MT Editor at Large Arthur St. Antoine pits Chevy’s awesome “Blue Devil” — the Corvette ZR1 — against its toughest adversary yet: a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. Shot By: Jim Gleason & Terren Lin Edited By: Jim Gleason Read the tale here: www.motortrend.com
In the 50 years since US insurers organized the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, car crashworthiness has improved. Demonstrating this was a crash test conducted on Sept. 9 between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. In a real-world collision similar to this test, occupants of the new model would fare much better than in the vintage Chevy. “It was night and day, the difference in occupant protection,” says Institute president Adrian Lund. What this test shows is that automakers don’t build cars like they used to. They build them better.” The crash test was conducted at an event to celebrate the contributions of auto insurers to highway safety progress over 50 years. Beginning with the Institute’s 1959 founding, insurers have maintained the resolve, articulated in the 1950s, to “conduct, sponsor, and encourage programs designed to aid in the conservation and preservation of life and property from the hazards of highway accidents.” A decade after the Institute was founded, insurers directed this organization to start collecting data on crashes and the cost of repairing vehicles hurt in crashes. To lead this work and the Institute’s expanded research program, insurers named a new president, William Haddon Jr., who already was a pioneer in the field of highway safety. In welcoming Dr. Haddon, Thomas Morrill of State Farm said “the ability to bring unbiased scientific data to the table is extremely valuable.” This scientific approach, ushered in by …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
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LMAO! @ kelly clarkson!
@2000Eurofighter Come on… you’re comparing the F18 to the Mb339?
F-18 Blue Angels are very nice acrobatic airplanes and pilots…but…ehm…sorry but The Italian Tricolor Arrows with theyr Mb339 are the best in the world. But F18 is one of the best fighters.
@siraleckingofterrors well he sounds like a tour guide narrarator
@Blueball0120 They are saying that the vette is the quick production car, I really like the vette but there are other cars just as quick and handle just as well.
Hey they are racing the veytte against a Jet ? Stupid. I have owned and built cars since the early 1960′s and know what the difference is….
Well, He didn’t even faint! It seems pretty excellent to me!
@sixtiesforever1966 Yeah Shut up! Stock vs Modified is not honest. The Ford GT is already more expensive then the Corvette. You just made yourself look stupid.
Yes because we all know that an Nissan and a Corvette is quicker then aaany Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche…
Top Gear did this already…..except with a Typhoon and Veyron. It was a lot like this video except not lame.
fantastic video!!
KELLY CLARKSON KELLY CLARKSON
When it comes to performance cars, you have to compare a real world car with another, not a jet , or a rail, or a amusing. Quick is one thing, …..Quick, now that’s another!
How about a Superformance GT-40 with a Keith Craft 1200 hp Ford Twin Turbo Motor with over 1000 Real Wheel HP? Can that vette keep up with that?
@siraleckingofterrors Definately Such a FAG!
@siraleckingofterrors Definately!
883 people ate a blue waffle…..
For you all who don’t know what American heritage is, this is a historical American car that Americans like. The blue angels. An American tradition, that most Americans can relate to as well. For all you prideful Europeans, this is our own thing so please know, no need to make fun. (believe me, I know that European cars are quicker that goes without being said) haha
Are these guys like behind a couple years in performance? srsly why not race it against a blue Veyron
@XX8A7X8XX Blue Waffle- Greay way to make someone puke XD
I want them to race a 2500hp drag race car to a jet
that would be harder, or like a 6-7 sec car
lol id like to see the corvette race against the sonic boom
Kelly Clarkson!!!!! @ 11:27
0:57 perfect american redneck stereo type sunburned hideous stout moron with nascar-like unfitted jumpsuit.
Redneck flag in the beginning, redneck car… & finally at 0:57 you will see this perfect american redneck stereotype… stout, hideous, sunburned, hideous nascar stench… lol
hideous car. I live in germany & I have already seen 18 lamborghini murcielago, 37 gtr, & at least 100 ferraris in the past 3 years but I have never seen a ZR1 or even a c06 corvette model. I guess nobody buys hideous cars like this.
the bel air is most likely a replica designed to exact specs as the original in order to peform a test. the bel air looks too perfect to be an original, even if it was restored the cost to do so then crash it would deem it unessecary. so I believe this 59 bel air is a replica not the real thing
my god modern cars are hideous. I’d take the Bel Air anyday of the week over that Malibu piece of shit, no matter how safe it is
Sheesh. And I used to remember being able to hide the comments section on YouTube.
My aunt’s day nursery in Smyrna, ga in the early 1950s backed up to a garage where smashed autos were taken. Yes, they did look like this ’59 Chevy. They continued to look like this until M-B invented crumple zone technology and allowed all auto manufacturers to use it free.
I’d kill them for destroying that Bel Air
Roads today are safer. Cars today look shittier.
A Bel Air isn’t just a car! It’s a work of art and an expression of LIKE of freedom, the open road and mostly of the American Way (of life, not crashing).
Bel Air owners simply DO NOT CRASH their cars. The ultimate safety feature!
Sa se peux juste pas crisss pk vous defaite les vielle chosse qui on de las vres valeure conparer au morso de plastique sur rou daujourdhui Red flag
safe or not YOU SIMPLY DONT RUIN A 1959 CHEVY!!!
I call BS, shenanigans…whatever, but this piece of advertising is bullshit.
So does anyone know when the auto industry really started crash testing the cars they place out on the market? I own a 1951 DeSoto so I was alittle shocked at this footage. I admit I am alittle biased when it comes to ancient cars. But, I also realize that cars back then lacked any safety features aside from a lapbelt ( My car doesn’t even have that!). Just goes to show we shouldn’t assume our ancient cars are indestructable tanks, just because they weigh the same as one.
So does anyone know when the auto industry really started crash testing the cars they place out on the market? I own a 1951 DeSoto so I was alittle shocked at this footage. I admit I am alittle biased when it comes to ancient cars. But, I also realize that cars back then lacked any safety features aside from a lapbelt ( My car doesn’t even have that!). Just goes to show we shouldn’t assume our ancient cars are indestructable tanks, just because they weigh the same as one.
@51HHMD Haha. So we “communists” are smarter! It doesn’t matter what the Bel Air has or has not. It’s a 1959 design, ie without crumple zones, rigid shell and safety features as airbags or even seat belts. They sacrificed one just to prove that 50 years of engineering in motoring have not passed in vain. This ghastly result was to be expected. Place a ’77 Plymouth Fury in place of the Bel Air and it would have been the same.
at least it wasnt an impala
OF COURSE THE BEL AIR GETS A TERRIBLE RATING, it’s 52 years ancient FFS. And why, OH WHY, would anyone crash such a nice looking Bel Air? Was it a victim of “Cash for Clunkers”?
Those ancient cars were motorized coffins!
… ive seen plenty of classic cars crashed into… thats not how they behave in an accident. and where is the engine? I dont trust this footage considering this defies everything i have seen in news pictures of similar accidents.
are there any excellent images of the aftermath around?
2 less pos Obama Motors cars to ruin the reputation of American cars! Maybe we could get The Obamanation to crash test all his cars as they come off the assembly line.
@Ryantravisaol Mazda is japanese….
@Ryantravisaol mazda is japanese….
@einsikallin Its a modle of the car.
That does it………Im not going to buy a 1959 Chevy Bel Air anymore
At least the ’59 was a 4 door, it would have been a shame to ruin a 2 door like that
@Ryantravisaol well, ofc the brand is not korean but, most of the modern chevys are made in asia by dewoo…
that is why they suck balls now (imo)
just like MOST of the modern Fords are not made in US.
All you people who prefer the newer care must be communist. The reason the Bel-air got so banged up is because it has a X-frame, which doesn’t have side beams.
@JackBulik Mazda is Korean, not Chevy or GM.