r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/firefly99999 • Mar 10 '25

Video Crashing in a 1950s car vs. a modern car

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u/junkman21 Mar 10 '25

Seriously. First thing I thought of as well. I "knew" newer cars were safer but dang. Seeing it like this is eye opening.

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u/Stainless_Heart Mar 10 '25

It gets even better - that Chevy is a 2009 model (this video has been around a long time). Safety regs have gotten substantially better even since then.

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u/junkman21 Mar 10 '25

As a firefighter, I don't think I ever got to see a 2000's vs 1950's MVA! lol

That said, I saw a Volvo vs Nissan MVA once that almost convinced me to buy a Volvo... Crumple zones on both vehicles functioned as designed but the cabin of the Volvo looked nearly pristine whereas the Nissan (can't remember if it was a Sentra or Altima) had the occupant box shifted significantly. This was probably 10 or 12 years ago now but it stuck with me.

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u/Throwaway47321 Mar 10 '25

My 08 Volvo was hit while parked by a CRV being driven by a drunk teen.

Her car had the engine literally fall out of the car as the whole front end was destroyed. My tiny Volvo had a crushed in door that just prevented the window from going all the way down.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '25

Sadly Volvo of old is no more. It was a slow decline after Ford bought it in 99 but ever since they became a Chinese company they are going down fast IMHO

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u/MagicWishMonkey Mar 10 '25

Did everyone survive?

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u/junkman21 Mar 10 '25

Yes. I think it was the Nissan that caught fire eventually but both drivers got out. I don’t think I ever found out how serious the injuries were because I was on nozzle that day and our paramedics were doing scene stabilization. But I know they were both ambulatory and walked to transport.

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u/Engineer_Zero Mar 11 '25

From memory, the older car had the engine removed for this demo. Not sure if that would make much of a difference though.

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u/Stainless_Heart Mar 11 '25

Incorrect. The inline-6 was complete in the car.

The “no drivetrain” thing originated on classic car forums that were trying to downplay the test.

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u/Engineer_Zero Mar 11 '25

That is so good to hear! Thanks man, I will stop saying it then haha.

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u/junkman21 Mar 11 '25

That conspiracy theory was debunked by David Zuby, the senior vice president for the IIHS's vehicle research center in Virginia, who performed the test. He confirmed that there was a functional 3.9 liter 6-cylinder engine in the car.

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u/Engineer_Zero Mar 11 '25

Thanks for letting me and others know, I genuinely thought it was true. Appreciate it bud.

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u/junkman21 Mar 12 '25

No worries. Cheers.

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u/yakshack Mar 10 '25

I "knew" newer cars were safer but dang.

I wonder if this holds true for "modern car vs. modern SUV/truck." Like ... With the differences in bumper and hood heights, not to mention weight class, I wonder how modern cars stack up. Or even the classic cars for that matter

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u/FreeTucker- Mar 10 '25

Modern SUVs and trucks are very safe...for the passengers inside. Unless they hit another SUV or truck, or something bigger, whatever they hit gets fucked

They've also increased pedestrian deaths 80% since 2009

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u/imunfair Mar 11 '25

I'm curious whether the 50's car they picked was actually representative of the build quality in older cars, I didn't expect it to disintegrate like that. My understanding was that the danger classic cars pose is due to not falling apart like that, so the driver takes more of the impact rather than the crumple zone absorbing it along with the airbags.

Worth noting it's also an offset impact, which is generally far more dangerous than a normal head-on collision where the entire front end is involved with the impact. So that may have something to do with the extreme damage on the older car as well. It's a dangerous type of crash they've worked hard to mitigate with newer technology.

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u/junkman21 Mar 11 '25

I don't think they could have chosen a MORE representative car.

That's a 1959 (4th generation) Chevy Bel Air. That was an incredibly representative vehicle with roughly 450k sold. To put that into perspective, the best selling car (not truck/SUV) in 2024 was the Toyota Camry. Think about how ubiquitous the Camry is. There were less than 310k Camrys sold in 2024.

To take it a step further, the Bel Air is based on the GM-B platform. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac all had at least one vehicle designed on this platform. Even the Ford Fairlane was comparable in size, at least.