--- farna@xxxxxxx wrote: > AMC engineers may have decided that with the added > support under the floor that the heavier rail in the > rocker wasn't needed -- cost and weight savings. But > then it could have been that the body didn't crumple > enough in a side impact, and the move was to let it > crumple a bit more and lessen impact on the > passengers. Those are the only two reasons that make > sense that I can come up with! The first one, IMHO, > is more likely, but I doubt we'll ever know for > sure. > Did AMC even do any crash testing in the 60s? I doubt it. The spear of death steering column would certainly have shown up as a problem prior to 1967. Side impact? Crumple zone? I don't think those terms even existed back then. I know they had a test track and checked for rattles, leaks, etc. but I would be very curious to know the extent of crash testing in that era. Joe Fulton Salinas, CA