This is a vintage video of a 1972 Chevelle t-boning a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle. We can witness a violent impact that would for sure leave the drivers injured, if not killed. Luckily the drivers in the crash are crash test dummies, so no injuries on a real human are incurred. 

The video on YouTube doesn’t give much information on the video. With all the lines on the ground and the usage of crash test dummies, we assume this was used by the NHTSA for improving these cars. In 1973 is when cars received bigger bumpers that were made for crashing and this video is a good example of why that’s necessary.

The Chevelle is yellow in color and appears to be a base model Malibu, but we do notice aftermarket Cragar looking rims. The car is traveling at 20MPH straight into the Beetle. The VW looks to be 100% stock and is traveling at 40MPH. This would be a classic example of somebody having a green light and somebody blowing through a red light or even a stop sign. 

The video is pretty long at a hair over 16 minutes but plays in super slow motion. This allows you to see the impact on the crash test dummies along with the fenders crumpling. The drivers side glass on the VW busts into a million pieces once getting hit as well. 

In the video we see that the Chevelle, as expected, experiences far less damage. But the entire front end is still crumpled. The crash test dummy still goes forward into the steering wheel then snaps back with the sudden stop. A real driver would most likely walk away from such an incident, most likely waking up the next day sore.

The driver in the Volkswagen Beetle faired much less. The entire drivers door crumbles into the cab, busting out the window. You also see that the crash test dummy is pushed almost all the way into the passengers seat. 

This video stresses the importance of safe driving. Even in a low MPH crash there can be severe damage, especially in these classic cars that don’t have air bags and crumple zones to cushion the driver.