Old Bumpers Cause Pain

Almost all modern cars are constructed from sheet steel, formed into shaped pressings, which are welded or bolted together. The individual major body parts – there are often twenty or more – are assembled into a strong body shell which is rigid and reasonably light. The bodyshell of the new Rolls Royce Phantom has more than 100 metres of welding in its construction. Design of the body is very complicated, and exhaustive tests have to be carried out before a new car is put on the market.

These days, great emphasis is placed on safety, and the body must be able to sustain considerable impacts without the passenger compartment becoming deformed too much. The object of this is to protect the occupants (if they are wearing safety belts) in the event of the car hitting something or rolling over. The bonnet is often made so that it collapses in stages under impact, absorbing energy as it does so, a really efficient example of this can be found in the Ferrari 458 for sale. Effectively, it operates in the same way as a railway buffer, reducing the shock energy transmitted to the passenger compartment.
Body designs of this type are called progressively deformable. Rear-engine cars are often designed so that an impact from the back will push the engine under the passenger compartment, rather than into it. In the early days of motoring, bumpers were fitted to the front and rear of some cars to prevent damage to the bodywork in the event of the driver carelessly hitting a milestone or some similar obstacle, you can often see these bumpers in old photograhs of some classic cars for sale.

By the late 1960s bumpers had in general regressed to mere chromium plated strips of thin steel, unable to withstand the lightest impact. Sometimes they were even moulded into the body, so that any damage was transmitted to expensive bodywork. Thanks to modern safety regulations (emanating mostly from the United States) bumpers are once again becoming capable of being bumped, and this has led to changes and improvements in the design philosophy of car manufacturers. Low speed safety, as well as safety in major accidents, is regarded as an important feature.