I posted these pics in another thread, but here are some smashed up 116 pics that are interesting to consider when thinking about these old cars in the safety realm-
crumple zones worked, but realisticially the driver at least was probably injured in this accident
passenger, probably no passenger in this car, but if there were, leg damage probable-
driver- looks like at minimum, the drivers head was pitched through the side window and clearly hit the steering wheel really hard.
what I found most interesting, is that the most severe side of the accident is not as badly deformed as the opposite side, the 617 was forced down and into the transmission tunnel, buckling the floor and pitching the driver seat up and over. Who knows what speed this happend, but the body of the car was mostly straight still. The front doors would even latch.
The cars are tough, but improvements in passenger protection are far beyond the mercedes of this era.