Wham! Rapidus De-acceloratus Maximus!!

[Magnumcharger]

Just had this picture passed onto me, and thought I'd share. It was shot in Illinois quite awhile ago.
No other details....

[Charger_Fan]

Ouch!!

Looks like the VIN tag is facing our direction.  

[NYCMille]

Man... not for nothing but these old car crumple up like tin cans when hit hard. It's amazing to think that even though they're that big a new Honda Civic is still actually much safer to be in in a crash.

[Charger_Fan]

It would be interesting to know the speeds involved in that crash. Both cars are sitting close together, which makes me think they got hooked together for a brief time during impact.

I know my car took a pretty good head-on hit around 40mph & it came out pretty well, nowehere near what that car looks like from a broadside hit.

[moparstuart]

Man... not for nothing but these old car crumple up like tin cans when hit hard. It's amazing to think that even though they're that big a new Honda Civic is still actually much safer to be in in a crash.

father son project easy

[BigBlackDodge]

Man... not for nothing but these old car crumple up like tin cans when hit hard. It's amazing to think that even though they're that big a new Honda Civic is still actually much safer to be in in a crash.

I don't think a Civic driver would have survived an impact like that in the side................instant death.


BBD

[TruckDriver]

  You know, that could either be blood or oil on the ground. Hard to tell other then it was wet. But I doubt the driver survived that.

[BMOTOXSTAR]

 

[69bronzeT5]

ouch!!! Well theres another picture for ya Jeremy haha.


Somebody here must be able to read that vin tag. I remember somebody had an aerial shot of a Cuda in a smashed tornado damage garage and it must of been taken from about 150 feet up but somebody here managed to zoom in, make the pic clear and then read the vin.

[Cooperman]

ouch!!! Well theres another picture for ya Jeremy haha.


Somebody here must be able to read that vin tag. I remember somebody had an aerial shot of a Cuda in a smashed tornado damage garage and it must of been taken from about 150 feet up but somebody here managed to zoom in, make the pic clear and then read the vin.

You're kidding, right?   

[Magnumcharger]

Yes...yes...I think I can make out....part of it....R M 2 3 H 9 B....something, something...

[69bronzeT5]

You're kidding, right?   

believe it or not....no

[Troy]

Didn't the airbags deploy? One of my cars was previously wrecked and I have two dents in the dash (knees) and a stubby steering column as reminders. These old cars didn't "give" much from a driver's point of view. Even if a new Honda (or any new vehicle) crumbles into a ball the driver is generally much more protected from bouncing around or getting ejected. The 40+gs of force are cushioned instead of transferring directly to necks, arms, eyeballs, and legs. One interesting statistic that I saw shows that car safety has made drivers less cautious (more aggressive?) - much like how we eat more food when it is "low fat".

You're kidding, right?   

believe it or not....no

Um, I believe that was a PhotoShop by Old Mopars that looked like it was zoomed in.

Troy

[69bronzeT5]

really? If so, my bad

[Brock Samson]

i sure hope that B-body was parked.. 

[1FastCharger]

At first I thought it was one of those crazy Chrysler crash tests, but I noticed a dealer sticker on the decklid. I would imagine Chrysler would use their own cars for crash tests not from dealers lots.

[69bronzeT5]

Poor Roadrunner

[charger_mike75]

My Dad was involved in a similar accident in his 69 runner, he said the passenger door was shoved into the trunk. Needless to say his cousin was killed instantly. The pic he has of it is almost like this one.   

[Magnumcharger]

My Dad was involved in a similar accident in his 69 runner, he said the passenger door was shoved into the trunk. Needless to say his cousin was killed instantly. The pic he has of it is almost like this one.   

Us ghouls want to see it....

[charger_mike75]

I would put it up for you ghouls but I don't have a way to scan it.

[79JON]

The Tail lights are still good!

[Charger_Fan]

Looks like the passenger door panel & arm rest are still good too.

[zerfetzen]

A few years ago, I was excited to be introduced to auto work by a friend who helped me rebuild a '73 Cuda with a 318/904.  It was a daily driver, and I loved driving it to work.  It was nearly completed when I was on the interstate and got a flat tire.  I got in the slow lane, put on my blinkers, had slowed to about 30mph, and was almost at my exit.  I looked in the rearview and there was no one behind me for 1/2 mile, and the nearby 3 lanes in the same direction were empty.

I focused on the sound of the flat on the rear right.  I was almost to the exit, and was going to limp it up the offramp to a gas station and call home.  But I never got that far.  I looked in the rearview and saw a white car barreling down on my hard.  The best guess was about 80mph.  There was no time but to tense up and push on the steering wheel.

That was a hell of an impact (about a 50mph impact), but nothing like what I see in that pic.  The car that hit me was driven by black guy with a suspended license, had no insurance, and his car wasn't registered to him.  He was driving a '97 Geo Metro.

I couldn't open the door, but could roll down the window.  I climbed out like the Dukes of Hazzard, and checked myself out.  I was completely fine.  His car was sideways in the middle of the road (my gas tank was between our cars).  He was unconscious with a bleeding head and broken leg.  His airbag didn't do dick.  The Geo was crumpled up like the tin can it was.

My Cuda's rear end was bad enough that I knew I couldn't straighten it.  I sold it for $5,000.  But from the rear window (which was blown out, and a Geo Metro part actually landed on the console next to me!!!!!!!!!!) forward, it was in great shape.

All the fireman were telling me they've seen this a lot, and I was lucky to drive an old, solid vehicle.  I would've been dead in a new one.

New cars have crumple zones, and old ones don't.  If an old car tangles with a new car, the new car will crumple like a Coke can.  If an old car hits an old car, well, that could be bad news.

[Dave22443]

I sure hope that car was empty when hit.  But the passenger side door is open as if maybe they pulled someone out.   

[Magnumcharger]

Here's a good one:
In 1997 my wife was driving my 1979 Chrysler 300. Long story short, she broadsided a Ford Tempo four door at an intersection.
Chrysler: Broken turn signal, one front bumper guard ripped off, fiberglass around turn signal broken.
Ford: Everything on the passenger side completely destroyed. Car written off.

I bought another 300 for parts, for $300 bucks. Changed the front header panel and bumper out, and the paint even matched perfectly.
Sold the engine out of the junk 300 for $600 bucks, which paid for our increased insurance costs.

[Brock Samson]

alot of these accidents are miss-matches baised on mass,.. i'm glad to read you are ok and walked away, but of course a geo metro is gonna fair poorly against a cuda... and speaking about cumple zones, the area forward of the radiator, especially on the second and third Gen b-bodies, though not so much on first gens... are huge open areas which will absorb alot of force in a front wreck... but in a head on with a brick wall of course ain't nobody gonna look too good... and a side impact aint gonna be pretty either...
good seat belts, anti lock/disc brakes and (sometimes) air baggs have saved alot of folks... I have seen a lot of bad wrecks where the air baggs didn't deploy.. and several where a light tap set them off and the baggs burned and/or injured the drivers

anyone know what the approx. stopping distance of a charger is from 60 MPH?..
comparing that to a modern Charger I'm sure would be a revelation.

[Old Moparz]

This one's for bronze.   

WTF!! The bastards were even doing re-bodies way back then, it's not even a Road Runner VIN.   

[Charger_Fan]

And the dash grew some blue color, too.

[69bronzeT5]

This one's for bronze.   

WTF!! The bastards were even doing re-bodies way back then, it's not even a Road Runner VIN.   

[zerfetzen]

alot of these accidents are miss-matches baised on mass,.. i'm glad to read you are ok and walked away, but of course a geo metro is gonna fair poorly against a cuda... and speaking about cumple zones, the area forward of the radiator, especially on the second and third Gen b-bodies, though not so much on first gens... are huge open areas which will absorb alot of force in a front wreck... but in a head on with a brick wall of course ain't nobody gonna look too good... and a side impact aint gonna be pretty either...
good seat belts, anti lock/disc brakes and (sometimes) air baggs have saved alot of folks... I have seen a lot of bad wrecks where the air baggs didn't deploy.. and several where a light tap set them off and the baggs burned and/or injured the drivers

anyone know what the approx. stopping distance of a charger is from 60 MPH?..
comparing that to a modern Charger I'm sure would be a revelation.

Hardly a difference, actually.  According to the 69 Charger Registry download of a MotorTrend review, 143 feet.
According to Road and Track and my 06 Charger: 132 feet.

Difference: 11 feet.

[694spdRT]

alot of these accidents are miss-matches baised on mass,.. i'm glad to read you are ok and walked away, but of course a geo metro is gonna fair poorly against a cuda... and speaking about cumple zones, the area forward of the radiator, especially on the second and third Gen b-bodies, though not so much on first gens... are huge open areas which will absorb alot of force in a front wreck... but in a head on with a brick wall of course ain't nobody gonna look too good... and a side impact aint gonna be pretty either...
good seat belts, anti lock/disc brakes and (sometimes) air baggs have saved alot of folks... I have seen a lot of bad wrecks where the air baggs didn't deploy.. and several where a light tap set them off and the baggs burned and/or injured the drivers

anyone know what the approx. stopping distance of a charger is from 60 MPH?..
comparing that to a modern Charger I'm sure would be a revelation.

Hardly a difference, actually.  According to the 69 Charger Registry download of a MotorTrend review, 143 feet.
According to Road and Track and my 06 Charger: 132 feet.

Difference: 11 feet.

Unless 11ft puts you out into an intersection where a semi is travelling at 60 or 70mph.   

[sick dawg]

This car isn't too bad. Hans will be selling it on E-Bay and the hlpag site soon. Great project car minor body damage, simple repair!

[zerfetzen]

Unless 11ft puts you out into an intersection where a semi is travelling at 60 or 70mph.   

Definitely true.  I think you'll find that it still brakes better than modern pickups, so I guess everything's relative.  My solution's going to be Baer brakes all the way around 

[694spdRT]

Unless 11ft puts you out into an intersection where a semi is travelling at 60 or 70mph.   

Definitely true.  I think you'll find that it still brakes better than modern pickups, so I guess everything's relative.  My solution's going to be Baer brakes all the way around 

Agreed...I wonder what brake set up Motor Trend tested in 1969. I know the 4 wheel drums in my 68 are good for about 2 hard stops and then fade really gets bad.

[charger_mike75]

I've got wilwood discs on mine, stops great      My Pop said he'd scan his wreck pic for you ghouls out there, i'll keep on it till he does.