Thank goodness it’s not 1978 – VB Commodore crash test video

By Karl Peskett | July 07th, 2009

Here’s one for the record books. A crash test with a VB Commodore with possibly the worst result for any Australian car ever made. Watch to see what we mean.

If anyone has any background into where this video came from, or what ANCAP scored it, we’re all ears, but we’re hoping this isn’t the actual result of a VB coming to a dead halt. Opel Rekord snapping in half, anyone?

Tim

“…worst result for any Australian car ever made”

Didn’t know Opel was ‘Australian’.
Alan

On autoblog, the post suggests this was done at 62mph, or 100kmh. Not surprised at all at the destruction considering the speed as most testing is done at much slower speed.
John of Perth

same DNA Tim.
Marc

Um Tim, you do know the VB commodore was an Australian made car, don’t you?
Golfschwein

It sure looks like a Commodore. It has the Commodore’s long nose (not the Rekord’s shorter one), RHD and the Australian pressed 14″ steelies. Significantly, it’s crashed into a concrete wall, not the deformable offset barrier used in modern tests. The result’s still shocking. I remember the early V cars seemed to develop a liking for splitting in half in severe crashes and GMH gagged discussion in the press on the issue.
Al Juraj

Yet it remains on top of the sales charts…
Golfschwein

Not this one, Al Juraj. They’ve replaced it.
http://www.AUSringers.com Liam

I think this is a relatively recent clip (check the RTA logo) and was carried out to show the dangers of a dodgy “cut and shut” repair job.
Golfschwein

Liam has the knowledge, it seems.
http://www.starjor.com master

thx
Blaze

yikes! It seems that the only safe place is the boot…until someone hits you from behind.

I remember a not dis-similar high-speed crash test of a smart car on Fifth Gear at 70mph (100+kph). And you could still open/close the passenger door after the crash.

(But either way hitting a wall at that speed means almost-instant death)

How far car safety has come!

edit: I found a youtube video of the Smart Car test…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8
Pete

That is not a Commodore, look carefully people. Different rear window shape and wheel arches…
Tom

I agree with Pete, the rear architecture seems slightly more compact than it should. The front also seems different.

And i would hope Liam’s right, thats absolutely SHOCKING. That blows the socks off those deadly Chinese car crash tests I saw a while back.
http://www.caradvice.com.au George

I’m sure many of you will be happy to know that there is more to this video than just poor engineering.

The crash test was done with a used Commodore in 1992 as a means of testing the then new crash test facility equipment.

It replicated a worst case scenario in respect to what the crash test equipment would need to handle. The tail shaft had been removed and a total of 300kg of ballast was added to the car before hitting a solid concrete reaction block at 100km/h.

Most modern cars would fail this test just as spectacularly.
Frenchie

I agree with your story George. That is what I was told.
noypi

we used to have a 79 opel rekord and a 78 ford cortina back in the philippines when i was younger, i didn’t know it was a holden (was it? coz phils drive on the right side like US), also back then i used to see opel commodores as well not sure if they’re the same as holden commodores here in oz, loved the opel though, we had it til early 90′s
David

Are the Vic. Police and TAC watching this? They would argue that the death of all 5 occupants was caused by the driver doing 5km/hr over the speed limit, and not by the structural condition of 30 year old car. I drive lots of K’s around Melbourne, and if want to get scared stiff, look at the car next to you when you are stopped at lights. I bet one in five will have bald tyres and a windscreen so chipped and pitted that you can’t see through it with sunglare. When are the legislators going to realise that cars in poorly maintained and dangerous states are more lethal than a driver with good skills and a new car driving 5km/hr over the limit.. It is easier and will reap greater financial rewards simply to install a speed camera!!
I know that I am probably preaching to the converted on this site, but when can we get someone in power who has the guts to tell it like it is, and stop this rubbish that they are saving the world with speed cameras?
FrugalOne

This is for all those FOOLS who still believe “a steel car is a real car” this like most old cars is a death trap

Cheers

F-0
VW Freak

Er, quiet news day CA? Didn’t you see the NG Prius press kit on Pressroom? I thought you would’ve posted it long by now instead of this rubbish…?!?

Anyways, this video has been around for ages. Very old news.
RPITUP

Don’t like it? Don’t read it, VW Freak.
davie

Old news,

a graphic example of what a cut-and-shut car does in a crash and why it should (or is) illegal to produce cut-and-shut cars from two different wrecks
Frontman

For the records George actually has the info correct, on top of that the vehicle had things like the tailshaft etc removed and the test was at 100km/h, well above any set crash test. there are similar tests shown on You tube about a CHinese truck crashing (the vehilce in that case is a VW Dual cab place of origin unknown). This was done to test the facility more than the car.
NacaYoda

David: I think you’ll find the results of this crash (ie the destruction of the car and the likely death of x5 occupants) has a lot more to do with the car hitting a concrete wall at 100 kph, and less likely to do with the structural condition of a 30 year old car. You could slam just about any car built before 1990 (and plenty built since) into a wall at 100kph and get the same results.

I’m surprised that people are surprised.
We don’t drive F1 cars people. You hit something hard, your car will get broken, and you will die. Didn’t we know this?
Phase3

George has it right – from the horse’s mouth…

“The test was conducted in 1992 and was part of a series of tests to commission our crash test facility. The test was of the drive system, not the car.

The car was a standard ’second hand’ car except that the tail shaft was removed. 300kg of sand ballast was placed in the footwells and boot and a ballast dummy (75kg) was placed on the rear seat.

The test speed was 100km/h into a solid concrete reaction block.

Colin Jackson
Crash Barrier Manager
RTA Crashlab”
Yanzo

omfg…
Benjamin

Definitly looks like some sand coming out of the car in the first shot, and the clip also looks like the car is going faster then normal for these crash’s
MarkT

Coming from the UK I am continually amazed at the amount of obvious deathtrap cars in Victoria. You see them every day, 17 year olds driving 4-litre Commodores and Falcons with bald mismatched tyres, brake lights out, spewing out fumes, etc. One of the pom car programs (5th Gear I think) crashed a 10year old Volvo (one of the safest cars at the time) into a new but much smaller Renault. The Renault driver came off a lot better and the Volvo driver would have probably been killed. Many cars here are a LOT older than 10 years and would no doubt crumple into a heap on contact with any solid object.

Why is there no basic annual vehicle inspection which covers brakes, tyres and emissions? I can point to a couple of cars on our road which wouldn’t stand a chance of passing this……
MisterTwo

Agree MarkT, I am continualy amazed by the fact that there is all this emphasis on safety and draconian speed limits but the cars are death traps. Bring in the yearly MOT test, that will get rid of a lot of the sh*t on Victorian roads.
realcars

Anybody got one of a 1978 Toyota Corona?
crouchy

If you pause it at 0:01 it sure doesnt look like the rear of any early commodore… Im not convinced about the car but i am convinced that this isnt legit.
realcars

How about providing a clip of a current model doing same at the same speed?

I suspect a tank hitting solid concrete at 100klms/hr would suffer a similar fate.

Anybody ever seen the aftermath of a modern car into a pole at this speed?
Richo

good old caradvice… the posters doing all the research for them rather then doing it themselfs, as usual! Slow news day eh? This vid has been kicking around youtube for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time but hey its holden bashing which equals website hits… typical caradvice
Wheelnut®™

Quote: “The test speed was 100km/h into a solid concrete reaction block. ” Colin Jackson – Crash Barrier Manager RTA

What Reaction did they get out of the Concrete Block? was it something like:

Bring it on…. is that the best you can do you?”
AAA

That’s not a Commodore. That’s a Russian car. I have seen this exact video a couple of years ago on Youtube as well and I don’t know who renamed the video to Commodore.
AAA

That’s not a Commodore. That’s a Russian car. Fkn hell. Who ever thinks this is a Commodore is a car n00b.

See this video at the 5’20″ mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig735D8Nfhk
JEKYL & HYDE

total gee-up(but quiet amusing since no-one real was killed).i’m told that the average collision occurs at 34k.p.h.

seen the new cruze ancap test at about 65 k.p.h.i reckon everybody walks away.as someone once said”i’d be a best looking guy at the hospital”.thank god for technology…
what the

Didn’t anyone in the C A office feel like doing any work today? Spend the day bludging and surfing youtube instead of doing real stories?
Tomas79

No AAA, that is a commodore as Goerge Said, and not a russian car!!!
AAA

Tomas, check out this video at the 5:20 mark, it says it’s a Russian car and it doesn’t look like a Commodore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig735D8Nfhk
Tomas79

AAA, the guy who created the video on your youtube link obviusly didn’t know what the car was, since he didn’t provide any name for it appart from “russian car”!!
It looks like an old commodore, because it is an old commodore!! I know russian cars pretty well (not that there are that many) enough to to tell you it definitely isn’t a Russian car!!
AAA

Tomas, OK then.
Richo

umm.. its clearly a VB commodore… don’t really know what you guys are on about who are saying its not…. it doesn’t matter anyway, this video isn’t an inditement on the VB commodore, its an extreem test to test the testing equipment lol