Don't know if this has been posted before.
Someone who does this for a living just posted it on another car forum.
www.supermotors.net/getfile/1125101/fullsize/dv09067_1971ford-ltd-ford-pinto.wmv
Obviously a matter of larger mass hitting smaller mass. But still, OUCH.
Russ
This is the first time I've seen it. When you consider the difference in weight and mass, the Pinto was doomed to fare poorly. Actually however, I would have expected less damage to the LTD than it received. Thanks for sharing!
Dwayne :)
What a waste of a good Pinto. Shame on them. They were Vega owners no doubt.
Hmm, More Spin cycle no doubt. Vega owners unite, LOL!
I know that car! He was hit in the rear by no doubt a Vega trying to run in the Pintos slip stream. That's the price you pay when your faster than the rest of the field. Really I don't know the car but his damage could have been caused by the number 13 on the car. Wooo!
Quote from: dick1172762 on December 01, 2017, 09:12:17 AM
I know that car! He was hit in the rear by no doubt a Vega trying to run in the Pintos slip stream. That's the price you pay when your faster than the rest of the field. Really I don't know the car but his damage could have been caused by the number 13 on the car. Wooo!
Perhaps he was slipstreaming and the Gremin he was chasing was forced to brake for a Monza, a Vega and a Alfa . Then the Tow truck that rear ended him would be at fault! ;D
Let every one know that in spite of a rear end of a Pinto being destroyed there was no fire!!!!
Wow, I wonder what the mph of each car was. The LTD didn't take the hit well at all either. :-\
I don't have any details unfortunately.
The original poster (on a Ranchero forum I am on) works at a crash test place, and this was in the archives from about 1971. He didn't give any details. He isn't someone I really want to ask, sorry.
Russ
While the the rupturing gas tank issue still persists..., when you think about it the Pinto folding like it does shows that it absorbed the engery. Think of it as the "crumple zone." Where as a car that shows less damage likely decelerated more rapidly and put more trama on the driver. So, whereas pictures can look horrific sometimes the impact is less.
The University of Nebraska puts on these test for indy cars and Nascar. The test were used to see how good the soft walls were in a crash. I've seen the show several times on television.. They also have a large mechanic school with ties to Nascar.
When you look at Pinto's that have been rear ended (like the #13 car) it makes one wonder if the leaf springs arcing upward the way they do actually cushion the impact. A lot of other cars seem to collapse the upper trunk area but the floor pan (and thus the leaf springs) seem to remail in place making for a harsher, more rigid impact.