“They don’t make ’em like they used to. They’re way better now,” said Anne Fleming, senior vice president for communications at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
It’s the kind of statement that will torque some car fans tighter than a lug nut, and it’s indisputably true.
The subject is the astonishing video showing a recent institute crash test of a ’59 Chevy Bel Air and a 2009 Chevy Malibu, the Bel Air’s nearest equivalent among today’s cars.
The Bel Air’s driver probably would have died. The person behind the Malibu’s wheel would walk away, sore and limping, but alive.
The video is chilling and encouraging. Anybody who has been in a collision has to flinch as the Bel Air crash-test dummy driver’s head and torso snap forward and the car’s doors fly open on impact.
If you’re on the road, though, take heart from the fact that the Malibu’s computer-designed chassis did its job, sacrificing itself so you would survive.
The two cars were each traveling at 40 mph when they collided. That’s an exceptionally violent crash, the sort guaranteed to leave people maimed or dead just a few years ago.
The fact that occupants of a well-engineered contemporary car would survive, bruised but whole, is the payoff for 50 years of research and regulation.
Nostalgia for tail fins is fine, but today’s smaller, more sophisticated cars are far superior to their predecessors.
The 1959 Bel Air measured 210.9 inches long, according to the National Automotive History Collection at the Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library. That compares with 191.8 inches for the 2009 Malibu, a typical midsize sedan.
The Bel Air the Insurance Institute crashed weighed 177 pounds more than the Malibu.
The ’09 Malibu has less steel, but makes smarter use of it. Countless crash tests and computer simulations have taught engineers where extra metal adds strength rather than being fuel-sucking dead weight.
You can see the benefits in the video: The Malibu’s passenger compartment is almost unscathed; the Bel Air’s occupants would have had metal collapsing all around them: the roof, dashboard, doors and foot wells.
It’s not that General Motors, or anybody else, consciously made unsafe cars in 1959. They didn’t have the tools or knowledge that come from 50 years of progress.
Though the Bel Air’s mass was made up mostly of thick pieces of steel, the Malibu’s weight includes goodies no one dreamed of in 1959 — anti-lock brakes, stability control, air bags, a CD player, standard air-conditioning, emission and electronic engine controls, to name a few.
As much as we may love its looks, you couldn’t give the ’59 Bel Air away if it were new today. Not just because safety and environmental regulations wouldn’t let you. It would be laughed off the showroom floor as hopelessly uncompetitive.
The video illustrates how far safety engineering has come, but improvement has been equally dramatic throughout a modern car.
From electric power steering to synchronized gears and tuned shock absorbers, today’s vehicles are vastly more comfortable and easier to drive than their predecessors. Not to mention little things like heated seats, rear-window defrosters and air conditioners that don’t pour a stream of condensation onto your feet.
Electronic controls mean you no longer have to cross your fingers and hope the engine will start on damp mornings. They also provide fuel efficiency and performance most drivers couldn’t have imagined in 1959.
Admire the 1959 Bel Air and its contemporaries, but know that today’s cars are superior in every measurable way.
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1959 CHEVROLET BEL AIR SEDAN
WHEELBASE / LENGTH: 119 inches / 211 inches
HEIGHT / WIDTH: 56 inches / 79.9 inches
WEIGHT: 3,510 – 3,660 pounds
ENGINES:
235.5 ci (3.9-liter), 135-hp Blue Flame 6
283 ci (4.6-liter), 185-hp V-8
348 ci (5.7-liter ), 315-hp V-8
TRANSMISSIONS: 3-speed manual, 4-speed manual, Powerglide auto
DRIVE TRAIN: Rear-wheel
BRAKES: Flanged drums
Ball joint front suspension and recirculating ball suspension. Anti-twist arm, extra cross member and anti-sway bar were installed to the rear suspension.
2009 CHEVROLET MALIBU SEDAN
WHEELBASE / LENGTH: 112.3 inches / 191.8 inches
HEIGHT / WIDTH: 57.1 inches / 70.3 inches
WEIGHT: 3,415 – 3,649 pounds
ENGINES:
2.4-liter, 169-hp, Ecotec 4
3.6-liter, 252-hp, DOHC V-6
TRANSMISSIONS: 4-speed automatic, 6-speed automatic
DRIVE TRAIN: Front-wheel
BRAKES: 4-wheel disc with 4-channel ABS
MacPherson struts with aluminum L-shaped control arms; direct-acting 22-mm hollow stabilizer bar upfront; four-link independent with twin-tube gas shocks; dual-rate mini-block coil springs; direct-acting 19-mm solid stabilizer bar (2.4-liter); direct-acting 20-mm solid stabilizer bar (3.6-liter) in back; rack-and-pinion, electric power steering with 2.4-liter; rack-and-pinions, hydraulic power steering with 3.6-liter.
SOURCES: Chevrolet, 59chevyclassics.com
