Quote:
Originally Posted by nimblemotors
Having the engine in front is safer in my opinion, will absorb much of the impact before it gets to the driver, rather than have the weight crushing in on you from behind...
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The X-1/9 was designed to meet what they thought was an upcoming very strict set of crash safety regs. It is, as a result, rather heavier than it "needs" to be, but the passenger cell is actually quite robust. (See the "Mythbusters" episode where they tried to squash one between two semis; the car came out of it pretty well!)
The 914 has very large crumple zones front and aft. On the order of four feet, which is better than some modern cars and is very much better than almost everything else available in 1970.
-soD