The AMF Experimental Safety Car

Kinja'd!!! "66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash" (66671)
11/19/2016 at 14:50 • Filed to: None

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The DOT issued contracts for an Experimental Safety Car to AMF inc. (as well Fairchild and GM) in the early 70s. It had an automatic extending front bumper, airbags instead of seatbelts, and that wicked nasty periscope.

(Read in my World History of the Automobile textbook by Erik Eckermann)


DISCUSSION (9)


Kinja'd!!! ranwhenparked > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
11/19/2016 at 15:30

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Some sort of a car periscope would be a good idea. I know Curb Your Enthusiasm kind of made of joke of it, but there are times when I really wish I had it. It could just be a small camera mounted on a slim, collapsable antenna that streams through the dash screen.


Kinja'd!!! 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > ranwhenparked
11/19/2016 at 15:35

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I remember reading a title for an article that some place had legalized cameras for sideview mirrors (quick search says Japan) and I wouldn’t be surprised if cameras replace all mirrors sooner or later. I know that VW XL1 concept had cameras sideviews because it reduced drag, but we prob still have a ways to go.


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
11/19/2016 at 15:38

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But why would we want a bumper that automatically extends?


Kinja'd!!! 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
11/19/2016 at 15:55

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¯\_()_/¯

“The study shows that the E/R bumper can provide additional crush space in an at-risk situation of frontal impact prepare the vehicle for a subsequent crash and retract when that risk subsides. The study further shows that the additional crush space realized by extending the bumper can reduce the severity of the crash pulse and the amount of structural intrusion to the vehicle compartment.”

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0144-O.pdf


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
11/19/2016 at 15:58

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So please tell me how they made the car able to detect if it was in an at-risk environment all the way back in the 70s.


Kinja'd!!! 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
11/19/2016 at 16:03

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“Hydraulic front bumpers on both cars meet the 10 MPH no-body-damage requirement and the 50 MPH collision specification which requires that no more than a 40g. shock be transmitted to the passengers. Both systems change their characteristics with the velocity of the car to provide the necessary protection; however, the Fairchild system automatically extends the hydraulic bumper cylinder 12 inches at 30 MPH to further reduce forward crash forces. AMF uses the same system in the rear, but Fairchild went to a non-hydraulic bumper which depends upon structural distortion to absorb the energy of a crash.”

http://www.automotive-fleet.com/article/story/1972/02/design-for-survival-a-look-at-the-experimental-safety-vehicle/page/2.aspx

¯\_()_/¯


Kinja'd!!! Pyrochazm > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
11/19/2016 at 21:43

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I really like the idea of a rearview periscope. Really don’t need them thanks to rearview cameras. The manufacturers need to give the option if leaving them on though.


Kinja'd!!! Fresh-Outta-Nissans > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
11/20/2016 at 16:25

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Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
11/29/2016 at 11:44

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They can stream it to the phone the driver’s looking at instead of the road then! Progress!