'57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

[Jwawhite]

Agree about Daves55edan post above from reading about my wagon, Dash Padding, Steering Wheel, Seat Belts and the door Latch and Catch system.

It is sad about the life lost, my wagon came w/o belts and I installed a nice pair. Driving in the foothills was difficult at best in my wagon. We have the Malibu Foothills nearby and I once thought it would be a great idea to drive the car on the roads I do on my BMW GS...mistake. I could smell something pleasantly burning and a lot of effort.

True Story
One year we were near Pikes Peak and our Ford! Truck service light came on -- dropped it off at the Dealer and rented another pick-up, a new Dodge. Phyllis has to drive long winding roads and up we went, coming down there is a way-station wherein the attendant checks the temp of the front rotors. If over heated, you are sent to the parking area (detention) until they cool off. Lots of men in the lot were looking at us as Phyllis was given the green light to drive on.

Perhaps the deceased pushed the vehicle too far or as in some of our cases health got in the way.

[Daves55Sedan]

Didn't mention the padded dash they had on the '56 & later Fairlane models, but you gotta admit that was a joke if it was considered a safety device. If you hit your head on that rounded corner anywhere across the dash, your dead. Forget that 1/4" of jute backing under the vinyl, that aint doin nothin.

[JimNNN]

I added side mirrors - rudimentary as they are - and a cheap convex stick-on mirror to supplement the interior rear view mirror in my '54. Not expensive but they do help rear vision a good deal. I also installed lap belts, converted my brake hydraulics to a dual reservoir and I run radial tires.

Even with those upgrades, I don't think of my car as a particularly "safe" car, from a safety feature standpoint. Though I don't get paranoid about it, probably the safest thing I've done is defensive driving, like allowing extra distance for drum brakes and (especially) avoiding driving my old car during rush hour (which isn't enjoyable for me anyway.)