Soaring

Our old cars don't have a frame. Think about it. There is nothing to keep another car from climbing into the passenger compartment. I just cringe whenever I think of a head on collision in Ol' Yeller. That steering wheel would be through me and into the back seat.

EmperorOfChicken

talk about becomming one with the car [8D]

P Zero

I beg to differ, ever heard of a Geo Metro?
-P.

spanish mustang

It is true that if your car outwieghs the other and has a good chassis strength you will always come out better thats where my faith in old cars lies, they are solid big pieces of heavy metal whereas modern cars have crumple zones so the car will basically be good in a crash at certain speeds but in worse crashes the crash goes straight through the crumple zone and crushes the whole car. Whereas old cars dont have those crumple zones and protect passengers better and damage opposing car more which is whats important.

As I said above the defender which is a 25 year old design is the safest car according to UK statistics which has no crumple zones, airbags or anything just brute strength which is what im hoping for from the Mustang.

Mustang Boy

if that is wut u want i wouldnt get a mustang cause the subframe isnt as strong as a body of frame design mainly cause there r gaps where there is no frame mainly from right infront of the door and till a little before the C on the side(64.5-66 body style not sure of others) i would get like an old cadillac or any other old 4 door all metal car with a full frame

Soaring

We had folks getting killed in 1957 Cadillacs and Buicks back then too. However, I would rather be in an old Cadillac than a new Geo or Civic.

spanish mustang

I want a mustang no matter what but am trying to find out a few things. After all to every problem there is a solution! If the chassis is weak then it can be re-enforced, if the doors are weak you can do a volvo sips(side impact protection system) type installation.

Having said that Im also surprised this is such a contested subject and no one really seams to have concrete information on the subject, after all safety is an important issue. But ill have to agree its not as interesting as the other parts of the car but more important it is.

Ok so I wont find any crash tests but Ive also googled for crashed mustangs but all i can find is dents and scratches nothing major, somewhere out there someone must have a photo of a crashed mustang???

Lumbergh

Not one built recently with front and side air bags, crumple zones so the engine doesnt't end up in the drivers seat, ABS, etc.

rmodel65

for the most part a classic mustang is pretty safe with the exception of the non collapsable steering column which became standard in 1968 so to up grade to that it needs a 68 column and steering box it will be pretty safe! lots of people have fears about the gas tanks in the early stangs 65-70(not the 71-73) but the problem mainly comes about because of unmaintained cars with original gas tanks that have pinholes leaks hit from the rear at high speeds.

restomod67

Most of the sheet metal on the mustang is 19ga or higher. Frame metal is 14ga. One of my main goals for my restomod is accident protection and I'm taking pics of all the work I do to it.
If you want accident protection you will have to do it yourself. I'm adding 16ga floor pans, cowl panels, and reinforcing the door pillars. I'm also going to try and line the door skins with 1/8 inch flatbar for added protection. I also added 1/4" x 3" steel flat bar on the outside of the cowl panels diagonally for side impact protection. I also would like to create a roll-cage hidden within the frame but that is just such a major undertaking, I'm not sure. For the rear I'm going to add 1/4 inch U-beams to the frame rail along with a 3/8 flat bar right before the gas tank.
If you want to see some of the work done so far go to my project page: My Restomod Project