1979 Pontiac Firebird | Frontal Crash Test by NHTSA | CrashNet1

[@justsumguy2u]

Pretty impressive, especially for a '79 unibody model. The F bodies of that genre used a pretty beefy front subframe, that no doubt helped.

[@IamVintage72]

I was in a major car accident in my 1979 ta when a semi truck pulled out in front of me. Impact was about 40 mph and 4 back surgeries and Fusion and I'm still walking. Car looked just like this one . If I had been in a different car I may not be hers today.

[@fleetwin1]

looks like the passenger compartment stayed in good shape.

[@tiredofusernameshit]

WTF ??? This test rocks and shows how badass these cars were ! I would take Trans Am for a ride any goddamn day of the week !

[@marcathens2951]

Dam that folded up bad

[@301Pont]

One thing to remember is what most people forget with this type of crash: This car is slamming into a solid barrier which has absolutely no give whatsoever. Most modern crash tests utilize some type of deformable or crushable aluminum block -especially in offset frontal crashes to simulate another vehicle's "give". This crash would be about like hitting a large tree at 35 mph.

[@davehoffman3481]

Cars do hit bridge abutments and trees at 35mph. The deformable barriers are a an unnecessary concession to the vehicle manufacturers.

[@hakeemsd70m]

@@davehoffman3481 Not really considering the small and moderate overlap crash is one of the most common in North America. The deformable barrier serves its purpose well.

[@TheKing6200]

Looks pretty good for an old car

[@epiccarguy892]

yup

[@xq39]

Impressive for this era, the driver doesn't seem to hit the steering wheel hard enough to injure and the long crumple zone with seatbelts work very well.

[@kingboagart899]

My '77 was one of the few that didn't get wrecked when I was a kid. Ex-wife took it with her before I got the chance. Looks like I was pretty lucky.

[@madmaxxxthen30-rwofficialm23]

Looks like it can be still driven that's cool. That's why I love classic cars

[@josephchamoun8710]

very good for an impact speed 35mph

[@djo9c1]

Not really. They couldn't even open the doors without tools.

[@Roboticgladiator]

I wonder what subframe connectors do for it in a crash.

[@demoskunk]

Now let's see an offset frontal crash. That would be a disaster.

[@ilgwent8061]

Not really👍

[@epiccarguy892]

nah it would perform well

[@whattheheck1000]

As with any 1979 car, even the Volvo 240 flunked an offset test. November 13, 2022 5:08 am

[@-m.d.n-9019]

​@@whattheheck1000 idk about the 240 one... I have a saved clip of a 240 hitting a modern car coming out pretty well and safe for the passengers.

[@MitchGrooms]

been waiting for this car, thanks for sharing it..

[@carlobocchioart]

i'm happy to see in wich greath way my ride can resist to the impact!

[@davidwatlington8035]

carlobocchioart huh?

[@stephenflowers8516]

Interesting how you can see the positive wire to the starter motor short out right behind the driver side front wheel. Lots of sparks.

[@tiredofusernameshit]

AWESOME !!!! Thanks ! I've been looking for old Trans Am's crash tests videos for almost two years and now finally I can reassure myself and also prove to non-believers that these cars were true american beasts on the road that could provide total driving excitement and top safety as well. Compare this video to any of the new crappy plastic cars with short front made in China crash tests and see the difference !

[@epiccarguy892]

very strong build

[@widetrackcat]

Ah, that'll buff right out!! BTW, look at the undercar shots. There is an engine & trans installed. Looks like the V-6 base model.

[@chrislycan2495]

I've been hit behind on my 1975 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. I think it was a Honda civic that was going to fast behind me, I was stopping on a yellow light and the jackass civic hit me. Funny enough the damage was hilirous. I barely took damage. But the other lost its radiator and engine. Talk about well built cars back than.

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@chrislycan2495 is this is a true story? I wouldn't be laughing either way, sure it will bend back in place, but an impact still leaves it scarred ... I remember crashing my 1936 Pontiac, very well hold up, but an ugly crash nonetheless for I stopped suddenly at 71 miles per hour. It's survivable trust me, but you want to have seat constraints on, and I don't for a second believe the thing about bench seats lifting up and breaking off during crashes, not in the early 1950's, maybe the late 1950's but even that seems a stretch.

[@overlyobsolete2797]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar Christ, a 71 mile an hour crash in a '36 and you lived to tell the tale? You're one lucky son of a gun!

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@overlyobsolete2797 that's just the thing, it's all original and survived such a crash...daunting crash (which of course modernists today try to call off as being false to help their notion that we've progressed so far in automotive engineering/ but I could easily turn that down in seconds from all that I have seen) Of course the affiliation of the seatbelt being a late invention certainly proves fascinatingly odd (in the 50's some fathers wore seatbelts insisting to drive the vehicle while the wife didn't because of a fear of the stomach area being compressed. The uterus became a known concern of scientific and engineering notions since the 17th century with women horse back riding - war of course - high activities consisting of overassertion in energy levels - and when a lady was baring a child...well she was basically the most fragile thing on earth to people back then, even the rumple seat to be designed for labor.) Little background information sorry, and is one mystery I never quite understood, however there were lab-belt adjusters who would strap in a belt for you in your automobile wether it be a 1936 Pontiac, a 1934 Nash, 1932 DeSoto, 1928 Oakland, 1920 Chevrolet Superior, 1914 Buick, 1903 Pope tribune, and anything even before that. Although most survived those motor crashes especially prone to happen in Boston in 1900-1905 with automobile crashes with a population of 70- to 230 automobiles in the city...I know because I counted them from photography and filmography/autochromes/drawn paintings depicting a real street, etc etc.

[@Hanhistoliitto]

The 1979 Camaro might have the same crash result, as this car and the Camaro used the same body in the 70's, the only difference is the front and rear bumpers.

[@patricklaughlin7483]

Do you by chance have or know where I can get official safety ratings for a 1979 Firebird, like in this video?

[@E46_Lenker]

Poor Pontiac

[@TomeeDee86]

wouldn't be bad, if they have had been airbags at the time...

[@vlogingpro1238]

you can get air bags installed

[@abes9981]

@@vlogingpro1238 no way I thought that was impossible to do

[@marioluigi6024]

Hitting A Solid Object And Another Car Are Two Different Things

[@rollytuason6232]

Good crash test result, just need to add air bags. Also this car type model has thick side impact steel beams inside each doors.

[@TamasKalman]

not too bad

[@litrealty878]

0:11

[@xBrabus76]

I would use the turboboost no prob there!

[@widetrackcat4165]

Why was the nose sitting so high? They must have had a ton of gear in the trunk. If the car was sitting level like they normally are, I bet this test would have turned out better.

[@lisecimon801]

Like a ruffle chips

[@auaiao9]

It's just a little smooshed in the front. No biggie.

[@litrealty878]

0:10

[@pl5624]

I guess that's the end of the road for jim rockford

[@westsideponchojj2603]

WOW ! Just like the Fish said swimming through the water at 35 mph and hit the Concrete - He said "Dam" LOL hahhaa -- Seriously though -- Like the film - I'm Speechless !! ( Shows me the areas needed to be re-enforced with caging; need of a true restraint system -- as well as restraint on 'how" you drive: don't hit stuff ! )

[@san379]

2:19 .. lol seatbelts did nothing.. he smashed his face into the wheel badddd

[@bradparris99]

But he didn't go through the windshield

[@ds440RB]

Something bad always happens to Jim Rockford's car when it gets stolen.

[@TamasKalman]

i had a crash with a 2nd gen 79 camaro once, as i tried to save a passanger of a car who did an illegal u turn in front of me. i ended up crashing 4 empty parking cars. i didn't feel anything upon the impact, the camaro got badly damaged though on all corners (repairing price tag was prohibitive unfortunately) but i walked away from it without any injuries. i have no doubt hitting a tree or a wall can be disastrous, but hitting four other cars (and totaling a few of them) was absolutely safe.

[@troycox3261]

we have a 1 owner 79 trans am that my father bought brand new in 79, after seeing this, dont want to drive it anymore.

[@JohnDoe-nv8gd]

looks like the driver's gonna have some broken ribs after smacking that steering wheel

[@doodledinky]

@Teriq MitchellAs a kid I had a 79 Firebird crash into a stonewall basically identical to this (missed the turn). Yes, the steering wheel looked like it was melted after I hit it. No seat belts and me and my buddy both walked away banged up (chest a little sore and face a bit bloody from hitting the windshield) but otherwise ok.

[@bradparris99]

@@doodledinky Without being buckled up, you and your buddy were very lucky. Hopefully you started buckling up after that.

[@chief1972]

Not bad.

[@BanthaPooDoo64]

no engine wow see the front end up in the air no ingine wait

[@stuartlittle8980]

He is hitting his face on the steering wheel Doesn't really seem safe to me

[@emeyer6963]

Hope Jim Rockford wasn't driving

[@wadebaker2910]

East bound n down to hell

[@lemkelegion]

Still looks better than a Mustang

[@Vmaxpilot04]

Barely a scratch!!

[@hr4ny]

Like the thought of owning one,but I'm cray about steering wheels going through my face...meh.

[@vlogingpro1238]

in a crash your gonna smash your face in a steering wheel in any car/truck I want a 1979 z28 Chevrolet

[@vlogingpro1238]

+Vloging Pro123 chev camaro*

[@vlogingpro1238]

and if there is no seat belt you can get one installed in the car

[@animalcorvair]

+Vloging Pro123 seat belts were law then

[@hakeemsd70m]

@@vlogingpro1238 not in a car a truck with an airbag that fires correctly, or in response to this video, an actual airbag to begin with wishes car does not have.

[@Chandler_T]

GTA V

[@beaudidlyno1]

Insured worse. ...

[@skylos7436]

I like to see this car crash todays BMW MB or other european car

[@Impactjunky]

@Skylos 743 I rear ended a new Audi with my 68 Plymouth Roadrunner, it caused $500 damage to the Audi and there is nothing wrong with my car. I didn't have to pay either because he was road raging and brake checked me. lol

[@skylos7436]

ImpactJunky and i believe you because your car is all metal not plastic junk

[@swordfish1986]

They still do this full frontal crash test in the US and new cars look much better after the crash. These old cars are cool but modern cars fare better in just about any kind of crash maybe except low speed impacts.

[@oxymon100]

reddit

[@GrantLogan2]

Yup...they'd be dead... No airbags or crumpling front end to soften the blow of the impact.

[@Survivor87]

Front end crumpled up pretty good, roof area too.

[@MustObeyTheRules]

Lmao "no crumpling front end" are you blind?!

[@bradparris99]

They were buckled up so they probably survived with injuries and possibly walked away.

[@dhy5342]

No engin in th car.

[@demoskunk]

+dhy5342 It would just end up in the dummy's lap anyway, making this a deadly crash.

[@kz1000ps]

+dhy5342 Ah, so that's why the nose is pitched up

[@Aus78Formula]

well, there is....

[@djo9c1]

Absolutely false. Highly visible at 7:48 and 8:26.

[@richardnunez3474]

dhy5342 why you acting like a crash test dummy? 😂