Posted on 12/06/2017 7:49:25 PM PST by sparklite2
Unpadded metal surfaces, blunt knobs and rods, steering columns that impale—and seatbelts weren’t even on the options list. We may think highly of the 1955 Chevrolet, but like all cars of the era, it didn’t think much of its passengers; here we use it as a lens through which to view the state of automobile safety of the time. Yes, 62 years later, things have become much safer.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.caranddriver.com ...
Chevy Biscayne with a six cylinder and 3 on the tree. 30mpg + was not uncommon. Damn thing would sip gas and run forever on $1 worth. Plenty of space and fun to drive. To get that kind of mileage today would take a silly looking 4 cylinder econo-box on a much smaller frame.
Great days!
We had a 1961 Corvair when I was a kid. We drove it all the way to 1968 without it flipping over and killing us all. I loved that car.
I had a 61 Rambler American. The American was the lower end model, the Ambassador (your pix) was the Deluxe version. Mine was more or less built like a washing machine, the dash was just painted sheet metal.
My strongest memory of the car was, I was driving over the SF Bay bridge with some pals and they all giving me grief over the car. I came to its defense “hey, come on, it’s not so bad” and at that very moment it lost a U-joint with a big BOOM but fortunately, by some miracle retained its driveshaft and I was able to nurse it home.
Same here; all boys. No head rests and my Dad could really reach us in the back seat if he had to. lol
Bendix starters saved many a broken arm.
Bingo!
When I was a kid in the 50's, I could hardly breath every August, awaiting the preview of the next year's cars.
I haven't had that new car feeling since the early 70s
I drive my 57 Bel Air with glee. It’s my daily driver. I’m not the problem, it’s the maniacs around me, so I just give them space.
Ignition keys that were to split your patella in two. Of course, that didn’t matter a lot with that steel steering shaft plunged into your chest.
With electrics by Lucas, the Prince of Darkness
My dad did that, too. He was a mechanical engineer and understood F=MA well enough to know that was a useless but well-intentioned gesture.
I went with my mom to pick up somebody’s 1956 car. It was summer, the heater was on, and mom didn’t know how to turn it off. Hot hot hot.
The 57 Chevy was a hot car to have. I got to drive one for a day on the highway and felt like king of the road with all that power.
dad had my great grand aunts 55 chevy. It was grey and we called it the Mouse
My first ride was a 1960 Dodge Dart with a poosh-a-button transmission. The fins. the fins.
That's true. I wonder if the ones who didn't survive will chime in on this thread? ;-)
(proud owner of a '49 and a '59 Chevy truck)
Those cars back the had style, class, horsepower, and easy maintenance for any backyard mechanic. You could immediately visually identify a 70 Charger,, a 71 Cuda, a 69 Mach One, a 72 Gran Torino, a 68 Camaro SS, a Buick Wildcat, a Mercury Cougar...
And you could buy a used muscle car for 500 bucks and drive it for a few years with a little work here and there, then get another one and do the same.
Dad could buy a station wagon - a STATION WAGON, for cryin;’ out loud - with a Hemi or some other big-block monster in it that would smoke the tires, and have enough room to truck the family around in it. Or, he could buy a factory Ponycar like a 1967/68 Mustang Fastback with any of 7 different engine sizes (230 6-cyl, 289 V8, 302, 390 (2 versions), 427, 428 CobraJet ...) and then a year later the 429 SuperCobraJet, 351 Cleveland or Windsor... Boss 302, Boss 351... damn...
Now? Except for a very few that are nearly un-affordable for the average working Joe, cars look like the Liberal utopia ... bland, personality-less, soul-less, same-same-same-same dull-dull-dull-dull.
And they suck.
Deceleration rates in head-on collisions with today’s cars are well below what they were in the old solid tanks. Crumple zones and engine/transaxle assemblies that are designed to get pushed downward make today’s cars far safer.
...As I stood on the seat next to him, my Dad would put out his right arm to keep me or my other brothers from falling when he hit the brakes...
In the mid 50’s, my brother sat in a car seat with it’s own tiny steering wheel. It hung over the front seat held by two wire hangers that hung over the top of the front seat going down the back side about 5 inches.
In a front end collision, he and the seat would have flown through the windshield like being fired from a catapult.
Yep. I could identify all the makes of cars from 1955 to 1960 but lost touch from going into the service. Nowadays, if I can’t see the manufacturer’s logo, I have no idea what the cars are.
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