Thank God they don’t build them like they used to…

This is what happens when you crash a modern car against one which is 50 years old.

The crash, conducted by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) in the US, was aimed to demonstrate the great advancements made in automotive safety over the past half-century. The two cars in question were a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. And while the 59 Bel Air dwarfs the Malibu in terms of size, and therefore provide the impression of safety, the images unequivocally demonstrate that you’d be in far better shape in the modern machine.

The drivers’ survival space shows little or no intrusion in the Malibu, whereas the Bel Air seems to wrap its cabin around its unfortunate crash test dummy. The test certainly drives home the intended point of modern safety advancements – shame about the Bel Air though.