Older cars are safer than newer cars for rear seated passengers

Safety
21

Yup!
In fact, it might not have taken the force of an impact to cause the front seat supports to collapse, back in “The Good Old Days”. I had a work colleague who drove a 1970-something Plymouth Fury, and just from “normal” wear & tear, the front seatback wound-up in a permanently reclined position.

It took him several weeks to save enough from his teacher salary for the repairs, and he rationalized that sitting there with no back support was good for his abdominal and back muscles. Maybe it actually was?

22

I think there are others on this site in my age group, we would take a nap on the package shelf during long drives.

23

I had neighbors who owned an early '50s Hudson sedan. It was a family of 7, and they all seemed to fit in it… somehow. But, on long trips, the youngest kid did take an occasional nap on the rear package shelf.

24

Its been proven time and again that old cars are stronger. Old body on frame vehicles are tough indeed! If they had airbags like newer cars they would be far safer!

25

We would fight over who got to lay up there.

We also rode around in unrestrained groups of kids in the back of an ElCamino at up to highway speeds (50mph). No one thought twice about it. Heading to the (lake, amusement park, playground…) everybody pile in…

26

Had a cat in the neighborhood who liked to sleep on the package shelf - of anybody’s car.

27

Here we are again, in fantasy land. What a bunch of nonsense.

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28

Well, I guess it makes some sense if a person values sheet metal more than human lives. I choose to value the health and safety of my passengers over the sanctity of my vehicle’s sheet metal, but I guess that some people feel differently.

29

unibody cars go back as far as the 1920s! Some body on fram cars would flex.

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