Re: The crashed mustang in S Carolina

[runawayabc123]

What about fastbacks with the trap door? Does that count as a wall? Or at least better than the back seat?

 

[JDS68Stang]

A steel trunk divider may have saved her life. It's one of the first things I put in mine along with 3 pt seatbelts, better seats and power dual master cylinder. The brighter tail lights I added to let people at night, who may not be not paying attention (drunks) see the car sooner.

Got my steel trunk divider here:

http://www.americanpony.com/store.mv?p=802007-09-198-199

Installed:

Thanks for posting the pics, I now have a use for a sheet of steel I had laying around wondering what to do with. Man I never thought about something like this happening but it's a possible reality everyday on the road.
I think that fire extinguisher as well that's been shoved around in my pantry is going into the stang as well. No way in hell anybody should have to die like that, I really feel for that woman and her family after seeing those pics.

 

[dennis112]

that just reminds me of the old ford and chevy pickups with the gas tank behind the seat....no thanks.

Here are my rolling death traps:

NOTE: It is sad about the driver of the Mustang and I feel sorry for her family. Perhaps the situation was avoidable, or perhaps not. When your time is up, you will not be able to cheat death.

For the record, I have been rear-ended hard in a 66' Mustang and I know that there are risks involved. You have to be able to accept a certain amount of risk if you are going to drive a vehicle that does not have modern safety features.

 

[bnickel]

nice pair. the 67-72 chevy trucks are among my favorite trucks, in fact as far as full size trucks go they are in my top 2 with 64-66 Fords being top dog.

 

[mikethebike]

Here are my rolling death traps:

NOTE: It is sad about the driver of the Mustang and I feel sorry for her family. Perhaps the situation was avoidable, or perhaps not. When your time is up, you will not be able to cheat death.

For the record, I have been rear-ended hard in a 66' Mustang and I know that there are risks involved. You have to be able to accept a certain amount of risk if you are going to drive a vehicle that does not have modern safety features.

I agree with what your statement about risk but my big problem with what Ford did during the 60's and 70's with the Mustang, Falcon, Maverick, Comet, Cougar and Mustant-II and Pinto gas tanks was they KNEW what would happen as evidenced by the memo on the Pinto tanks. Now you can talk all day about cost and risk and weight differentials but in 1979 my father and mother-in-law had a 1978 Civic that weighed about 1800 lbs. While crossing the Ashley river bridge into Charleston they were hit in the rear by a full size early 70's GM car that was traveling about 50mph faster than they were going. The impact flipped the Honda, crushed the rear, broke the seat back on both front seats and drove the Honda about 1/3 the length of the bridge (I'd guess that is 200 ft) and the car came to rest just before the Charleston end. The Civic din't loose 1 drop of gas.
If Honda could build the Civic to do that why could Ford not do the same with the Pinto?
Answer....they could make more money (in the short term)the way they built it.
They don't seem to realize what M-B came to understand more than 50 years ago and that is when one of your customers dies in a car crash, you forever lose that customer. I remember the M-B add a few years back that showed in slow motion a M-B in rollover test. The only audio was this

"While this type crash accounts for fewer than x% of all crashes 100% of Mercedes-Benz automobiles are designed to survive it."

If a $32,000.00 M-B can do that why can ALL other $32,000.00 cars do the same?

And I'm not posting this to start another flame war. I will call any car manufacturer on any sub standard thing they do. It's just how I am.
Anybody want to talk about the Vega engines and body rust? Or the BMW v-12 and v-8 fiascos? Or Toyotas cooking the oil?

 

[danny clemens]

We all want to be as safe as possible but you can't prevent everything. Most of us know that the early Mustangs can explode but how many have really done it? At one time there were millions of early Mustangs on the road (a time which I lived through) and I never did know of anyone that had one explode. I know that it happened but I don't think it happened that often. The first one I heard about exploding was about ten years ago.

I'm sure that there have been a lot of people killed while driving or riding in a Ford Taurus simply because there are so many of them on the road. I've owned one, been through two collisions in it but I think that they are a very safe car.

That being said I still think we should make our Mustangs as safe as possible.

 

[MontereyDave]

Here are my rolling death traps:

NOTE: It is sad about the driver of the Mustang and I feel sorry for her family. Perhaps the situation was avoidable, or perhaps not. When your time is up, you will not be able to cheat death.

For the record, I have been rear-ended hard in a 66' Mustang and I know that there are risks involved. You have to be able to accept a certain amount of risk if you are going to drive a vehicle that does not have modern safety features.

I realize it is off topic but I just wanted to say that is a beautiful combination - SWB Chevy pickup pulling a 66 Stang I think it is especially cool how you pull a Ford with a Chevy but do you catch flack from both Ford and Chevy owners? You know the whole little boy Calvin piss on the other automaker' rivalry?

 

[69gmachine]

When my restoration was less than 2 years old (back in '98), I was stopped about 3 cars back at a red light. The guy coming up on my bumper was flirting with the woman in the next lane over. The light turned green, and she had no one in front of her, so she sped up. You guessed it, the idiot behind me continued to flirt and sped up too... right into my rear bumper. Fortunately he had been slowing down long enough that he wasn't able to do too much damage. I watch my rear view mirrors all the time, but you can't always avoid someone doing something stupid.

I actually have a Fuel Safe fuel cell, I just haven't taken the time to install it. I guess this is a little reminder from above.

 

[rbohm]

one thing i have pondered is building a new tank for my 64 falcon and my 66 mustang, and putting them where the stock crossflow muffler sits, and then building a new trunk area much like the 79-91 crown vics. that would give you a deeper trunk, though still about the same amount of trunk space, and it puts the tank under the car and away from the rear bumper. i havent figured the whole system out just yet, but i am still pondering the change.

 

[phast69]

I've got the rear firewall installed in my '69 coupe. Williams Welding and Street Rods installed mine and fabbed the whole thing up.

 

[jlangholzj]

just outof curiosity, i wonder if you could take a check valve off of a newer vehicle and fabricate it behind the original fill (about 1/4 ") and instead of a rubber hose, bend a tube and wled it in place.

granted, you will have to drain and air out the tank, but this could add some sefety to the whole thing

 

[StangDreamin']

one thing i have pondered is building a new tank for my 64 falcon and my 66 mustang, and putting them where the stock crossflow muffler sits, and then building a new trunk area much like the 79-91 crown vics. that would give you a deeper trunk, though still about the same amount of trunk space, and it puts the tank under the car and away from the rear bumper. i havent figured the whole system out just yet, but i am still pondering the change.

Ummmmm...... There's a problem with that idea as well! Google up "Crown Victoria"+fuel+fire to read about Law Enforcement agencies and cops' families going after Ford when some idiot rear-ends a parked police cruiser at about 60-70 MPH. The gas tank slams into the differential and comes apart; gas fumes float around; Crown Vic burns down. The idiot driver's insurance won't cover this issue, rather palm it off on the manufacturer of the cop car. Grab your lawyer, Ford's gonna make us rich.

 

[dennis112]

I realize it is off topic but I just wanted to say that is a beautiful combination - SWB Chevy pickup pulling a 66 Stang I think it is especially cool how you pull a Ford with a Chevy but do you catch flack from both Ford and Chevy owners? You know the whole little boy Calvin piss on the other automaker' rivalry?

Thank you for the kind comments. Yes, I do get comments but generally let the person know that I appreciate all "60's" vehicles, be it AMC, Ford, GM, Mopar, and even performance imports. I think they all are cool!

Here are a couple more pics of the GMC:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/dennis_8047/GMC/GMC_LH.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/dennis_8047/GMC/GMC_RH.jpg

 

[Iamdiffrnt]

The way I understand it, Ford put a stop to many of those lawsuits. The way I heard it, if a government office was suing Ford for a burn down from a high speed collision into one of their crown vics, ford wouldn't sell them any more until they dropped the suit. Since the crown vic is still the safest vehicle for the purpose, the vast majority of the suits got dropped.

 

[rbohm]

Ummmmm...... There's a problem with that idea as well! Google up "Crown Victoria"+fuel+fire to read about Law Enforcement agencies and cops' families going after Ford when some idiot rear-ends a parked police cruiser at about 60-70 MPH. The gas tank slams into the differential and comes apart; gas fumes float around; Crown Vic burns down. The idiot driver's insurance won't cover this issue, rather palm it off on the manufacturer of the cop car. Grab your lawyer, Ford's gonna make us rich.

i recognize that issue. the problem is the design of the stock tank, as it is thin sheet metal with no internal liner. i was thinking of thicker metal than 22 gauge, more like 16 gauge, and using an internal bladder. i also plan on using bracing around the area, in part to stiffen up that area to compensate for the loss of the shear effect of the stock tank.

 

[bnickel]

i recognize that issue. the problem is the design of the stock tank, as it is thin sheet metal with no internal liner. i was thinking of thicker metal than 22 gauge, more like 16 gauge, and using an internal bladder. i also plan on using bracing around the area, in part to stiffen up that area to compensate for the loss of the shear effect of the stock tank.

i think if someone made a stock mustang tank with an internal bladder that would be big plus, i would prefer something like that. at one point there was a company making them, they took a stock tank and added a bladder before assembly. i don't think they are still around though because i haven't been able to find the website in a very long time.

 

[mfp4073]

Just a note, if you install the hole between the rear seats and trunk, you also need to do the top package tray holes or you have not done much.

I can personally attest to the damage in the accident has got to be a pretty solid hit. Look at the front damage on the mustang.

This is what my car looked like after a 20MPH rear end that I did.

the mustang had to have hit the car in front of it harder than that with the front damage. To take a stopped mustang and push it several feet forward and do that much damage......that had to have been a really hard hit. heck, it turned the mustang like 140 degrees from what it looked like.

Could have easily broken the neck of the driver so she could not move to get out.

 

[bnickel]

Just a note, if you install the hole between the rear seats and trunk, you also need to do the top package tray holes or you have not done much.

I can personally attest to the damage in the accident has got to be a pretty solid hit. Look at the front damage on the mustang.

This is what my car looked like after a 20MPH rear end that I did.

the mustang had to have hit the car in front of it harder than that with the front damage. To take a stopped mustang and push it several feet forward and do that much damage......that had to have been a really hard hit. heck, it turned the mustang like 140 degrees from what it looked like.

Could have easily broken the neck of the driver so she could not move to get out.

i agree 100%, had to have been an extremely hard hit and also it looks like both cars submarined quite a bit as well which make it even more likely to damage the tank on the stang or even rip a fuel line on the taurus too. would also be more likely to create serious injury to the driver of the stang.


PS, MFP4073 are you going to paint your car yellow with red and blue stripes on the bottom? maybe have the "the big bopper" paint on one side and Max on the other? does anyone ever get your username?

 

[mfp4073]

not usually, but a few! I have thought about doing some getto replicas for years. Figured a 4 door maverick would work great for the yellow xbs, and a torino would do a pretty good job at making an xb interceptor!

 

[NasaGT]

There's a guy here at work that used to drive a yellow xbs look-a-like. I haven't seen it in a while though.