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Re: Seatbelts & Bumpers

To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>,
Subject: Re: Seatbelts & Bumpers
From: "Laura Gharazeddine" <Laura.G@141.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 12:48:57 -0600
>I was rear-ended in a Spitfire about thirteen years ago, the guy 

came
>speeding over the brow of the hill, locked up the brakes and 

skidded for
>about 80 feet and then shunted my car about twentyfive feet. I 

actually
>heard his tyres skidding as he locked the brakes - I hit the 

accelerator to
>lessen the impact. The Spitfire was a write-off and the back of 

it was
>squashed against the rear-wheels. I guess it was a tribute to the 

car that
>we walked away unijured and whip-lash was diminished as the 1500 

has
>headrests.

Wow! Amazing!

>I don't know if Triumph intentionally designed the rear with 

crumple zones
>in mind but my UK car did fold up quite nicely and absorb the 

impact. It
>would be interesting to know how a US specification chassis would 

react with
>its extended chassis rails.

I have a friend who smashed up his GT6, New Years Day 2000-I saw 
the pictures-the bonnet was folded very neatly-almost in half. (I 
don't know the details of the accident.) When his wife got there, 
the rescue team had the jaws of life out-and she was told that the 
teams were brought out that came out for fatalities. Greg, 
however, walked away with an injured leg. And a year later, the 
car was back on the road with a new bonnet! It was amazing!

When the drunk rear-ended me in my first Spitfire-pushing me up, 
over a traffic island and onto the other side of the road, 
breaking only a tail lamp, but totally the front of his car, my 
mechanic at the time told me it was all in the construction of the 
frame and that he felt that they were quite sturdily built. He was 
actually a certified (or whatever they called it) BL repair! 
(THat's how long ago that was!)

>I now have a MkIII with 1500 seats and headrests (and a 2500cc 

engine but
>that's another story!)
>Philip

I guess!

Laura G.

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