here's one for citation boy

I never claimed they were made well...I just said they are fun to drive and goofy...and with the hatch very practical.

Many of these cars were totaled in very light frontal accidents because of the way the body bends. These cars, in a wreck, bend at the top of the A-pillar. You can see that in the vids you posted.

One of the first things I used to check when looking at a used X-car was the gap between the door window frame and the upper a-pillar and roof area, right where the pillar curves into the roof at the top of windshield.

On a non-wrecked X-car, the door window frame lines up evenly with the door opening around the entire door window frame. On an X-car that had been wrecked, you could in many cases put 2-3 fingers between the door window frame and the door opening itself, where it curves there at the top of the A-pillar.

Amazingly, the windshields don't crack and the doors still open and close normally, but the actual BODY is bent.

Ha!

-Mike

People keep talking about how unsafe the new small cars are compared to the old big cars. Here's a 2009 Malibu in a head on collision with a 1959 Bel Air.

I bought a new T bird in 1980 and you could stick 4 fingers into the car between the top edge
of the door glass frame and the actual roofline.Ran like a scalded dog but otherwise a POS.This was
before the Lemon laws.Car spent 4 of the first 12 months of ownership in the shop.Didnt
have a lot of recourse back then so I had the dealers name and a huge bright yellow lemon
painted on both doors and the trunk lid.Dealer got pissed but Ford couldnt care less back then.
When I finally sold it,I told the buyer the whole story before I let him go to his bank and he
still bought.Granted this was 2 years later and they had finally got every bug worked out
but I just couldnt stand the car after that nitemare.I had the lemons removed before I put
it up for sale but you could still see a faint outline of the lemon on the trunk.
Done Rambling
Jim Gordon

Flasheroo wrote:

I bought a new T bird in 1980 ....

I remember one time in 1980 too...... oh wait. No I don't. I was four.

i just saw a really clean citation today was a pinkish gold color 2dr. was so clean it grabbed my attention as i drove by

Hey John BITE ME you young whippersnapper.I turn 56 on sunday and still cant believe that
I now qualify for the senior discount at my local grocery store on thursday.Cant even believe
I made it this far.
John I will get you back
Jim Gordon

hey that was not me i am about 10 yrs older than bewber. but still not as old as you

Nick Danger wrote:

People keep talking about how unsafe the new small cars are compared to the old big cars. Here's a 2009 Malibu in a head on collision with a 1959 Bel Air.

Woah...that was crazy! All that steel, but no crumple zones.