On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Paul Nelson wrote:
> This may seem like a question from someone with a little paranoia
> and it's for my wife so go figure. As my 76 Spitfire is getting closer
> to being road-worthy, my VERY safety minded wife wants to know the
> likelyhood of a Spitfire exploding when rear ended. Given the location
> of the fuel tank. She doesn't want want the kids(who really want to
> take a ride)at ANY risk. I don't either, but I told her she was being
> over protective and not to worry.
> Does she have any just cause(besides being a woman)to be concerned
> about this?
Paul, I would say anything is possible, but chances are actually very
slim of a Spitfire "going Pinto" on you. ;-)
I still have the remains of a 1973 Spitfire that was HEAVILY rear-ended
in 1985. To give some idea of the impact, the lowest rear part of the
right rear wheel well made significant contact with the tread of the
tire. Also, depsite the fact that this was an old enough car that it
didn't have the rear frame rail extensions (for the heavier bumpers of
later 1500s), the impact was severe enough to twist the chassis. However,
the car was actually still almost driveable, except for that tire rubbing
and that the impact had also weakened a rear axle u-joint, which soon
snapped. Also, both doors still opened with virtually no extra effort.
No one was hurt in the crash, and no boom!
Of course, YMMV!
--Andy
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