the main reason not to have the gas tank in the trunk is there is no firewall between the trunk and the passenger compartment. it is very dangerous to do that. if they have any kind of accident gas will spill into the passenger compartment and if it catches on fire you will not be able to get out. the materials used in the passenger compartment catch on fire faster than you can think about it.
I’m not aware of any modern cars that have the gas tank located in the trunk.
To what make and model of car are you referring?
The last cars I remember having the gas tank in the trunk were the Ford Falcon and Ford Mavericks back in the 1960s. The top of the gas tank was the floor of the trunk. This was a terrible way to do things in my opinion.
There was a caller on the radio show with that question and they failed to mention this. Especially if the car has seats that fold down. There are some Japanese cars such as lexus and infiniti that put the tank in the trunk but there is a firewall between the tank and the passenger compartment. The reason they did this it to keep the tank out of the elements. I had a 94 GS300 with 293,000 miles on it and the tank looked brand new.
Some of the old Subarus from back in the 70s had the gas tank located right behind and adjacent to the rear seat.
I had an old Chevy pickup circa the early 50’s that had the gas tank right behind the seat. There was nothing between you and the gas tank except a little green paint. Times have changed…for the better when it comes to safety.
@missileman Yes, we had a 1951 Chevy pickup truck on the farm and listening to that gasoline sloshing around behind you was a bit disconcerting.
The old Jeeps gas tanks were under the driver’s seat.
https://www.google.com/search?q=M38A1+fuel+tank&client=firefox-a&hs=pbN&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&imgil=yg40bj-fxv8GAM%3A%3BQG2itgbE-xQeCM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.dlbensinger.com%252Fbemakm38.php&source=iu&pf=m&fir=yg40bj-fxv8GAM%3A%2CQG2itgbE-xQeCM%2C_&usg=__Y9ioMOdPNKxTEmHfybGDIf-fACc%3D&biw=1152&bih=611&ved=0CDQQyjc&ei=pqg6VNioG42SgwTzqIKQAg#facrc=&imgdii=&imgrc=yz0I6ZPLr7H-rM%253A%3B7Ga4_0xORfxcKM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwillysmjeeps.com%252Fv2%252Fmodules%252Fgallery%252Falbums%252FGregS%252Ffuel_tank.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.willysmjeeps.com%252Fv2%252Fmodules.php%253Fname%253DForums%2526file%253Dviewtopic%2526t%253D2044%2526view%253Dprevious%3B600%3B450
I was thinking about buying an old ford truck for my son s first car. the gas tank behind the seat was a disqualifier tho…
The gas tank in the cab behind the seat is a pretty safe place if you ask me. It’s just about as well protected as the passengers are, it’s not hanging between the frame and the fender where it can be damaged from a side impact, it’s not underneath the car rusting out and leaking, and you’re not going to burst into flames from being rear ended.
My biggest complaint about my late 60’s early 70’s trucks with tanks behind the seat is that it took up storage space.
I know that the Ford pickup had the gas tank behind the seat through the 1969 model. I had a 1950 Chevrolet pickup and tank was behind the seat. Interestingly, I think the early 1950s Studebaker trucks had the gas tank under the truck.
My 1961 Corvair had the gas tank just ahead of the dashboard in the front of the car. With either my Corvair or my 1950 Chevrolet pickup truck, I felt safer with the gas tank position than I would have felt with a 1960s Ford product where the top of the gas tank was the floor of the trunk.
@somecarguy - just so you know, that was an old call (years ago). But you’re right. Our '65 Mustang had one. Unsafe, but it was easy to replace when I had to.
In my aircrew days smoking was still allowed in Army aircraft. They all had A.S.H. Receivers (ash trays) and strangely are still manufactured with them decades after smoking was banned. We had to wait until airborne when the ventilation system became effective. After take off my pilot and I were about to light up when it suddenly dawned on me that the tank behind our seats in the OV-1 Mohawk contained 297 gallons of JP-4 which was jet fuel with gasoline added. When I mentioned this to my pilot we decided smoking was probably not the best idea.
No one is going to be happy. You put the tank as far away as possible from passengers, that makes it more it susceptible to rupturing during a collision. You put it in the protective cocoon shared by the passengers, and it’s too “close” . There aren’t many places you can put a gas tank and still make people happy unless you have a long enough truck.
I ve been rear ended pretty good in my 75 ford supercab, no probs with gas tank
It’s a miracle that people were not incinerated in droves while piloting the old air-cooled VW Types 1, 3, and 4 with that gas tank located just in front of and slightly above the knees.
Mustang was the worst of both - it was in the rear, easily hit, formed the floor of the trunk, with a rubber hose to the filler that easily ruptured, so nothing good about the design.
I know my '76 and my mothers '79 Corollas both had the gas tank between the back seat and the trunk.
Lots of station wagons in the 60’s had the gas tank in the left rear fender, behind the rear wheel and separated from the interior by some trim panels. The cap was right on top of the tank, no tube at all. It could not have been more exposed to accidents and to corrosion.
Motorcycle gas tanks were right in your crotch for years. I had one fall on a bike and ended up with the bike on top of my right leg and gas dripping out through the vent hole in the cap, right on to my leg and up into my “Private parts”.
Sometimes it truly does take government regulation and lawsuits to made manufacturers consider safety.
@wentwest, “between the legs” is the ideal place (possibly the ONLY place) for a gravity-fed system.
As someone who appreciates the “last stand” of minimalist transport, keep it on the top tube, where it belongs. There’s no reason a MC has to be any more complicated than a (scaled-up version of a) bicycle powered by a lawnmower engine!
Leave “safety” to be a variable best addressed through rider skill and judgment.