined by the eyeball and seat of the pants. Items like the "dished" steering wheel, introduced by Ford in 1957, were proclaimed great safety advances - made possible by shortening the steering column that routinely impaled drivers in front-end collisions.
But the problem wasn't just with the steering column, it was the whole matter of designing a rigid spear tied to the front frame rails that was pointed at the driver's chest. When the front end of the car was displaced in a collision, the driver got the worst of it. Smaller European cars that necessarily located that steering box even farther forward eventually, put a couple of offsets in the steering shaft - connected by U-joints or splines - would de-couple that direct link from the front end to the driver's chest, and allow the steering column to "fold" or telescope with the surrounding structure.
With that hazard out of the way, Europe discovered crumple zones and passenger packaging that allowed front and rear components to absorb impact, burning off energy, while the cabin remained sufficiently strong to protect its occupants. Because the steering shaft was no longer such a threat, it wasn't important to deflect energy away from the steering box, and it, along with the engine itself could be sacrificed as a part of the occupant protection system.
Early crash tests had indicated the efficacy of such a structure, but the idea wouldn't be fully developed for another twenty years until computer power allowed element-by-element analysis of the structure under load. Fully instrumented crash tests could then confirm the success of the design, and move both the automobile and the computer closer to one another's roles in design and analysis. Oddly enough, it was the microprocessor that made possible the high levels of passenger protection we see in today's automobiles. It turned out that the "pig iron part" became an equally sophisticated piece of the 21st Century automobile - with a little engineering.
Last edited by Lil4X; 10-22-10 at 07:17 AM.
