When the folks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, better known as the IIHS, decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the organization's founding, they wanted to create a birthday bash that had, ahem, real impact.
To illustrate just how far the cars we all drive had come over the past five decades in terms of occupant protection, they dreamed up a uniquely memorable demonstration. The frontal-offset crash test they devised pitted a new 2009 Chevrolet Malibu against a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air typical of the automobiles that were on the road when the organization began doing crash tests.
The results were nothing short of amazing. As this video and the photographs on the IIHS website show, the passenger compartment of the Malibu remained largely intact, while the Bel Air's interior suffered massive intrusions that would have resulted in serious injuries.
Today, the IIHS still runs some of the toughest new vehicle crash tests out there. To see a list of the cars, SUVs, and trucks that have earned a coveted IIHS "Top Pick" rating, go here. To get an up-close look at intact versions of some of those vehicles, check out these DriverTV "virtual showroom experience" videos:
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