To celebrate 50 years of smashing cars to bits and pieces, the American Insurance Institute for Highway safety tracked down an old (but roadworthy) 1959 Chevy Bel Air and threw it in the direction of an oncoming 2009 Chevy Malibu. Now you’d expect the steel-and-girders Bel-Air to tear through the aluminium and plastic ‘mid-size sedan’…but, you’d be wrong. Very wrong.
Look carefully at the A-pillar of the Bel Air (that’s the pillar holding the windscreen). It collapses completely, as does the rest of the driver’s footwell. Compare that to the rigidity of the Malibu’s passenger cell, which as far as we can tell remains barely affected.
Obviously in the 1950′s an ‘airbag’ would have referred to a politician, so there are none of those to benefit passengers in the Bel Air. Seatbelts weren’t even standard until 1964.
We’re pretty chuffed we live in the era of crumple zones and all that.
Tags: 1959, bel-air, crash, GM, highway, insurance, malibu, safety
