1959 Chevrolet Bel Air Vs. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu — Detroit “Iron” Challenge Video

By John C Dvorak Thursday September 17, 2009

40 Comments

m.c. in l.v. says:

9/17/2009 at 5:01 pm

What a waste of a beautiful old classic car. Oh well, nothing GM has done lately has made much sense. Sorry, I’m still not buying one of your crappy new Malibus.

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echeola says:

9/17/2009 at 5:07 pm

Sure now they salute the safety standards. At the time they fought tooth and nail to stop any safety legislation.

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Larry Bud says:

9/17/2009 at 5:21 pm

Please vote for John, he deserves this.

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ChuckM says:

9/17/2009 at 5:23 pm

I think I suffered knee injuries just now watching that video. I dropped to my knees crying… not the way to let an old car die…

It deserved to rust in a field or to keep on drivin…

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pfkad says:

9/17/2009 at 5:37 pm

#1, from Car and Driver; “The latest Malibu looks great, drives well, offers good fuel economy in four-cylinder guise, and might just be the best family sedan ever brought forth by a domestic automaker. However, it might take some time for die-hard import buyers to be convinced that the Malibu is serious competition to the Accord, Altima, and Camry.”

But you’ll probably never give up your Daihatsu, huh?

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addicted2tv says:

9/17/2009 at 5:41 pm

Thank you Ralph Nader! Without your constant nagging the Malibu would have been turned into mush.

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hhopper says:

9/17/2009 at 5:48 pm

GM’s new models finally look pretty decent.

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AdmFubar says:

9/17/2009 at 5:57 pm

i like the text at the end…
insurance industry is protecting us! HA!
now a days after the accident then raise your rates (doesnt matter if it was your fault or not) , and since you are still alive you gotta pay em!
and with that knee injury your health insurance skyrockets too

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee debt american style

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qb says:

9/17/2009 at 6:22 pm

I gotta go with m.c. in l.v on this one – ’59 Bel Air is a gorgeous car and this was a complete waste.

The Malibu looks like a Camry wannabe which probably means that it will sell well.

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noname says:

9/17/2009 at 6:22 pm

This and the childish ban on lawn darts is why health insurance is so unaffordable.

We need to expunge the weak, frail and stupid from America’s gene pool.

It’s no coincidence America was at it’s peak of world power and affluence when the 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air was being sold new.

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Grandpa says:

9/17/2009 at 6:30 pm

When you can’t beat the competition, beat yourself!

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Colin says:

9/17/2009 at 6:47 pm

I’m surprised we didn’t get Dvorak’s usual anti GM bias on this one… bummer

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Mac Guy says:

9/17/2009 at 7:22 pm

The other day, I spotted one of the new Camaros.

Damn, that is one sexy car. Transformers did not overhype that beast. It looks as good in person as it does on the road.

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bubb says:

9/17/2009 at 8:41 pm

I recently drove one of the new Malibus as a rental and I was surprised at the build quality. I own a new jetta tdi and was expecting crap but it was a nice car to drive and it looks like a decent car to drive drunk in and crush your enemies, just a thought but in all sincerity it was a nice car.

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OvenMaster says:

9/17/2009 at 8:54 pm

The 2009 Malibu is boring and fugly, but at least you’ll walk away from that crash. The Bel Air is far more attractive (to me), but a death trap, with no crumple zones, a wasp-waist “X” frame, no crash padding, door beams or collapsible steering column, all steel dash, no seat belts, etc.

I’d still take the Bel Air.

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Alfred1 says:

9/17/2009 at 9:07 pm

Thanks…An eye opener…blasted away my bias for old steel…

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pcsmith says:

9/17/2009 at 9:23 pm

Fucking Americans.

I learned to drive a 1.8 liter fuel injection manual transmission car that could make blush a Hurst Camero or maybe Shelby Mustang.

You can see it in action in the movie “The China Syndrome”

What is the use of a 5.1 Litre Mustang? Not in my country. Not in Pennsylvania!

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m.c. in l.v. says:

9/17/2009 at 9:47 pm

#5 Nope, keeping my old Silverado since it’s still in good condition with low miles. But I might pick up an electric version of the Smart car in the future for the commute back and forth to work. No Daihatsu for me thanks.

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mdcjs says:

9/18/2009 at 12:16 am

God god that was really disturbing!

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Misanthropic Scott says:

9/18/2009 at 2:37 am

Of course the new vehicle is safer! The old cars were made to stay in tact. The new cars are made to keep the occupants in tact.

Good thing we eventually got the seat belts and air bags despite AAA fighting against both in their respective times.

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