Old Cars Definitely Weren’t Safer. This Engineering Breakdown Explains Why

The phrase “they don’t build ’em like they used to” means different things in different contexts. When it comes to safety, “building ’em like they used to” means setting aside many of the basic safety features that we take for granted in 2025, including airbags and crumple zones. We still hear the argument that old cars are safer, however, so engineering firm Munro & Associates made a video to debunk the myth.

Carl Crittenden, the lead engineer for Munro & Associates, starts out by explaining that he’s not out to criticize old cars. He likes them, he owns a few, and he restores them in his spare time. However, even from an enthusiast’s perspective, the idea that a decades-old, body-on-frame sedan is better built than a newer sedan loaded with plastic simply doesn’t hold water. He references a video shot in 2009 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that puts a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu head-to-head in a crash test.

While the Malibu wasn’t exactly the high-water mark for sedans, it obliterates the Bel Air. And yet, the video remains controversial 16 years after it went live. Crittenden notes that one of the allegations he often hears is that the Bel Air’s engine and transmission were removed in preparation for the crash test. He refutes that with photos that show the engine is still in the car. He also shoots down the idea that one of the fenders pops off because IIHS maliciously removed brackets. On a Bel Air, the fenders are mounted to the radiator support and to the body. That’s it. In contrast, on the vast majority of newer cars, the fenders are mounted to a metal structure that doubles as a crumple zone.

The sheet metal that was used in manufacturing decades ago was sometimes thicker than the sheet metal used today, but the body panels were usually weaker because they weren’t reinforced. Crittenden proves this by comparing a door from an unknown 1961 model and a door from a new Kia EV9. The old door is a millimeter thicker but it’s totally hollow. The new, slightly thinner door is reinforced in several places.

So, no: Driving a land yacht isn’t your best option if you want the safest car on the road. By all means, buy a classic car, restore it, drive the hell out of it, and enjoy it, but do it because it’s cool, not because you think it’ll save your life if you get T-boned by an Altima doing 45 mph.

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