Fiat's Forgotten Experimental Safety Vehicles
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- The ESV, or Experimental Safety Vehicle program, originated in 1970 and was implemented through bilateral agreements between the government of the United States and those of several other countries, including Italy.
About 4.5 Billion Italian Lire, roughly equivalent to 35 Million Euros today, went into the design, construction, and subsequent destruction in various crash tests of 47 examples of three innovative vehicle designs, each named after its target weight in pounds. #fiat #history #crashtest #safety
Remarkably, given the whole point of these cars' existence was to be destroyed, one example for each of Fiat's ESV prototypes survives to this day, serving as a powerful reminder of the enormous strides made in automobile engineering made over the last fifty years.
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I'd never seen these, but most of the European motor industry was at it at the time.
Oddly (or not) much of the effort in the US had the effect of restricting imports and strengthening the grip (at least for a while) of the big 3 or 4 on the domestic market, by banning imported cars with non-federal lamps or bumpers...
The car industry, being the car industry, never quite separated safety from to he bottom line... Perhaps Volvo and Saab just about got there, but others did not. This was largely a show of cynical respect rather than a realistic way forward.
And as we look back on the 1970s, we cannot escape the spectre of the Volvo 66, that bizarre Renault-powered former DAF that was somehow the only production car that ever really carried the unenviable look of an ESV concept.
Another excellent video about the little bits of car history that have slipped through the cracks in the floor. Bravo!
Indeed. Like every other business, the bottom line always comes first and there's no doubt that modern cars would have never gotten as safe as they are without regulatory pressure. Fiat itself, in the closing remarks of its 1973 presentation, expressed concerns about safety standards becoming law requirements, due to the costs involved.
I once heard that the blueprint of the esv 2000 was given to polski fiat later fso and went in production as the polonez...
My thought too when I saw this prototype!
It does look like a Polenz 👍
I had completely forgotten about the FSO Polonez, but I see the similarity, yes!
Great content as usual! The ESV 1500 looks the best. My mother had a 126p that I drove occasionally in the early 90s before she rolled it over while reversing up a steep incline. I remember that that there was an article about all the ESVs (Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, etc), my favorite was the Nissan with the huge periscope on the roof.
There’s no doubt that this programme resulted in some worthwhile developments in passenger cell protection - and you can see how a number of the safety measures such as side rubbing strips, deformable front ends and additional internal padding made there way into car designs in the 1980s. The downside to these measures was added weight - an issue that has dogged modern cars ever since, until the wider use of alloys and plastics in the body design. But, you couldn’t call any of them attractive!
Indeed. But looking back at these cars makes me appreciate how long engineering has come since then, as modern cars would ace the crash tests these ESV struggled to pass, all while looking far better!
ESV 1500 weighted 795 kg. And still had 170 mm drum brakes suited to FIAT 500R weighted just 525 kg. Upsss... Passive over active safety.
Yeah, little effort went into making the cars drive any good, indeed. After all, it was secondary, as all they had to do was slam into barriers for the tests :)
Very interesting thank you from Orlando Florida 👍
Thank you, cheers from Italy!
Something about the shape of the seats - the back seats mainly - at 3:35 makes me think of ancient Egypt but I can't quite work out why.
Now that you said that, I see that as well, but also can't exactly pinpoint why!
Because they look like a sphinx
The ESV 1500 is beautiful in a weird way
Yeah, it's kind of endearing, I agree :)
The problem with car safety is that it tends to protect the inhabitants more then soft external targets. One could view every modern car as a sort of safety vehicle. The problem is this adds to the feeling of safety of the passengers and thus increases their tendency to overspeed and take unnecesarry risks. At the same time: Are modern SUV, with their armoured car looks, really that safe? Turns out they aren’t but their shape surely suggest sthey are and people drive them like they cannot get harmed.
You were right, I would not ever think about a safety car from FIAT 😅 even less in 1972 (I was born in 1971).
Interesting that at the time safety cars had to rely on horizontal waist line struts to transfer frontal impact forces above the radiator grill not only utilizing the bumper level below the radiator grill. It is truly amazing that occupants of modern cars will survive a 60 Km/h frontal collision only with minor injuries and that with out massive B-Pillars and additional bracing above the radiator grill. This due to computer analysis, tailored steels and multiple airbags that were of course not available to any engineers in the beginning of the 70ies.
Indeed. Modern cars would ace the tests these ESVs struggled to pass and, as you've rightfully said, it's all a testament to the engineering progress made over 5 decades.
@@Matteo_Licata Your kind reply reminds me how time flies and how there is no time left to try interview some of these ingenious Italian designers or even the engineers, not the big names, the ones in the second row, for instance creators of the Fiat 132 2000 fabulous (velour) Interior, which by the way had a distinctive unforgettable and fantastic scent. On YT there are examples of 70ies Detroit designers being interviewed by amateurs, why not try this in Italy by a fellow professional ? ( I would think most of them are retired in Tuscany by now🙂). we would expect interviews in Italian and would happily use YT translation tools if English captions would be too time consuming. Best regards
ESV 1500 is the best looking in my opinion. After making the extremely survivable models a feasible compromise in looks, weight, and cost should have been done.
Every major manufacturer has a stash of truly odd and weird designs ..and these are right up there...FIAT was riding high in the early 1970's, and thought they could do no wrong, 130 sedan/coupe being a case in point.
It's easy to be critical in the filter of time ...but if FIAT had remained a bit more focused it may not be in the position it finds itself today.
Nice
Thanks
Great video. These remind me very much of the FSO (Polski Fiat) Polonez. Maybe that's where they got the idea from? Although I don't think the Polonez was particularly safe. The original ones didn't even have a folding rear seat. So the package was generally a little flawed.
I had all but forgotten about the Polonez, but now I see the similarity too!
Just came across this . Great job as usual . Very interesting that fiat tried to help with safety, the funny thing is , if they used more rubber and plastic back then , they would not have rusted as much . 😉.. ironic. P s. I loved the padded steering wheel also. Different . Anyhow I look forward to more of your clips. Bongerno. Oliver
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
I just pinned the ESV the other day. They look like bricks. I’m sure the passengers will be safe but pedestrians beware.
I bet they were gutless and drove awful,Thankfully they didnt make them for the public!
Yeah, I wouldn't want to drive any of these, but it must be said that handling was a secondary concern and there never was any intention for these cars to be produced and sold to the public.