the axle jacking was solved by a 15 dollar part. however the damage was done. a GM exec was up for leadership( i forget who, ed cole?), bawled out the board, threatened to go public and was eventually made head of gm. he lit them up. and mentioned that a lot of their kids were driving the same car. This lead to the fix and other improvments. ernie kovacs slid on wet pavement reaching for a dropped cigar and smoked a pole. It wasn't axle jacking.
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/c...-2009-chevy-malibu-crash-test-pretty-ghastly/ this is why bumping something now a days is $1500 + damage. the bel air dummy suffered fatal forces, the 09 malibu dummy got a damaged knee. the show where i learned of the corvair fix, had a x ray of a girl with a radio knob buried in her forehead. lotsa pokey stuff back in the day. un creased hood decapitations. steering column spearings. big blocks coming thru firewall to say howdy. wtf is a crumple zone, and it'll cost how much per unit at***udes from detroit. i love old cars, but i'd hate to wreck hard in one.
There's an interesting story behind these pics. (Sorry if slightly off topic). Not sure if link is available to all. The roll of film was only found and developed recently. Link to the story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-54175441 Mart.
No doubt this was taken during the “great escape”. Colburn, Garner, and McQueen... I don’t remember the guy standing...
While it's true that accidents are more survivable now, I don't think the amount of accidents have come down. People had better driving skills back then. They spent more time paying attention to driving. These days you have all the built in gadgets and creature comforts to distract you, not to mention portable electronic devices to further distract you. People often rely on all the so called safety innovations that they think they are invincible and forget what driving a car really is all about. I bet some people really think their cars drive themselves. Some practically do. There is a video of a guy driving a Tesla in the fast lane, while asleep! I think there was a saying you haven't leaned how to drive unless you have had a wreck.