Sienna Red interior?? Nice !!

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Actually, I think it is Henna Red

__________________

All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

Just recently my W123 was rear ended at a delta of at 25M.P.H., causing a several hundred foot slide. Split the welds in the rear, but rear suspension prevented the cabin being intruded.

As for her 2008 Toyota I had photograph, but lost all my photographs from Spring of 2013 to about two weeks ago when helping a friend transfer her pictures. It had the engine to help, but the front end was pushed into at least the firewall. Hood and front fenders pushed toward the rear.

The S.R.S. front safety belts held me tight to the seat and didn't get thrown around. I know they did such a good job, like to find another set to put in my next W123 wagon.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Current fleet:

1985 Mercedes-Benz 280TE - Waiting for heart surgery.

1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TDT - Rear ended 23 September 2016 and now looking for a new home.

1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD - Parted out.

1964 Volkswgen Beetle - Vater's since September 1968 and undergoing a restoration.

1971 Volkswagen Sunroof Squareback with F.I. - in need of full restoration.

1971 Volkswagen Squareback automatic with F.I. - Vacationing with her caretaker until he is in better health.

That Jetta held up a lot better than I thought it would. Sorry to see an EcoD Mk2 survive the tinworm and not survive a minivan and a rogue bee. That is one of my favorite cars, I always wanted one of those in that exact color and could never find one. Had every other flavor of VW diesel from that era but never an Eco.

Well, I did eventually find one that looked like that but wasn't exactly the same.

The Eco engine died (second that died for whatever reason according to the service records) and a replacement wasn't easy to come by so a VR6 was swapped in. The body and interior were really good, especially for an Ohio car, so it was worth the work.

The Eco badging was left in place as well as the original dashboard with the cold start pull and glow plug light. Same steel wheels, same little peashooter exhaust too.

It was a bit faster and sounded a little different than the Eco when you put the foot down, though.

I sold it to a guy east of Columbus Ohio a few months ago, so it's still out there to the best of my knowledge.

This car was hit above the frame rails in a soft spot, take a look in the trunk of an intact car and you will see little structure.

However, if this car is build like most MB, there will be a steel panel just rearward of the rear seat back that helped restrict damage from going farther forward.

The passenger compartment was breached as the rear seat back is pushed forward. Still, it probably preformed better than a similar era domestic car.

On a somewhat related note, there is a crash test between a 59 Chevy Bel Air and a 09 Chevy Malibu . Don't think for one minute that 50's cars were tanks.

Somewhere on the net, the is u tube vid / pics of a dark colored 60's Pontiac 2 door ( GTO ? ) at a car show that a white ish Toyota Camry ( or similar ) ran into it at a parking lot. The passenger door of the Pontiac was pushed nearly against the drivers door.

Found the Pontiac crash

Lexus attacks two classic cars

I believe that 59 Chevy had an X frame, hence the damage in that kind of crash (corner to corner) I'd like to see the results of a head on collision.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

More Pontiac / Lexus

1967 Pontiac LeMans that was victim of brutal Lexus attack turns up at auction

^^^ in comparison to a w123, here are some crash test and design videos.

https://youtu.be/BCA-GuE0mUA

https://youtu.be/lgegEGQAsIk

*https://youtu.be/faKpG2Hx8Lo

.

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Here is the video..

https://youtu.be/mJ5PcWziXT0


.

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

The result would have been just as deadly for the driver of the 59. Also the 09 Malibu they used in that video is now 2 generations old. A similar test with the current version would have been even more lopsided.

__________________
CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Not mentioned was that diesel fuel is much safer than gasoline. Which is why I don't fear having the fuel tank behind the back seat (as in exploding Pintos). Indeed, that fuel tank should help absorb a rear impact, similar to the water barrels on freeways.

Every accident my wife and I have been in has been some fool running into the rear or side of our vehicle, and most were uninsured drivers. An air-bag would not have helped, and even a side air-bag only marginally. The fed mandate is either air-bags or an automated seat-belt. Thus, if you wear your seat-belt, the feds consider that sufficient, though an air-bag certainly helps, assuming it doesn't deploy when not needed or throw metal shards at your neck.

I feel safest in my 1965 Newport. 4000 lbm and a big-block V-8 shielding the front seems a big advantage in a head-on collision. It also has crumple zones from the unibody, especially a very long trunk. Many drivers prefer an old full-size Chrysler in demolition derbies.

__________________
1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

Demolition derbies are much different than normal crashes. In a demolition derby, the objective is to keep on going. Also, the crashes are at relatively low speeds by design and often the cars are required to have roll cages. On a modern car, the objective is to transfer as little energy into your body as possible. This is crashability vs safety, and anytime you are in a real world high-speed accident, you'd rather walk away from the accident uninjured than your vehicle being able to be driven away. A car from 1965 may feel safer but is not safer than anything modern. A Smart car head on with your car most likely ends with more risk to you than the Smart car driver because the safety design of those cars is top notch. Modern cars use a mix of high tensile strength and low tensile strength steel that is used to not only maximize the time it takes to decelerate (crumple zones) but the force of the impact is telegraphed through the frame and pillars around the passenger compartment to again minimize the amount of energy that ultimately reaches the passengers. That plus seat belt pretensioners and air bags slow the deceleration of your body while also keeping that movement controlled. The seat belts are certainly more important than the air bags but the air bags can help quite a bit. In a side impact, a side curtain airbag can keep the occupant's head from striking the door glass which greatly reduces the risk of brain damage. A 1965 car is going to offer poor side impact protection, even some more modern cars were crap. The Ford Panther Body, so like the Crown Vic, offered fairly decent front impact protection but side impact was piss poor. That's a chassis that was produced from 1978 to 2012 (though there were certainly safety features added during that run) so it's not entirely surprising. Production started the year C platform was discontinued, so it was already 13 years newer in terms of safety technology.

So I would say the W123 was certainly safe for its time and will do well in things it was designed to do but a new car will be safer in almost any situation. So that being said, don't be afraid of driving old cars, just do your best to minimize the risk of getting into an accident.

__________________
Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

My biggest concern in my area is hitting deer. I've nailed two with a (now-sold) Hyundai Accent, and just feel safer in my W123 (an 81/84 "hybrid"). Interestingly enough, I damned near nailed another rodent with antlers when one darted out of nowhere in front of me on a dark night. Car came out with flying colors because I quickly swerved to avoid hitting it; same thing happened when a MATTRESS ended up in my lane in town one evening. The car allowed me to steer confidently around the obstacle with no loss of control.

That all said, this 1980 NHTSA test may sober up folks to the safety of an MB from that era; I take from the nearly 35 mph head-on (non-moving object) crash that the passenger survives, perhaps with slight to moderate injuries, but the driver is likely severely injured or killed, due to the steering column and no airbag. I've often wondered if installing a 5-point harness would help survivability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgegEGQAsIk

Diesel is only safer from an explosion standpoint.

Having a tank behind the rear seat is the safest position given manufacturing capabilities of the day. Under the rear seat seems to be the best place now that we can make plastic tanks.

The water barrels rely on liquid being expelled at a controlled rate, a fuel tank can't be expected to perform the same function because of a fire risk.

Have a look at the 67 Pontiac Lemans pics, I would not expect the Newport to do any better in a similar side impact.

For a front crash in the Newport, the engine will absorb nearly zero energy and he old style flat pad motor mounts will just shear off pressing the engine into / through the firewall.

Given the inner fenders are welded to the "front frame / body " there is somewhat of an additional crumple zone not found in the Lemans.