What Caused the Disappearance of These Major Car Brands Without Anyone Noticing?

Have you ever wondered where the huge bumpers had gone, the “Bumpers” as the Americans call them, present on the US cars? Some have been able to know them directly, others through popular culture (films, series or musical clips), but why did they disappear?

This is the case of bumpers which, as their name suggests perfectly, are used to adorn the shocks.

Placed at the front and rear of the vehicle, the bumpers are used to collect a large part of the shock when the rest of the kinetic energy caused by the impact is dissipated. It is a primordial piece that can avoid serious injury, or even fatal outlets during a car accident.

An American standard that changes everything

Let's go to the invention of the combustion motor car which is the result of Carl Benz in 1886, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, and take a jump in time until 1973. At that time, we are in the middle of the Cold War, at the end of the Thirty Glorious Years because the oil shock toque and the cars that evolve on American roads are starting to have huge bars.

A perfectly normal situation would you tell us and yet the reason behind these huge bumper comes directly from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrationthe equivalent of road safety in France, and a particular standard: standard 215.

Before that, American cars, finally those which were sold in the United States, were not necessarily obliged to be equipped with front or rear bumpers. And this is where NHTSA standard 215 intervenes.

Indeed, it requires manufacturers to prove that their vehicle can emerge unscathed from a frontal shock at a speed of 5 miles per hour, or 8 km/h. If this is not the case, the affixing of a bumper at the front of a vehicle is therefore compulsory. In terms of rear bumpers, the standard sets a shock at a speed of 4 km/h.

Then follows an evolution of the design of cars which therefore sometimes start to display huge bumpers which are either integrated directly into the body, or clipped on it.

With more or less success in terms of style giving rise to aesthetically doubtful designs. As was the case with the Lamborghini Countach.

Where did they go?

Rest assured, they have not disappeared. But now they are invisible, at least for the most part.

“” “Today, they [les pare-chocs] Are skillfully hidden behind layers of shield for aesthetics and the improvement of aerodynamics, with foam for damping and protection against low -speed shocks. There are still some examples of apparent bumpers [..]. These bumpers are not only functional but also modular, allowing the addition of winches, tow hooks, removable tips, bumpers and even additional lighting.”Explained Vince Galante, vice-president at Jeep Design, in words reported by Popular Science.

Thus, exit the huge and apparent bumpers and hello to those who are hidden but who always have the same utility.

Source : Popular Science