This has been on several collector-car hobby boards, but I haven't seen it here. 'Thought it might be of interest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwYBBpHg1I&feature=popular Whether you are into brass-era Model T Fords or mid-80s Buick Grand Nationals or anything in between, we are kind of all in this together. Hence my response to the above, having actually seen that 1959 Bel-Air when it was available last fall. A hard copy of this was mailed to the address shown on that day. September 22, 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Attention: David Zuby, Senior Vice President 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 800 Arlington VA 22201-5759 Dear Mr. Zuby, The video of the IIHS-orchestrated collision between the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and the 1959 Chevrolet Bel-Air 4-door sedan has been receiving wide exposure on the internet. It is my understanding this was done to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Institutes founding in 1959, by illustrating how dramatically automobile safety has improved in the last five decades. What an irresponsible, wasteful celebration that was, not unlike drunk, exuberant college football fans who desecrate campus landmarks to celebrate the home team winning a big game. I read elsewhere on the net that IIHS had purchased the ill-fated 1959 Bel-Air sedan here in Indiana, so I took a second look at the video, paying closer attention to the cars details. Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed by noting, among other things, the rare, unique two-tone treatment of a white roof and deck lid: It was indeed the same car I had seen displayed For Sale at the Newport, Indiana Antique Auto Hill Climb in early October 2008. At Newport, I had looked at that Bel-Air more closely than normal, not because I am partial to 1959 Chevrolets (Im not, although I think the fins are cool,), but because the car impressed me as an unusually-nice, mostly original car that I thought would make someone a dependable, interesting, fun collector car for reasonable money, in that it was a less-desirable 4-door sedan. Not everyone entering the hobby can afford 5-figure (or more!) fifties convertibles and hardtops, so this would have been a good car for a beginning hobbyist. How sad that it was intentionally destroyed by a grandstanding organization with apparently little respect for either Americas automobile heritage or those who seek to preserve it through a beneficial hobby. What did you prove by destroying that nice 1959 Bel-Air sedan? Of course, you proved newer cars are generally safer than older cars. Well, DUH; so what else is new? Anybody that doesnt know that by now isnt paying attention, and they certainly dont deserve to see a reasonably-well-preserved 1959 Chevrolet destroyed to illustrate it. What you did accomplish was to make a pleasant, reasonably-priced fifties car unavailable to a potential hobbyist with limited means. Conversely, what you may have prevented was having a grandfather and grandchild better relate to one another when the grandchild notices the outrageous batwing fins of the Chevy and Grandpa can thus enlighten the child, Thats why they called em the fabulous fifties, Billy; it was a decade of unbridled enthusiasm and occasional outlandishness, when Americans freely pursued their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness big time. They were kind of celebrating, because they had survived The Great Depression and went on to win World War II, thus preserving those rights with a great sacrifice you will hopefully never have to endure. What your celebration crash also accomplished was providing ammunition for the assortment of ignorant do-gooders in our country who would severely restrict the use of, if not outright destroy, old cars as being unsafe and, therefore, unfit for even casual hobby use on the countrys roadways. Such people fail to realize that meaningful continuity between generations is critical to the survival of any culture. The collector-car hobby has long provided that continuity. I have been heavily involved in various aspects of the collector-car hobby most of my 63 years, in addition to being an Indiana-licensed Industrial Arts teacher, primarily Auto Mechanics, with Masters Degrees in both Sociology Education and Industrial Arts Education. I believe that renders me professionally qualified to speak on the importance of continuity between generations. I am a Life Member of both The Antique Automobile Club of America and The Studebaker Drivers Club, and annually renew my membership in The Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club as well. I receive about a dozen automobile periodicals every month, and try to stay abreast by reading all of them. I have authored paid articles published in Old Cars Weekly and Collectible Automobile, and Im the informal Studebaker Advisor for the Hemmings line of collector-car publications. This is my 25th year as paid Technical Editor for the international monthly publication of The Studebaker Drivers Club, Turning Wheels. I have had dozens of Letters-to-the-Editor published nationally on a variety of collector-car topics over the last four decades. My personal collection represents most major domestic manufacturers: Three 1964 Studebaker Daytonas, a 1956 Packard Clipper hardtop, a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible, a 1972 Buick LeSabre Custom convertible, and a 1973 Ford Mustang convertible; all operable, presentable cars. I have cared for three of those cars more than 30 years apiece. One or more people obviously cared for that 1959 Chevrolet Bel-Air five decades, but you took the opportunity to destroy it in five seconds in a vain act of grandiose selfishness, proving nothing that was not already known. It is an understatement to say I love the collector-car hobby and will defend to the death, its intrinsic value to our culture. Your destroying that nice 1959 Chevrolet was stupid and unnecessary. My 29-year-old son Joe is Chef de Cuisine at Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert in the Washington DC Ritz-Carlton Hotel. His photograph and biography may be viewed within the biography section of the restaurants website: www.westendbistrodc.com. While Joes fine foods profession may seem light years away from the collector-car hobby, he continues to report fond memories and valuable lessons learned when we together did an amateur restoration on his 1974 AMC Javelin six he drove to high school over a decade ago. Last year, my son was visiting friends in Greenwich CT, hardly a bastion of the collector-car hobby. He called from his cell phone while walking along downtown, to report sighting what he described as a mint-condition 1971 Javelin/AMX with 401 badging. Some day, he hopes to own one of those cars; a nice 1971-1974 Javelin AMX with a 401 engine. Lets hope Joe is able to acquire it before the IIHS decides they need to crash a nice remaining Javelin/AMX 401 for their own aggrandizement, overkill that serves only one purpose: Destroying perfectly good collector cars and thus aborting the happy memories and important relationships that would accrue if they were allowed to remain in the hobby unscathed. Sincerely, Bob Palma
Holy crap! GREAT job with the letter by the way. I hope they realize how stupid it was. Most of us here think so as well.
:Comp: Sorry, Ken; I looked around for a previous thread about this, but didn't find one. I don't spend a lot of time here, or I might have seen it when it was originally posted. ou: Again, apologies. I don't like duplicate threads on boards either! (And BTW, Ken, I see you have a '69 Skylark. Two years ago, I sold the 1969 Skylark Custom convertible I had owned 20 years, to make room for a 1964 Studebaker Daytona convertible I had been looking for, for some time. So I know how nice those '69 Skylarks drive...but, boy, that front-end plastic sure is fragile, isn't it?!:grin: )
You're not kiddin'! I've had three of them within the past seven years or so, and that 'front-end plastic' has only survived through the ages on one of them. Very nice letter, btw. I am glad to see that someone has spoken out so elegantly about this needless destruction of history and craftsmanship. Your points on the continuity of generations really hit it home with me. Some of my fondest memories as a child remain at car shows and drag races with my parents, and hanging out with my Papa (grandfather) in his garage, wrenching on each others cars. At twenty-nine years of age, I've been in this hobby, this passion, for a lot less time than a lot of the people here, but I understand the love and the importance of keeping it alive. My eight year old nephew has been fascinated with any type of machine, especially those on wheels, since I can remember, and I continue to teach him everything I can, in hopes that someday he too will pass along "the bug" to the next generation of gearheads. My other nephew, his younger brother, at twenty-one months old doesn't quite remember "Buick," but still refers to the '57 Special sitting out in the driveway as "Uncle Don's car, VROOM VROOM!" It brings a smile to my face to know that he'll be the next one to catch the disease. :TU:
:Comp: Sorry, Ken; I looked around for a previous thread about this, but didn't find one. I don't spend a lot of time here, or I might have seen it when it was originally posted. ou: Again, apologies. I don't like duplicate threads on boards either! in my unofficial capacity as official board kibbutzer, i think your reply deserved it's own thread.
FYI, this week the new crash test rating system was announced. The benchmark has been raised and therefore the star system will be overhauled. It seems that with the 5-star level of crash safety being achieved by a very large proportion of vehicle produced now and the NIHS et al have determined that it no longer is a useful tool for differeniating the relative safety of new vehicles. The new system will take affect with the 2011 model year cars. Because the 2010 cars have already been tested. It still leaves this question to answered. When are "we" going to teach that driving is a complex skill that requires dedicted attention. After all a vechicle is a many thousand pound lethal weapon. And with the right to have a drivers license comes the responsibility to use it correctly and safely. Oh, I forgot! All the technology and safety gagets will protect the occupants while they are texting becasue the car drives itself now. I saw it on TV so it has to be true. The government said so. Where are my guns? I may need then soon.
With regard to the five star crash worthiness rating, I understand the Ford Five Hundred (and Mercury cousin) was a 4 star rated car, but when they changed the label to Taurus, it became a 5 star rated car. All it took was certifying that the car would meet the increased "star" requirements...they didn't do anything else or run any further tests. ....other than they put a real motor in it....finally. o No:
Bob, that was a perfectly worded response...too bad it most likely will fall on deaf ears. At any rate, I think you verbalized what many of us felt about this PR debacle.
