Re: Protouring style street car.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:45 am

Hey. In 1973 our fantastic government passed a law that bumpers should be rated for a 5mph incident without damaging the lighting system and body. This is when we lost the tail lights in the bumper look. The law started out as 2 1/2 mph, but when it was passed it was 5mph. Now this is what I have read somewhere, but I could not find it again, in a 2 minute search to answer your question. GM was designing the 73 and up Colonade A Body line, as well as other news cars, and they incorporated a 10 mph bumper system in case the law was changed. This way they wouldn’t have to make any more changes. You have to remember that during the’70’s the auto makers where like beaten down dogs. Just take a look at a mid 70’s Mercedes 2 door coupe. The bumpers on that thing look like gutters from your house. The funny thing is the 10mph bumper law never came and in the early 80’s the law changed again so bumpers got smaller. Long story short, they never needed to be that big in the first place. Here is a neat article about the bumpers and what you can do to fix the problem. One of the cars is even a Laguna.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.motortrend.com/how-to/1976-chevy-camaro-how-to-fix-ugly-1970s-bumpers/amp/

by S3TPI Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:01 pm

Thanks for the info, Kevin, I do remember the 5 MPH front and 2.5 rear requirement, but never heard they were going for 10. I also recall that in the event of an impact greater than 5 MPH, the damage caused to the impact absorbing system cost more to repair than just an ordinary bumper. So, it wasn't really saving anyone any money. I don't know where they are at for low-speed collision requirements these days, with the whole front end of the car being plastic.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:10 pm

I completely understand that. Our government has absolutely no car guys working for it. Just look at these pictures. One is of my 2001 SS Camaro and the other is a random picture of a Malibu. Which one is actually safer? I don’t know but I can tell you which one that looks better.

Protouring style street car. - Page 2 931d9310

Protouring style street car. - Page 2 A4771210

by S3TPI Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:18 pm

They have evolved, that's for sure!

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