1959 Bel Air versus 2009 Malibu - NMC but at least car-related

It looks phony to me.

Was that sarcasm? If not, I will bet you $1,000.00 at 10 to 1 odds that this is not phony.

Hell, I can come up with $5,000.00, I will bet it against your $500.00 right now, as r.a.m.m.m. is our witness. :-)

Pat

Good for you Tim! Thanks for the direct link. Mr. XS11E must not have watched many crash test videos. I've watched allot of them (they are hugely interesting to see which vehicles do better and which do worse) and never even crossed my mind that this could have been faked and I'm one of those 'conspiracy theorists'

Chris

99BBB

Ah, well. At least usenet is better for this post having been ignored by you and other Google Groups detractors!

Tim

Here is another video that shows the inside of the cars, and the effects on the crash test dummies during the crash.

Nice interior on the Bel Air, it looks like they wasted a nicely restored classic car for this test.

Pat

It's phony, it was very carefully staged to prove the point they intended to prove. Very much like a certain "News" network blowing up trucks.

phony or not, wouldn't you rather die behind the wheel of a '59 bel air then be seen alive driving a 2009 malibu? ;)

Neither. Notice they didn't mention that both cars were junk BEFORE the crash, the only difference was they were mangled junk after!

You do bring up a good point, and I am not even a big classic car fan. ;-)

I'll definitely take death in my Miata over a life of driving almost any American-made car, especially American cars manufactured from about 1970 to the present, with the possible exception of the Corvette.

Pat

Whoosh! That one flew right over me. :-)

I am guessing that the news network being referred to is Fox, but what is this about the staged blowing up of trucks?

Pat

I would be interested to see how a 2009 Miata holds up against a 1959 model lead sled.

I would like to see that in a controlled crash video that is, not with me driving either car.

40 mph each, that adds up to a nice little impact.

"It'll buff right out" - lol

Patrick

Fox has never been that dishonest, NBC has.

General Motors Dateline NBC aired an investigative report about General Motors pickup trucks allegedly exploding upon impact during accidents due to poor design of fuel tanks. Dateline's film showed a sample of a low speed accident with the fuel tank exploding. In reality, Dateline NBC producers had rigged the truck with remotely detonated explosives. The program did not disclose the fact that the accident was staged. GM investigators studied the film, and discovered that smoke actually came out of the fuel tank a split-second before impact. GM subsequently filed an anti-defamation lawsuit against NBC after conducting an extensive investigation. On February 18, 1993 GM conducted a highly publicized point-by-point rebuttal that lasted nearly two hours after announcing the lawsuit. The lawsuit was quickly settled by NBC, and Jane Pauley read an apology on the program.

The following Dateline NBC producers were dismissed: Jeff Diamond, executive producer; David Rummel, senior producer; and Robert Read, producer of the report on the pickups. Michele Gillen, the reporter involved in the segment, was transferred to Miami station WTVJ. Michael G. Gartner, president of the news division, resigned under pressure.

Keep reading past this to more of NBC's questionable tactics.

I'll set it up but you have to drive the Miata, we'll get someone to drive a 1959 model. Since you didn't specify the make, chose between Greyhound, Mack or Peterbuilt. ;-)

This might be the most reasonable point yet ;-) Chris

99BBB

It's junk as are all Chevrolets. CR once rated all Chevy models from

1957 to current as unaceptable due to frequency of repair. That was some years back but things haven't changed.

"The 2010 Chevrolet Malibu reliability score of 5.0 out of 10 is the Predicted Reliability rating provided by J.D. Power and Associates."

Pathetic.

Notice, as expected, the Chevy shows the LOWEST reliability score of all cars listed?

Hmmmmm, that's a fairly slender inline six, which as I recall left lots of open space on either side of the engine compartment. I wonder how the '59 would have fared had it been equipped with the wider 283 V8, or even better, the much wider big block 348. I'm thinking it would've fared better.

--Geary