Core77

When We Built Things Solidly

By Rain Noe - March 29, 2013

in Object Culture

As we saw in Chevy's old-vs.-new crash test, older doesn't always mean safer, depending on the variables in a car crash; but looking at photos like the one above, it's hard to deny that we really used to overbuild things. The A- and B-pillars on that '69 Catalina don't look all that thick, but as you can see, they didn't crumple.

The photo is from ElectroSpark Studios, run by a Florida-based designer who's made it his mission to "[Bring] you photos and ephemera liberated from the attics, garages and closets of America's mid-century vacationers," as he writes. "Most photos are from original Kodachromes for which I have a particular fondness of." His Flickr photoset called Vintage Transportation is a pretty awesome browse—while it's got plenty of cars in it like Remarkably Retro, he's also got trains, planes and boats.

Photos by ElectroSpark

Photos by ElectroSpark

Speaking of planes, the Pontiac photo above reminded me of something else I'd seen:

That there is an astonishing reminder that America used to make ridiculously tough products: During combat in 1943, this B-17 Flying Fortress suffered a mid-air collision with a German Messerschmitt over Tunisia. The left horizontal stabilizer was completely ripped off, and as you can see, the fuselage itself was nearly torn in two. Take a closer look:

The mid-air photo was taken by a U.S. airman in a neighboring plane, who had seen the damaged plane start to go down... and then come back up, and fly level. He probably couldn't believe his eyes. Despite the damage, the pilot flew the plane 300-something miles back to base in Algeria and landed it safely.After landing, the photographer developed the photo and mailed it home. As mail was subject to army censors, he reportedly put a note in the envelope that said "Censor, Should there be some law, rule, or regulation against sending the picture below to my wife, please seal the flap above and return—it is an unduplicateable [sic] shot and one I should hate to lose."

The damaged plane's nickname, by the way, was "All American."

Another B-17 that famously suffered grievous damage but made it back to base was the "Lovely Julie."

The plane took a direct flak hit over Cologne. Unsurprisingly the bombardier, who sits in the nose, was killed. But amazingly, the pilot was able to wrestle the craft back over the English Channel and landed it safely at base.

I've been trying to track down the source of these photos, and the stories behind them, and I believe I've found the original source: Cory Graff's Shot to Hell - Stories and the Photos of Ravaged WWII Warbirds, a book released in 2003. Author Graff is a researcher and exhibit planner for Washington state's Museum of Flight. Gathering these photos and stories was presumably no easy task—one reviewer writes of the book "I could not find one error of fact. People who read this sort of material know that in itself is an achievement"—and I don't see Graff's name attached to any of the websites circulating these photos, so would like to give credit where it's due.

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Mark Right

7 years ago

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That Old vs New Chevy was kind of bogus because everyone knows the GM cars of that era were very wimpy and weak..

They chose the weakest Chevrolet and used it..

People didnt even run those in demo derbies ,unless they had too..Because they were so weak every other car would destroy them...

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Kandice Levero

11 years ago

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See that Pontiac Le Mans? That was my first car in the same color. My dad got it for me in 1996 because he knew a 16 year old should not be driving a plexiglass coffin. And he was right. I crashed it in to a pile of parked cars taking a turn in the rain and we all walked away unscarred. Then he got it fixed back up and took it away from me because he really just wanted it for himself. But for a year I was the coolest girl at The Catholic High School of Baltimore.
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Matt

11 years ago

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I don't know if anyone has ever crashed a modern Saab before, but those cars amazingly strong. There are many stories and examples of this. A good friend of mine rear ended a Chevy Avalanche with her '05 9-3 going about 50-60 mph. She walked out with a sore neck, nothing else. The car on the other hand was totaled, but it could have been much worse (for the car and her).
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Abram H

11 years ago

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While a picture of an intact automobile may be impressive, cars have gotten significantly safer. And this is in large part because of the design of crumple zones. The energy from a crash has to go somewhere. It can go into crumpling the hood or crushing your pelvis.
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Ronald Pottol

11 years ago

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We still build airplanes like that, or did, not too long ago. The new composite stuff might not hold up the same way. An F-15 landed with just one wing (well, a piece of the other was left). http://www.uss-bennington.org/phz-nowing-f15.html there are videos on youtube of it as well.
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