1978-1989 Ford E-150 Clubwagon NHTSA Full-Overlap Frontal Crash Test

[@alanmorrison3598]

My wife and I owned and drove a 1978 Econoline 150 Window Van with the 300 cu in 6 cylinder engine and manual 3 speed with overdrive floor mounted shifter for 150,000 miles!! I'd gladly buy a new one today. The trick is not to run into fixed barriers at 35 mph! Small cars of the day would have been no match for this great van in a crash!

[@jamesengland7461]

Everything worked together to attack the driver. Great.

[@cgreenfield6655]

I can bet 80% of people in the world think they'd be safer in one of these than a newer one.

[@thecrazyfarmboy]

They are so clueless 😂

[@jessemurray1757]

They don't make them like they used to....and thank God for that.

[@gabesmath105]

the newer ones of this one aren't much better

[@dougfisher1813]

I still drive a 50 year old car on the freeway. Should I be concerned?

[@jessemurray1757]

@@dougfisher1813 the best way to survive an accident, is to avoid it...

[@compu85]

What are you using to upscale these films? It works quite well.

[@ivertranes2516]

That steering column movement! Yikes!!! I thought by 1985, they weren't supposed to do that!! Then again, this IS a mid seventies platform.

[@pl5624]

Trucks didnt have to meet car standards...

[@donw3912]

I would love to see this go against a mid size car of the late 80s/early 90s. And up against one of Fords current van offerings...t bone...rear end and 30% offset on each. The first thing i noticed was the trans crossmember on the LH side the bolts sheared it appears. The frame failed at the better points if it had to fail. I would be curious to see how the 85 F series trucks did in these tests given the frames were very similar up front.

[@jamesengland7461]

Today I saw a newer generation of this van, a dually! but with no trailer hitch! ???

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

Good design the engine/trans dropped down away from occupants. Need that considering the engine is almost inside the cab.

[@mexicanspec]

I wonder why the seat belts didn't hold the passengers in place.

[@nagosnell]

Thanks for posting these. I don't understand the data; is this fatal for the driver? I thought it wasn't wearing a seat belt at first.

[@westhavenor9513]

That face plant into the steering wheel is going to leave a bruise!

[@americanrambler4972]

Compared to results you will see from current generation Ford Transit vans doing this same test, this is a horrible result. If nothing else, the seat belt restraint system was woefully inadequate. When you examine this from the viewpoint of what was better than an Econoline from say 1973 and 1965, (This is an 1985 model year van.) the passenger safety improvement is quite substantial. You can see the huge benefit made when ford moved the driver and passenger seating position from in front of the engine and front wheels to behind them. Then adding the additional crush space up front from the preceding generation really improved occupant safety. With the current Transit Van, this impact instead of being a serious injury crash event has become just an annoying inconvenience.

[@milfordcivic6755]

Most pre-1995 vehicles without airbags have sub-par crash protection. Volvo, Mercedes and full size American cars were about the safest you could buy at the time.

[@Shakerhood69]

Some mid 1970s GM cars had air bags too.

[@dougfisher1813]

​@@Shakerhood69also, some oddball number of 1984 Ford Tempos had factory airbags.

[@Shakerhood69]

@@dougfisher1813 Thats neat to hear, my buddy had a Mercury Topaz back then.

[@markbrookes6557]

Things did not look well for the dummy driver.

[@nathanmcdonald610]

Back in those days "safety" was merely a suggestion, today it's a mandate.