Model A CRASH??

[1928Pickuppain]

Im wondering how model A hold up in a crash of different speeds dose any one have any pics of model As after crashes im just curious.

[WTSHNN]

[Ed H.]

Originally Posted by WTSHNN

That spiders web on the pass side means someone head made that. Be wiling to bet they were hurting big time. The driver no doubt had a steering wheel impression in his/her chest.

[29ModelA]

I don't recall the circumstances though. I believe it was hit head on by full size pickup, the A going about 25?

[pat in Santa Cruz]

in the above wrecked 28 phaeton, the circumstances were, to the best of my recollection:

There were 4 people in this car. It was hit head on at 45 mph by a toyota truck turning left and trying not to have to stop to let them pass. They had seatbelts and all survived. The front passengers suffered serious injury: crushed ribs, broken legs, etc, but they recovered, albeit slowly. The car was restored by the Rouge River A's and ran again, only to be hit head on once more with 2 passengers. They survived as well because they had seatbelts. My poor friend Ewart was killed in a similar accident in his tudor, when he was thrown on to the pavement from the car, as he had no seatbelt.

[Mike V. Florida]

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Originally Posted by pat in Santa Cruz

in the above wrecked 28 phaeton, the circumstances were, to the best of my recollection:

There were 4 people in this car. It was hit head on at 45 mph by a toyota truck turning left and trying not to have to stop to let them pass. They had seatbelts and all survived. The front passengers suffered serious injury: crushed ribs, broken legs, etc, but they recovered, albeit slowly. The car was restored by the Rouge River A's and ran again, only to be hit head on once more with 2 passengers. They survived as well because they had seatbelts. My poor friend Ewart was killed in a similar accident in his tudor, when he was thrown on to the pavement from the car, as he had no seatbelt.

Please note that in the crash photos, the body of the vehicle never left the frame. Attaching the seatbelts to the frame should not be a worry.

[Tom Endy]

Long Beach, California 6.4 earthquake. Struck at 5:55 P.M. March 10, 1933.

Tom Endy

Sorry, photo did not post.

[pat in Santa Cruz]

is this the one you meant, Tom?

[WTSHNN]

One more...
-Tim

[JBohannon]

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

[Richard Wilson]

Originally Posted by JBohannon

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

Sorry I have to disagree with "the last thing on the mfg's mind was safety" part of your statement. If you study Ford history or lived in the mid to late 50's you will know of Ford's 1956 Safety advertising campaign touting their padded dashboards, dished steering wheel, padded visors, seat belts, etc. The sad thing was that safety did NOT sale. In fact the campaign backfired on Ford as the public felt like Fords must be unsafe cars since they were pushing safety items. I think the other car companies learned from Fords misjudgement of the buying public and did not make a fuss over safety.

Sure cars of the 50's and 60's were relatively "unsafe" with their big engines, solid steel construction, drum brakes, etc but todays cars are just as "unsafe", if not more so, with their moron distracted drivers with all of the gadgets such as GPS, cell phones, CD players, etc. I think I had better odds driving in the 50's and 60's than in todays traffic.

[ModelTFan01]

Originally Posted by Richard Wilson

Sorry I have to disagree with "the last thing on the mfg's mind was safety" part of your statement. If you study Ford history or lived in the mid to late 50's you will know of Ford's 1956 Safety advertising campaign touting their padded dashboards, dished steering wheel, padded visors, seat belts, etc. The sad thing was that safety did NOT sale. In fact the campaign backfired on Ford as the public felt like Fords must be unsafe cars since they were pushing safety items. I think the other car companies learned from Fords misjudgement of the buying public and did not make a fuss over safety.

Sure cars of the 50's and 60's were relatively "unsafe" with their big engines, solid steel construction, drum brakes, etc but todays cars are just as "unsafe", if not more so, with their moron distracted drivers with all of the gadgets such as GPS, cell phones, CD players, etc. I think I had better odds driving in the 50's and 60's than in todays traffic.

I agree. That's why I want my first and only car to be a Model A Ford. No distractions to cause problems.

I do agree with the today's cars being just as dangerous part. Cars today, sure have airbags. Airbags that deploy and can easily break someone's neck as well as starve them for air. Sadly, today's cars have distractions such as "GPS" and Computers that are built right inside the dashboard where you can easily get distracted. To add, Radio's. When I was 2 I was involved in a car wreck because someone tuning the radio. The good part of it is that car's made today are mostly made of plastic. Some plastics are easily breakable and can't really "cut" you, but some plastics (like the plastic they make the dashboard of car's out of) are hard and can really cut you up like a steak knife.

[George Miller]

Originally Posted by Richard Wilson

Sorry I have to disagree with "the last thing on the mfg's mind was safety" part of your statement. If you study Ford history or lived in the mid to late 50's you will know of Ford's 1956 Safety advertising campaign touting their padded dashboards, dished steering wheel, padded visors, seat belts, etc. The sad thing was that safety did NOT sale. In fact the campaign backfired on Ford as the public felt like Fords must be unsafe cars since they were pushing safety items. I think the other car companies learned from Fords misjudgement of the buying public and did not make a fuss over safety.

Sure cars of the 50's and 60's were relatively "unsafe" with their big engines, solid steel construction, drum brakes, etc but todays cars are just as "unsafe", if not more so, with their moron distracted drivers with all of the gadgets such as GPS, cell phones, CD players, etc. I think I had better odds driving in the 50's and 60's than in todays traffic.

I would have to agree.

[28RPU]

Originally Posted by JBohannon

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

I would tend to agree. I remember some really horrific looking crashes back when I was a kid in the 50s.Some so bad you couldn't tell what kind of car it was anymore.

[ursus]

Originally Posted by JBohannon

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

Last year I had a chance to drive a 100% stock '57 Chev V8 owned by a friend. When we were in high school it was his mother's car and she kept it until 2002 when he inherited it. With only 52K on the odometer, it was like a new car but definitely handled like cars from that era. It wandered a bit on the freeway at 65MPH, handled oddly in response to variations in road surface, and required a lot of foot pressure on braking. It really brought me back to the cars of my youth and how much improved they now are.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by ursus

Last year I had a chance to drive a 100% stock '57 Chev V8 owned by a friend. When we were in high school it was his mother's car and she kept it until 2002 when he inherited it. With only 52K on the odometer, it was like a new car but definitely handled like cars from that era. It wandered a bit on the freeway at 65MPH, handled oddly in response to variations in road surface, and required a lot of foot pressure on braking. It really brought me back to the cars of my youth and how much improved they now are.

I remember the same thing after driving my 55 Chevy, then buying a 62 Corvair Spyder. The Corvair handled like a fine tuned sports car and the 55 Chevy was like steering a large boat on water.

[markwill]

Originally Posted by JBohannon

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

I tend to agree with JBohannon, some of us from the "over fifty" clan will remember seeing an auto safety film (yes they were films back then) called Signal 30. This film clearly supports what JBohannon stated. You can can view the film in its entirety on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGPz2a5P_E

[rwiegand]

Originally Posted by markwill

I tend to agree with JBohannon, some of us from the "over fifty" clan will remember seeing an auto safety film (yes they were films back then) called Signal 30. This film clearly supports what JBohannon stated. You can can view the film in its entirety on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGPz2a5P_E

According to the CDC data quoted above, deaths per million miles traveled were much higher in the 20s and 30s than in the 50's, and are much lower than that today. Driving has become consistently safer over the last 100 years. The data do not support the idea that driving in the 50s was more dangerous than earlier, quite the opposite in fact.

[ian Simpson]

Originally Posted by JBohannon

I believe the most dangerous time for American automobiles would be the late 50's and early 60's. These cars had a lot of power and speed and the last thing on the mfr's mind was safety. It is hard to believe now but we did not even have seat belts. The dashes and instruments in these cars could be extremly dangerous to passengers. Anybody agree or disagree.

I agree. Driving my 57 Chev does funny things to my feeling of well being.

[V4F]

not good . do not try this at home !