I've just been having a look at the Euro NCAP website. I was struck by just how much improvement there has been in scores over the past 10 years - absolutely amazing that just 9 years ago a 3-series could be getting only two stars.
My question is - how much did the crash-worthiness of cars improve in the (say) 30 years leading up to the establishment of NCAP. Were cars from the early 1990s at much the same level as cars from the 1960s, or had there been a significant over those years?
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There had been progress, but probably driven by Volvo's safety perception. Vauxhalls contributed a bit as well (believe it or not) with their safety developments. All you had to do was drive a Mini then get into something loke the original Fiesta for you to appreciate progress.
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I'd like to see some data, but subjectively I think it was really only in the 80s when cars moved on in crashworthiness, with some notable exceptions (Saab & Volvo) - possibly others I don't remember. Safety really didn't really sell at all, except to a minority until well into the 90s if my memory serves. From about 1991 I decided I would not buy any car without ABS, but I recall this being regarded as a slightly odd attitude at the time.
I'm not sure an early Fiesta would have been any better than a Mini - 80s cars generally were very light compared with equivalent models today - a 1987 Ford Orion and 2005 Panda have almost the same kerb weight, and that's not due entirely to extra equipment on a Panda.
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Bear in mind however that weight isn't everything - stiffness is also a big consideration, in conjunction with controlled crumple zones to absorb impact.
When I was looking for a car for my son to learn to drive in, my overriding concern was safety. I chose a 1996 Megane which had a four star NCAP rating, but is I assume a relatively light car (certainly compared to my other two cars which are both Saabs). The extra stiffness however over even the 1994 Saab is noticable - when I jack the Saab 9000 up, the doors stick & grind if you open them while jacked. With the Megane, they open clean as a whistle. The Saab, being an older design, clearly has some hangovers from the older "build 'em big" heavy mentality with regard to safety.
Having said that, I know which I'd rather be driving if I had a prang....but not entirely sure this is a logical conclusion.
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It is also worth bearing in mind that stiffness isn't a global property of a bodyshell.
By this, I mean that if a bodyshell isn't torsionally stiff, as evidenced by doors not opening easily when you jack one corner up, that doesn't necessarily mean that the body isn't stiff in the direction necessary for occupant protection in a crash.
While NCAP is a good thing, I think that the companies who do well in the tests, and have lots of stars are the ones who have built their cars deliberately to achieve this - as MichaelR says, by making sure their warning lights pass muster!
There is another, more unsung, and IMO more applicable ongoing research effort, which looks at the statistics of real accidents, and real injuries and fatalities. It's much more grisly in its approach, but it is absolutely rooted in real life.
One interesting finding I saw a ex-colleague of mine uncover while he was working on a subset of these data was a sudden increase in the rate of pelvic injury between occupants of mkI and mkII Fiestas. Those who remember the cars will know that the metalwork of the door remained largely unchanged, while the interior door card was much changed for the mkII, with a prominent area containing the the arm rest and door pull which sat directly alongside the driver's pelvis, whereas in the mkI, this area was simply a flat area of door card.
Number_Cruncher
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I've just been having a look at the Euro NCAP website. I was struck by just how much improvement there has been in scores over the past 10 years - absolutely amazing that just 9 years ago a 3-series could be getting only two stars.
Only becuase pre 1997 cars are pre-NCAP cars and thus are not filled with useless rubbish designed purely to get more ridiculous NCAP stars - seatbelt warning light reminders and suchlike.
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Pre 1997 cars were a chunk lighter as well.
For example, model for model, the new Renault Clio is as much as 400kg heavier than the equivalent mid 90's Renault 5 was.
400kg is a ridiculous increase, extra safety or not.
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