How could you say that about a '66 Mustang. I grew up driving a '64 and 1/2 poppy red mustang, got in at least two accidents my first week of driving (this was in about 1998) and I did plenty of damage to other cars but hardly any to mine.
They’re great little cars, easy to work on, and as long as the gas gauge is working are very reliable.
The only way I can see you have a point is that their breaks are only shoes on the rear, but other than that it’s not an unsafe car at all.
I feel much safer in that car that I did in my '88 Honda Prelude
I am happy you are happy, in fact Happy New Year!
I agree with you and the old cars are not as unsafe as often portrayed, at least in my opinion.
Many years ago I owned a 1959 Corvette which of course is made of fiberglass. A woman tried to cross a 4-lane highway in heavy traffic with her Chevy truck and I broadsided her at 50 MPH with no opportunity to hit the brake at all.
The Corvette only had lap belts which were not being used by me or the friend who was with me. My baby practically exploded on impact and there wasn’t much left of it with the only undamaged parts being the left rear quarter, rear bumper, and trunk lid.
Neither one of us suffered even the tiniest of scratches or bruises although the lady in the truck had to be taken by EMS to the hospital for a bad head wound. Thankfully she turned out fine after a fair number of stitches.
Point being that here you have an older car with no shoulder harness, lap belts not in use, flimsy fiberglass construction, a high speed broadside impact, and no injuries at all although logic may dictate that both of us should have gone through the windshield and probably been DOA.
50 to zero in a couple seconds and no injuries? You’re right, it’s hard to believe.
I too had a 64 1/2 Mustang, 6 (170) with a 4 speed. What a rust bucket! A major problem with all 64 1/2 - 66 Mustangs is their ability to rust, just about everywhere. Fender are the least problem, the floorboards rust out quickly, and the suspension mounts are also subject to rust. Mine met a firey death when the fuel line let go in the engine compartment, fuel ignited, and fire came back throught the ‘firewall’. The then-owner (luckily not me) jumped out at speed on the freeway.
The drop-in tank was another safety hazard, with a rear end collision able to shoot burning gas into the passenger compartment.
Fun to drive? Easy to work on? Neat to look at? Sure, but safe? Not by any modern measure.
p.s. - front disc brakes were an option, most didn’t have them.
Just think troll ok4450
I really don’t care if you believe it or not but it’s the card-carrying truth. I had just enough time to squeeze the steering wheel and close my eyes.
Next thing I knew what was left of the Vette was sideways in the highway and my friend and I were in a gray cloud of fiberglass dust.
We looked at each other in disbelief that we were still alive and bailed out of the wreckage.
My only concern at that point was the pickup I hit because I remember seeing the truck packed with kids in peewee football uniforms. Come to find out there were 2 of them in the cab of the truck and 5 riding in the bed. Apparently this lady was ferrying them all home from practice at the park and you probably won’t believe this either but not one of those kids got hurt. Not one iota.
They were still wearing their uniforms and for some odd reason all still had their helmets on and this is what saved their bacon.
The only other injury was to a 10 year girl in a car in the next lane going the same way as me. She suffered a mild gashed leg when my car got slammed into theirs.
Total property damage; total wreck Vette, total wreck Chevy truck, half total Ford in the next lane, and the corner removed from a brick house where the Chevy truck came to rest after jumping the curb.
Other than the lady who caused all of this requiring a number of stitches and the little girl’s leg gash it’s downright amazing to me that this was not a multiple fatality pileup.
They were every bit as safe as a Falcon.
It seems that flimsy fiberglas body of the Coorvette acted like a giant crush zone, while the the full frame construction kept the car from collapsing entirely.
I believe you! I was a 45 to 0 in a head on in a 71 chevy nova into a big old buick. A little scrape on my head where I broke the windsheild, a bruised knee from the headlight knob. The rear fender crumpled, the transmission lever was at 6:00 and front end fairly well smashed. officer "was the light yellow? “No sir, light was green, I turn left and he hit me.” His wife was taken to the hospital, 5 years later I got a check from the insurance company. He had no insurance so must have paid them off. Maybe the fiberglass add an extra crumple zone to absorb energy of the impact.
I remember reading Consumer Reports road test of the 1965 Mustang. The tested Mustang had fewer sample defects than most other cars CR tested at the time. CR was rather impressed with the car.
Or a Pinto
I owned several Mustangs of that vintage and a couple of Falcons and a Fairlane. They were all fairly reliable daily drivers but the Mustang’s performance was mostly image. The GTs were performance equipped but the base model was just a Falcon. None of those cars aged well. They were prone to rusting floor pans that weakened the cars. Convertibles would actually sag till the doors wouldn’t close. Restored models are fun cars to drive. I would rather have a well restored 65 Mustang than many new sport sedans.
I agree with you. The only thing I remember about the wreck was that it took about a second and almost felt like running into am upended mattress.
The guy in the Ford in the right hand lane next to me was about a car length behind me and he never knew what happened at all. After the collision and seeing the boys in the truck were ok I went around to the passenger side of the Ford when I heard the little girl crying while her father was getting her out of the car.
When I tapped the father on the shoulder and offered help he grabbed me by the front of the shirt, questioned my ancestry, and was about to pop me one in the mouth while cursing me for running into him.
I caught his fist and told him the lady in the truck caused all of this and up to that point he said he had never even seen the truck. Once the truck was pointed out and he was told what happened he apologized but I told him there was no need to. The situation was understandable.
" the Mustang’s performance was mostly image"
I got a real laugh when my boss at the gas station said I should bring mine to the autocross, race in the 240Z’s class…that Ford 170 cid might have been the same size, but I can’t imagine how badly it would have done…