AUTOS: The Price of Safety

When an automaker recalls cars so that dangerous defects can be corrected free of charge, not everybody connected with the company loses money. "The average dealer is tickled pink by recalls," says Douglas Toms, director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Once the defective car gets into the shop, there's a lot of other maintenance that's usually done. It's also an opportunity to sell new cars."

By that logic Chevrolet dealers may not mind a special consumer-protection bulletin that Toms issued last week. Well armed with evidence (500 documented case histories plus daily complaints from Chevy owners), the NHTSA warned that the engine mounts can give way on Chevies that were built in the model years 1965 through 1969—a total of about 5.6 million cars. The mounts consist of a layer of rubber bonded between two metal plates. When a mount gives, the engine can twist from its moorings while the car is moving. When this happens, it is possible that the gear shift will lock, the car accelerate wildly, and the brakes fail. There have been numerous crashes but no known fatalities; most drivers have remained cool enough to switch off the ignition and come to a stop. Toms' public warning advises owners to take their cars to dealers for a checkup.

In a different approach to automotive safety, Volkswagen last week showed off what it calls an "Experimental Safety Vehicle." Longer and sleeker than the standard Beetle, the ESV's key feature is three-ply steel body construction. The outer ply is buttressed with extremely strong front and rear bumpers plus structural beams along the sides. The next ply is an impact-absorbing crumple zone; then a tough inner shell shields the passenger compartment. As a last line of defense, VW is also experimenting with a net that drops from the ceiling on impact to keep passengers from pitching against the dashboard in crashes. Many of the ESV safety features may soon find their way into other VW cars, but the ESV itself will not be marketed in the foreseeable future. VW officials reckon that the public is not ready to pay the estimated price of $4,000.