Bought this one in an antique shop. Looks like the guard cable caught the car and the windshield caught the passenger.
Not to be aurgumentive. But this is the wrong intersection. This photo is at Hwy 46 & Hwy33 aka Black Wells Corner. James Dean's crash was west of this intersection about 25 miles at Hwy 46 & 41 closer to Cholame.
That video always irritated me. Of all the older cars to choose they pick one of the x-frame chevys. Naturally, an uninformed person would assume based on the video that all old cars will fold up like that in a head-on collision. The video does an excellent job of ignoring the fact that modern body-on-frame pickups are built structurally similarly to pretty much every other body-on-frame care from the late '50s and early '60s. Of course, it's not like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety could possibly have an agenda to push.
Also did you notice all the rust and dirt that came out of the rocker? and the roof never buckled at all the post looked like it was cut...
My wife's brother was killed in 1970 when his not rusty 59 Chevy hit a 60's Olds full size head on at 30 mph.The Olds driver also died at the scene ...... Doesn't matter about the supposed strength of older vehicles ,it all in how the vehicle folds up to absorb impact.In a 35 MPH head on your body is going to be thrown forward against the steel interior.Even if wearing a seat belt the force will impale you on the steering column and your head will still splat on the interior steel Modern body on frame PU's and SUV's are substantially more rigid than 50's vehicles.I've worked on my old PU trucks and the front sheet metal is just a hollow assembly of 18 gauge steel on two front mounts.In any serious frontal crash the old vehicle front clip will tear away and next in line is the engine making it's entrance into the passenger compartment.The so called "it's got a frame" argument means nothing after the front clip folds away with little resistance. I have talked to older "first responders" and they always say who see drivers walk away from crashes today that were 100 percent fatal 40 years ago. And yes,some survived unbelievable accidents 60 years ago just as they still do today. In 1965 I slammed my Dad's 64 Riviera into the back of a drunk that pulled out in front of me .Being that I was going 65 in a 35 didn't help matters The drunk's early 50's Chevy was knocked 100 feet off the road and he wound up ok in the back seat.My girlfriend and me had a few bruises ...no seat belts. No way I wanted to ever repeat that wreck!!!
I came upon a wreck in Fla 1968 where a drunk hit a concrete interstate bridge abutment in the center median at 90-100MPH and was ejected thru the convertible roof at least 100 feet or more and somehow he didn't get decapitated or break his neck. Heard he lived without too many injuries so pure luck is huge factor in the older cars and he probably would not have survived the same wreck with seat belts.
I worry about getting hit by someone when I drive my 31 Pontiac, being as it's made of wood there is really nothing to protect me or my passengers.
Here's some pics and the newspaper article from when my dad wrecked a 56 Ford years ago. He used to tell the story at the time of the accident he had a big pipe wrench up on the dash and as the truck flipped over and over he said that thing chased him everywhere he went in that cab, beat the heck out of him. MONGO
I was doing about 30mph when I got hit head on and pushed backward about 30 feet. Got a fat lip from pushing the steering wheel up against the dash with my face, but that was it.
Reminds me of the time I rolled an old 55 chevy. Had a 5 gallon jerry can in the back seat. wacked me in the head several times. wasn't funny at the time, but, I was real glad it was empty.
Those James Dean crash photos were photoshopped, Dean was found in the passenger seat, his face was pretty messed up so it was hard to tell who was who originally...also this started the "who was driving" discussion, but what I think I hate the most is that the other car involved in an accident was a Shoebox..
This photo is very interesting to me. I took a good hard, long look at it and I'm starting to wonder if this could be our coupe. We bought a very solid; original Model A coupe last winter. After dismantling it we determined that it had been hit on the passenger side front fender at some point. The frame is an original Model A frame but it has no Vin # on it leaving us to believe that it was replaced early in the car's life.The Passenger side fender and wheel were not the original (but were still of the same age vintage) as they didn't quite match the driver's side to make a matched pair. The body is unharmed except for looking inside the car at the cowl; it was slightly pinched-in indicating the frame had been tweeked by a crash in the front end but wasn't bad enough to cause significant damage elsewhere. The engine is original and has 75,000+ on it and it runs strong. We are pretty sure that the car was in a minor accident very early in it's life and not later because of all the original factory parts on it; nothing was reproduction or of later vintage. In addition; the car spent all of it's life in Massachusetts and was in an extremely original state. I see the car in the indicated photograph is from Mass...one can only wonder. Could it be
That's pretty cool! I have found photos of a couple of my vehicles like that too, there is a photo display in my home towns city hall and on the main street in front of the bar is my 37 Dodge 2 door circa 1946, I'm the second owner and the original owner was always at that bar!
^^^^ What is the convertible? Buick? Olds? Nothing like having a TC right in front of a repair shop.....
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