'09 Malibu Vs. '59 Bel Air Crash Test

Kind of cool:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CU-k0XmLUk&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air Vs. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu IIHS Offset[/ame]

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/26/pics-aplenty-iihs-reveals-before-and-after-of-malibu-bel-air-cr/

Pics Aplenty: IIHS reveals before and after of Malibu/Bel Air crash

by John Neff (RSS feed) on Sep 26th 2009 at 7:49PM

IIHS '09 Malibu vs. '59 Bel Air crash test – Click above for high-res image gallery​

We're all well aware of the video released recently by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. You know the one. Modern Chevy Malibu versus vintage Chevy Bel Air. Crash test. The results speak for themselves (see the video again after the jump). The two cars, one a 1959 model and the other from 2009, illustrate exactly how far vehicle safety has come in the 50 years since the IIHS was founded. There are two others dates you should know. 1972 was when the IIHS launched the Highway Loss Data Institute and began collecting objective data on insurance losses. The other date is 1992 when the Vehicle Research Center was opened and the IIHS began crashing cars.

In addition to the aforementioned video, the IIHS has also just released a gallery of images, before and after if you will, of the two cars involved in the celebratory crash. Note the passenger compartment of the '09 Malibu, which stays completely intact, versus the Bel Air that crumbles like a cereal box. Thanks for the tip, Derrick!

PRESS RELEASE In the 50 years since US insurers organized the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, car crashworthiness has improved. Demonstrating this was a crash test conducted on Sept. 9 between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. In a real-world collision similar to this test, occupants of the new model would fare much better than in the vintage Chevy.
"It was night and day, the difference in occupant protection," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "What this test shows is that automakers don't build cars like they used to. They build them better."
The crash test was conducted at an event to celebrate the contributions of auto insurers to highway safety progress over 50 years. Beginning with the Institute's 1959 founding, insurers have maintained the resolve, articulated in the 1950s, to "conduct, sponsor, and encourage programs designed to aid in the conservation and preservation of life and property from the hazards of highway accidents."
A decade after the Institute was founded, insurers directed this organization to begin collecting data on crashes and the cost of repairing vehicles damaged in crashes. To lead this work and the Institute's expanded research program, insurers named a new president, William Haddon Jr., who already was a pioneer in the field of highway safety. In welcoming Dr. Haddon, Thomas Morrill of State Farm said "the ability to bring unbiased scientific data to the table is extremely valuable." This scientific approach, ushered in by Dr. Haddon, is a hallmark of Institute work. It's why the Institute launched the Highway Loss Data Institute in 1972 - to collect and analyze insurance loss results to provide consumers with model-by-model comparisons.
Another Institute milestone was the 1992 opening of the Vehicle Research Center. Since then, the Institute has conducted much of the research that has contributed to safer vehicles on US roads. At the anniversary event, current Institute chairman Gregory Ostergren of American National Property and Casualty summed up a commitment to continue what fellow insurers began in 1959: "On this golden anniversary of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, we celebrate this organization's accomplishments toward safer drivers, vehicles, and roadways. We salute the vision of the Institute's founders and proudly continue their commitment to highway safety."

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Wow, I would have thought that the results would have been different. The Malibu is a fairly SMALL car, especially when compared to the 59 BelAir. But that 59 crumpled up like it was made from tin foil.

B_Skurka said:

Wow, I would have thought that the results would have been different. The Malibu is a fairly SMALL car, especially when compared to the 59 BelAir. But that 59 crumpled up like it was made from tin foil.

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Yep, I was surprised too.
in 59 they used a heavy steel. The car had to weigh 1000 pounds more than the 2009 model. Very impressive. to all the engineers who have helped make this happen.
Good find PB.

Well this makes me feel better. I've got a VW Jetta diesel on order. The lovely Mrs_B and I were talking about safety in small cars today as we were driving home from running errands. The Jetta is about the same size as the Malibu, maybe a little bit smaller??? My impression of the little VW is that its a heavily built small car but I figured --prior to seeing this video-- that any small car is going to crumple. Like I said, I feel better after seeing the video.

Back in '59, cars were pretty solidly built. Where they crumpled in a crash was totally unpredictable. In the following half century, "crumple zones" were engineered into car bodies and chassis to direct impact forces in such ways as to protect and, yes, cushion the passenger cage. Note how the driver side door, on the '09, merely bulged inward when the body shifted. There's a side bar built into the door that acted as a protection to keep the door from coming completely into the driver's seat. Note that on the '59. The whole passenger compartment has shifted diagonally, popping the door off and having it crushed in the crash. It could have been forced into the driver's area, crushing and killing him instantly.
Another engineering marvel is seen in head on crashes where the engine and transmission will go downward and under the floor pan in head on's. Older models would allow, if the impact were right, those components to buckle UPwards, crushing occupants between them and the seats.
Yes, our cars are well engineered when it comes to passenger safety.

That was cool.
My Grandpa had one of those Bel Air's.. it was a silvery green colour.

I was amazed at how a Prius did in crash tests for as light as it is. I saw pics of one in a local head on that killed 2 in the other vehicle and the Prius occupant was almost unhurt. The crumple zones and passenger compartments have a lot to do with racing technology.

Silly me, I thought the Prius's solar panels would extend some magic wings and it would glide over the oncoming traffic and land on the other side.

B_Skurka said:

Silly me, I thought the Prius's solar panels would extend some magic wings and it would glide over the oncoming traffic and land on the other side.

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Oh, they will...with a little help from a Peterbilt.

This thread reminds me of a line from my favorite movie:

"Marty, he's in a '46 Ford, we're in a DeLorean. He'd rip through us like we were tin foil."

Wrecking a '59 Bel Air just seems wrong...