Superbird and the law !

[Bob Carter]

Just saw this and had to share

[Redbird]

Really great find!

Folks have cited this over the years, but seeing an actual article-with a date from 1970, really reinforces what has been said over the years.

Let's find a Washington DC and Minnesota articles if they exist too.

In the 1970's Ed Waldraff in Minnesota had a letter in his glove box signed by Wendell Anderson-Governor of Minnesota-regarding having to have a front bumper.

[PettyMower]

I personally went through this in 1986....in Maryland. I fabricated and installed a bumper inside the nose, requiring the z-brackets to be cut.

Kevin Hurd (another Superbird owner in MD), purchased his car in 1988. While cleaning out his grand parent's attic stumbled across a 1970 Washington DC newspaper with a dealership advertisement mentioning them being banned. I think the ad was in color. He used to display it with his car during the early 90's.

I've never heard about Minnesota also banning the "front bumper-less" cars.

[PettyMower]

Prior to altering my 'Bird, I went as far as contacting Chrysler Corporation asking if there was a factory retrofit kit available to install a bumper. Those I spoke with refused to believe that Chrysler EVER manufactured a car without a front bumper. I had purchased a car that I could not register / tag / drive. I had to do something.

[birdsandbees]

I thought the rubbers strip was the "add on" to become a bumper because of this!?

[farm966]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

[moparstuart]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

and today most cars just have plastic , rubber and foam up there , little to no steel .

[PettyMower]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

and today most cars just have plastic , rubber and foam up there , little to no steel .

.....and waaaaay safer!

[moparstuart]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

and today most cars just have plastic , rubber and foam up there , little to no steel .

.....and waaaaay safer!

if you buy that , i have some swamp land to sell you  ,  i see Bio Hazard car come into the salvage yard everyday full of blood and guts  crumple zones do some but the materials are so thin and the cars are so small

[odcics2]

I thought the rubbers strip was the "add on" to become a bumper because of this!?

Correct.

And the entire cone of the Daytona was considered the "bumper", separated from the body by the 1" rubber seals!

Most states bought off on it!   

[PettyMower]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

and today most cars just have plastic , rubber and foam up there , little to no steel .

.....and waaaaay safer!

if you buy that , i have some swamp land to sell you  ,  i see Bio Hazard car come into the salvage yard everyday full of blood and guts  crumple zones do some but the materials are so thin and the cars are so small

There is no comparison....cars are safer now then ever before!!!

[alfaitalia]

Yet you could buy a Corvette just a couple years later with a glass nose. Go figure. The government can do one thing for sure....that is screw something up.

and today most cars just have plastic , rubber and foam up there , little to no steel .

.....and waaaaay safer!

if you buy that , i have some swamp land to sell you  ,  i see Bio Hazard car come into the salvage yard everyday full of blood and guts  crumple zones do some but the materials are so thin and the cars are so small

There is no comparison....cars are safer now then ever before!!!

Very true...they have to be able to pass most countries tough crash test legislation. I saw a program recently (an old Fifth Gear on Channel 5 in the UK). They staged a crash between a tank like Volvo 940 and a little Renault Modus...in small and cheaply built piece of thin metal French crap (I'm no fan of French cars!)...thought the Volvo would destroy it......but the little Modus passes the latest tests...and i could not have been more wrong. Look at this....makes me drive older cars ( a little ! ) more carefully!

https://youtu.be/qBDyeWofcLY

[charger Downunder]

I have three Volvos 92 240 sedan, 93 940 wagon, 92 960 wagon. No airbag in that wagon that's strange i have them in all my cars. Wells i will have to rely on the SIPS. Side Impact Protection System.

[alfaitalia]

We were later with airbags than many countries in the UK due to our strict seatbelt laws going back to the early 80s. Many other countries did not have these laws so airbags (which were also bigger than the ones we eventually got) were more important.

[daytonalo]

Living in Maryland I'm not surprised at all , the cops here are truly this biggest bunch of Jerk-offs ever !! This state is the worst when it comes to DMV issues , ask any trucker .
Cops here are self serving, self protecting , assholes , basically the blue mafia as they pray on anyone for revenue . The sooner one realizes law enforcement is a double standard the better off you are . This last statement basically applies to anywhere   

[PettyMower]

Living in Maryland I'm not surprised at all , the cops here are truly this biggest bunch of Jerk-offs ever !! This state is the worst when it comes to DMV issues , ask any trucker .
Cops here are self serving, self protecting , assholes , basically the blue mafia as they pray on anyone for revenue . The sooner one realizes law enforcement is a double standard the better off you are . This last statement basically applies to anywhere   

Yes, the Maryland DOT cops are the worst in the Country! And you do not want to "dodge" the scales in Maryland. They'll ticket their own mother for a tag light out....during the day!  LOL

[alfaitalia]

Living in Maryland I'm not surprised at all , the cops here are truly this biggest bunch of Jerk-offs ever !! This state is the worst when it comes to DMV issues , ask any trucker .
Cops here are self serving, self protecting , assholes , basically the blue mafia as they pray on anyone for revenue . The sooner one realizes law enforcement is a double standard the better off you are . This last statement basically applies to anywhere  

Little harsh...and unfair tarring the World's law enforcement with the same brush based on just your local experience. I've had the odd minor run in with the law...my fault each time tbh......but by and large U.K. police and generally just a bunch of folks like you and me doing a tough job with very little help from the public. Of course there is the odd bad apple...like in every profession. I have relatives in the Force...they still seen normal so far! I realise it's very different over there with far higher crime and murder rates ...our  Police don't even carry..... through their own choice. So don't say it applies everywhere. In my experience if you are not doing anything wrong then you will have very little reason to deal with them in the first place.

[A383Wing]

Living in Maryland I'm not surprised at all , the cops here are truly this biggest bunch of Jerk-offs ever !! This state is the worst when it comes to DMV issues , ask any trucker .
Cops here are self serving, self protecting , assholes , basically the blue mafia as they pray on anyone for revenue . The sooner one realizes law enforcement is a double standard the better off you are . This last statement basically applies to anywhere   

They must be related to the officers here in the little town of Milton next to where I live here in Washington State. They will pull you over and harass you for just looking at them for more than 10 seconds. A couple of them brought their personal vehicles into our auto repair shop and expected discounts or free service because our shop was in their "patrol area". The officers in another town of Auburn are the same way.

I drive around & in Milton all the time, our one grocery store is there, along with the one Post Office, and the 3 gas stations.....the cops just sit in the car around these places and just watch & wait for you to do "anything" that they don't like.

It's gonna be interesting when I get the Daytona lettered and numbered up as a street legal Nascar clone car and go driving through town.....

Bryan

[PettyMower]

When I went through the bumper law fiasco in 1986, I was given 3-pieces of paper. Two that explained the Superbird being banned, and one that explained what the State of Maryland considered an acceptable bumper.

[daytonalo]

The sooner any and all of us get head out of rectum , most all police are Hippocrates and all of us are revenue and easy targets . Every now and then they push the wrong guy and they wonder why the guy snapped !!!
Another thing is you'll never see or hear  police officer and intelligent in same sentence !!Most have I.Q of Pet rock.They have a score to settle or just bully us . FACT !!!    
Maybe take a shit in console of their cars 

[Mopar Nut]

Here's the bumper...

[alfaitalia]

That's hideous...and what's it for? The protection it gives the car is minimal...and why would they care if you damaged your car or not? And if it was to prevent damage to other cars or pedestrians....well it's only making the impact area smaller so likely to increased damage or injury rather than reduce. As for the views on the Police..well they only enforce these silly laws...its far higher up the chain that dreamt up the requirement for that silly boy of tube

[alfaitalia]

The sooner any and all of us get head out of rectum , most all police are Hippocrates and all of us are revenue and easy targets . Every now and then they push the wrong guy and they wonder why the guy snapped !!!
Another thing is you'll never see or hear  police officer and intelligent in same sentence !!Most have I.Q of Pet rock.They have a score to settle or just bully us . FACT !!!    
Maybe take a shit in console of their cars 

Lol ! They are not all the same.....that's like saying all Muslims are terrorists.....Sounds like you have some dodgy ones in your patch though! I find that if my car looks legal and I don't drive like an idiot right in front of them that they generally don't have a reason to stop me in the first place. If they do...as happens this time of year when they are looking for drunk drivers which gives then excuse they need to check over your car for bald tyres etc..just being polite and agreeing with everything (whether you do or not!). Well soon have you on your way. I have a biker friend with a very loud pipe on his Ducati...which gets him stopped often! He must have similar views to you and gets all argumentative with the Police. "Have you not get any real criminals to catch"..never really helps his cause ! He has quite a few tickets to his name. Just saying that he will put the legal one back on and that he's sorry would have probably got him off.....works for me most times. I'm guessing from the way you talk that police have financial gain from issuing tickets over there....not like that here...so it's far less work for them to give a verbal warning that write a ticket and start all the admin that goes worth it.

[alfaitalia]

Living in Maryland I'm not surprised at all , the cops here are truly this biggest bunch of Jerk-offs ever !! This state is the worst when it comes to DMV issues , ask any trucker .
Cops here are self serving, self protecting , assholes , basically the blue mafia as they pray on anyone for revenue . The sooner one realizes law enforcement is a double standard the better off you are . This last statement basically applies to anywhere   

They must be related to the officers here in the little town of Milton next to where I live here in Washington State. They will pull you over and harass you for just looking at them for more than 10 seconds. A couple of them brought their personal vehicles into our auto repair shop and expected discounts or free service because our shop was in their "patrol area". The officers in another town of Auburn are the same way.

I drive around & in Milton all the time, our one grocery store is there, along with the one Post Office, and the 3 gas stations.....the cops just sit in the car around these places and just watch & wait for you to do "anything" that they don't like.

It's gonna be interesting when I get the Daytona lettered and numbered up as a street legal Nascar clone car and go driving through town.....

Bryan

You would not get away with driving a car with race numbers in around here...ask me how I know...lol. We have an old and silly law that states that race style numbers on a road car could "incite racing on public roads" which is of course illegal ! However to make it legal just requires an inch wide black cross over the number! Yeah I know...stupid!

[JB400]

I wonder how they are now since several customizers shave the front bumpers

Personally, I would have thought that they'd consider the nose of the car as a bumper.