Point me to where you find cars today are heavier than they were in the 1960s and 1970s. You can punch your car door today and dent it. Those 1960s and 70s cars had thicker steel (before rusting out of course).
I can’t believe this is totally true because it’s been argued in prior threads that one of the ways you get better fuel economy is less weight. With smaller 4 and 6 cylinder engines that are common today, even with computer fuel injection, the car has to be lighter.
The new BMW 1-Series is weighing in at around 3300 lbs. A ‘76 BMW 2002 weighed just over 2000 lbs.
All the safety regulations have dramatically increased the weight of cars at the same time as fuel economy standards have reduced their size/efficiency.
I’m pretty sure pickups are heavier now than than the 40 year old versions. But they’ve gotten bigger too.
Don’t forget the engine blocks are must lighter than in the 50s and 60s. Then again, with the lighter mass blocks, the less overhead available to absorb heat if your cooling system malfunctions. Be it a busted hose, gunked up oil, or low water levels, today’s engine blocks aren’t nearly as forgiving in the event of coolant malfunction. Good way to crack a block, bend a camshaft or throw a rod, disrupt a harmonic balancer or transmit some horrible vibration through the tranny.
A 1960 VW Beetle weighed 1609 lbs.
A later Super Beetle weighed 1984 lbs.
A 2007 New Beetle weights from 2884 to 2965 lbs.
I accept you may not simply take my word that the latest cars are heavier, but the figures above illustrate my contention.
I read an article in the motoring press during the last year. It cited several examples about the increased weight of vehicles.
It noted that new vehicles weigh more due to engine pollution controls, airbags, air conditioning units, power window units, audi equipment, stronger and therefore heavier frames and bodies.
The point of the article was all about how as vehicles got heavier, they became safer, had more features standard, and that engine technology achieved more power per cubic inch and yet increased or maintained fuel mileage economy.
Some changes were government mandated and others were not.
Weight is one factor in crash survivability, but crush zones are a vital part of the engineering. The earliest cars to utilize crush zones were Volvo, Mercedes, BMW and I assume Audi, Saab, etc.
The Smart cars from Mercedes are tiny, yet reported to withstand crashes well due to current engineering and build technology.
I don’t claim to be an expert or engineer. But I read extensively because I am an enthusiast. Some call that a German Car Lover.
An even closer comparison would be Porsche.
A 1964 911 weighs 2381 lbs.
A 2004 Carrera S weighs 3296 lbs.
Ford Mustang.
1969 weighs 3122 lbs.
2004 weighs 3519 lbs.
Toyota Corolla.
1966 weighs 1587 lbs.
2006 weighs 3097 lbs.
Fiat. I have no stats, but the old tiny Fiat 500 was a typical budget Euro basic transport skate. Very light.
Talk in the press is they are doing an up to date similar car, bigger, heavier, safer, more powerful.
I checked Corvette and found little increase in weight.
Increased weight is the result of safety and features. Crush zones and other technologies advance safety as well as weight.