Hi,
Some of you may remember that government car crash test -- they did a head on between 2009 Chev and a59 Impala. The 2009 easily won. There were a number of remarks at the time like"maybe there was no motor in the 59" and "must have been rigged". I finally googled around a bit and found out a few things

1. The Impala and the 09 Chev actually weighed in at about the same
2. There was an engine in the Impala -- I aw it coming out in a more detailed vid that I found somewhere -- probably on the government site.

OK -- but there are a couple other of things.

1. They made no claim that they checked and rebuilt any parts of the 59 that looked damaged or just worn out. Since they didn't claim otherwise, I'm assuming that they just took a 50 year old car as is. -- not a major deal, but something.
2. The big thing that I found out ( and some of you no doubt know) is that the 59 had an X frame -- that was standard at the time. These are supposedly known to be a weaker frame setup. than a perimeter frame. I have no real knowledge of that, but it seems reasonable. One site I looked into included quotes from a guy supposedly very familiar with those years of GM products and he stated that they were definitely frail in a few areas. Finally -- not part of any research -- I did see a vid on MotorTrend.com about building a custom 61 Impala.. They DID make a new perimeter.as they stated that the X frames were bendy and wobbly. This was especially a big deal on that car since it was a convertible.
.
So, was it cheating -- well I would say stacking the deck at least. They certainly planned on winning. Wonder what would have happened if they had used an Imperial from those days

hj

 

When these sorts of comparisons to things from a long ago times to those of more recent events my eyes glaze over and the mind shuts off---they're mostly useless and really provide nothing to useful to either era. 1959 automotive technology compared to 60 + years later might be slightly minor in increasing understanding or discussing how engineering and construction have changed but with all due respect so what?

Things evolve or change to fit the modern times and as we all know almost nothing we know about today is the same as it was even 10 years ago.

 

chevy used that X frame from 1958 though 1964, yes it was never the strongest , folded real easy, and yes several after market company's are making new frames that are way better. better steering and better rear ends in the way of 9.0 inch fords on 4 bar set up.

 

I saw that crash test. They were showing the difference it makes with modern crumple zones compared to a rigid vehicle. The newer car crumples and absorbs energy from the impact where as the 59 just caves in on itself due to lack of crumple zones.