Newbee

[55 Rescue Dog]

RD: you apparently gave little attention to how difficult/easy the car is to get in and out of..

PS. I generally lean harder to 'building a car to AVOID crashes'... ie. good brakes, good tires, good steering and handling...

Actually it is pretty easy to get in and out of for me anyway. The top of the door is only 30 inches off the ground.
I agree that a great handling car can avoid a lot of crashes at higher speeds, but then there is always the time no matter how good of a defensive, courteous, or skilled driver you can be, you get stuck in a spot you can't drive out of. Like me, in my only accident 26 years ago sitting in the left turn lane of a 6 lane road, when some great driver was spinning out of control in his Mustang in a light rain at night. Saw it coming, but when his car shot over to my side of the road, and the moment I saw he was coming my way going about 40mph, in less than 1 second, all I could do was nothing...BAM. Folded the front of the car to the front tires, and snapped my wrist. It was an 85 Toyota MR2, but it really soaked up the impact with only a trunk in the front, No air bags, ABS, etc. If I had been in a 55 Chevy, either I wouldn't be typing this, or I would be asking "Where's my Baseball?"

[55 Rescue Dog]

And then there is this guy in a 55 that was wearing a lap belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGaAJg9Puw8

[chevynut]

It was an 85 Toyota MR2, but it really soaked up the impact with only a trunk in the front, No air bags, ABS, etc. If I had been in a 55 Chevy, either I wouldn't be typing this, or I would be asking "Where's my Baseball?"

You seriously think a 55 Chevy is less safe than a tin-can 85 Toyota MR2?

[Hotrodbob]

The Dumb A$$ somehow got past tech and the starting line people. More power than brains on that one.

And then there is this guy in a 55 that was wearing a lap belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGaAJg9Puw8

[chevynut]

And then there is this guy in a 55 that was wearing a lap belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGaAJg9Puw8

That guy lives a couple or three hundred yards from me in my subsdivision. It's a 1500 HP twin turbo LS engine car. I don't know what his seat belts were or what really broke, but I can ask him. He built an identical car that he's racing again and it's street driven too. We built a C4 frame for him a year or so ago and he's building a 55 Handyman wagon on it which I believe is close to completion.

The crappy stock Tri5 front suspension probably had a lot to do with that wreck. He's considering having us put a C4 clip on it.

But that wreck really isn't even relevant to the discussion. If you're going to race, you build the car to meet safety regulations.

[55 Rescue Dog]

You seriously think a 55 Chevy is less safe than a tin-can 85 Toyota MR2?

Good question, but unlike a 55, the MR2 did have crumple zones, and the passenger compartment was undamaged. Safety didn't sell cars in the 50's.
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