The other day, an Autopian reader named Luke sent us a tip about a pretty fascinating car for sale, a 1974 Ford Cortina 2000E, but a wonderfully strange one. The auction has since ended, and I’m not sure if the car had sold. The seller was asking £19,950.00, about $25,500 in US Freedom Money, which is at least twice as much as these British Ford Cortinas usually go for. There’s a reason for that, though: this one is a one-of-a-kind experimental safety car built by Ford in conjunction with the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL). There were a lot of experimental safety cars being built in the 1970s, though as far as I’m aware, this is the only one whose goal seems to be to see making seat belts unnecessary. With cushions.
Really, that’s seems to be what this car was all about! Along with the car is included a small placard that explains this peculiar machine’s whole raison d’être:
In case you can’t see that image, here’s the text:
TRRL
THIS CAR WAS PRODUCED BY FORD IN CONJUNCTION WITH TRRL IN 1974 AS AN ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE THE SAME LEVEL OF PROTECTION AS IS OBTAINED FROM SEAT BELTS.
PROTECTION IN THE REAR SEATS IS EQUIVALENT TO THAT PROVIDED BY SEAT BELTS BUT PROTECTION FOR THE DRIVER AND FRONT SEAT PASSENGER IS PROBABLY LESS.
So, the goal here seems to have been to make a car that, in the event of a collision, provided the same level of protection as wearing safety belts, but without having to deal with the crass indignity and unforgivable loss of personal freedom that comes from (checks notes) wearing seat belts. People used to really hate the idea of wearing seat belts, you see. You’ve seen those old news clips from the 1980s when seat belt laws began to go into effect, and how everyone reacted like the government was going to start scheduling their bathroom breaks?
Given the public zeitgeist of the time, I can see why Ford and TRRL would at least want to try and see if they could make a safe car that didn’t rely on stubborn people to buckle up. And, it seems, the advanced tech Ford and TRRL employed was, um, pillow tech.
Well, maybe cushion technology, or padding, or whatever you want to call it. The point is the inside of this handsome old Cortina is like what being trapped between couch cushions must be like for a Chihuahua. I mean, just look at it:
That’s the dashboard and front seat area. Look at that thick, pliant steering wheel padding! And let’s get a better look at the passenger’s side, too:
Holy crap, that’s like a solid foot and a half of vinyl-covered cushion right there! Imagine the supreme joy and comfort of smacking your face into that at 50 mph, smiling as your glasses pirouette off into the aether and you comfortably pancake your face on that yielding mass. Good luck adjusting that air vent, too, which is set in there like a whale’s navel.
The back offers similar soft security:
That huge auxiliary cushion system encompasses the back of both front seats and the area in between them, and should work great for softening the blow as your flung body whips forward when the car smacks hard into a wall or tree or yak or whatever. Imagine if you were eating a delicious hoagie at the time, and how it would disintegrate into its primal components, which you might see, the flying lettuce and tomatoes and cold cuts filling the air in the car as your head rebounds off the massive cushion, and in your highly dazed state I bet you might think they were fireworks.
Also fascinating about this car is the digital speedometer, which uses actual seven-segment vacuum-fluorescent (I think) displays, which was pretty cutting-edge tech in 1974 (I was told by Peter that it’s likely a Panaplex II display and I think he’s right!):
Even the door cards appear to have a healthy amount of added padding to them as well:
You could flop all over this whole car and be okay! Well, at least until you hit a window, or something. That padding isn’t going to keep you from careening through that windshield, but it should make anything you contact on the way out a lot more pleasant.
Here’s a whole video tour of the inside from when the car was at auction:
This is a really fascinating vehicle, and this era of Cortina has plenty of ’70s, vinyl-topped charm as it is. 
It’s a handsome car, and I bet would be a pretty reliable daily driver, with its Pinto 2-liter engine (remember, the Pinto may have been crap, but those engines were pretty great) and, sure, that automatic transmission may take some of the fun out of driving this, but you’ll always have the party trick of making sure nobody is cheating by wearing a seatbelt, and then slamming on those brakes at 60 mph, so everyone can really get the full face-into-a-cubic-foot-of-vinyl-covered-foam rubber experience.
Fantastic taillights, too. Very tidy and compact and appealing.
Sure, this was a dead end, safety-tech-wise, and the builders even seemed to acknowledge that, at least for the front seats, seat belts were still better than massive dashboard padding. For the back, though, it seemed viable? At least that’s what the placard claims.
Some upholstery shop should buy this thing and get that interior looking immaculate. What a showcase of the upholsteric arts this thing could be! Hopefully it’ll go on sale again, because this is too good to not be fully restored.
Also, I kinda want to bite some of those cushions. Don’t judge me.
(Photos from eBay listing or Trade Classics auction listing)
This is magnificent – that wrap-around dash is sublime, and the padded bench attached to the back of the front seats should be mandatory on all new cars and aircraft. I would sleep like a baby back there.
The only thing that confuses me about this car is the seatbelts… it’s as if they felt obligated to cater for passengers who have some sort of bolster-allergy. Weirdos.
I just need to remind everybody laughing at the idea of using a pillow to keep you safe in a crash………… that all cars made in the 21st century have several pillows to bounce your face off of in a crash. In large part to reduce injury in place of a seatbelt.
And a good chunk of those cars will also shoot metal shards at your face right through those airy pillows. Thanks,
ObamaTakata!I did the math once. Literally 14%, that’s almost one in six, airbags ever made in the US market was a Takata recalled for throwing shrapnel into your face.
Maybe we should have stuck with pillows that don’t use a bomb to deploy directly at your face.
“that automatic transmission may take some of the fun out of
driving” I will never get why Americans do not like automatics (ok, most
of you don’t mind, but in any car related web publication there is hate about these
kind of transmission). I remember my first BMW 525i (E34), a company car which
I just switched over to, and it was a manual. Ok, the gearbox was very nice,
but – it was a manual! Each passenger asked me why is that and I had no answer.
My next BMW (525tds) had an auto and it was such a relief. My Suburban of
course was an automatic (nice car) and after that I had several original Minis.
Back in the days they had the option for a 4 (!) speed auto and I tried t get
one, but they all seem to be changed to manual – what a shame. I always wanted
one with a 1380cc conversion (about 90hp), would have been fun. Now I have a
Benz CLK 320 with a 5 speed auto and it is marvelous. I would never change to a
manual again.
Yep, this was a little bit off topic, I admit. 🙂
I don’t like automatics because autos are slow and shifting is fun, and an extra one or two mpg is welcome.
Automatics are fine with bigger/torquier engines, or with the right programming, but a transmission that will not promptly downshift gets really infuriating, especially if it saps what little power you’ve already got.
Obviously the majority of Americans prefer automatics. Americans on auto sites tend to be auto enthusiasts, many of whom would rather be more in control of the operation of the car using a manual transmission. I am quite fine with an automatic around town but most of my cars are manual because I try not to drive “around town”.
We’re so fucking spoiled that as a society we thought “what if I didn’t expend the extra 0.5 calories to buckle a seatbelt, what if we designed a car around my own arrogance, laziness, AND stupidity?”
My mom lost a dear friend of hers in a car accident and she made all of us (including herself) always have a seat belt on even at a time where most people probably weren’t wearing them. It wasn’t hard for us back then.
I used to think that she was being overbearing. Then later on I was an EMT for a local ambulance squad…not gonna get in to details… but just buckle the fuck up. There wasn’t a great excuse back then, and there is zero excuse now.
The fact that this car was made, especialy in 1974, is just dumb and kind of infuriating.
Seat belt usage remained extremely low into the 1990s. I bought a 1984 Town Car off an old lady in Florida back in 2015, and she actually proudly told me the seat belts had never been used, sure enough, they were all bundled up with rotting 30 year old rubber bands and tucked between the seat cushions, all in factory fresh condition. Salesmen at dealers used to offer to get rid of those unsightly seat belts for customers that way.
It was all those Get it Together, Buckle Up, America TV PSAs, school safety demonstrations for kids, and extensive print and billboard ads that very gradually turned people toward wearing seatbelts, along with aggressive police enforcement in states where mandatory use laws were passed.
Only 11% of adults reported using seat belts in national surveys in 1980, but that grew to about half when the survey was repeated in 1990, but that was still only half.
There’s still a not insignificant portion of the population who simply buckles their seatbelts and then sits on top of them. I work in a dealership and call them “seatbelt truthers” because if you ask them why they act like it’s some “big government” issue. Many of them act like they’re strong enough to stop themselves form being hurt in an accident too.
When I was a fresh-faced college grad working my first office job, my boss would sometimes refuse to buckle his seatbelt. I asked why and he went on some libertarian, government-overreach, government-is-only-supposed-to-provide-defense tirade. We avoided such topics from that point on.
One could argue that we as a society are extremely spoiled to think that, “what if I didn’t expend the extra effort to drive well and not crash, what if we designed a car around my own arrogance, laziness and stupidity and put seatbelts in it to avoid injury while crashing.”
I’ve argued for a while that there should be no seatbelt/helmet laws for adults. If you’re dumb enough to go without you deserve the consequences. I also get the argument that first responders don’t like seeing the end result of these accidents and I certainly understand that. I also know this is cold and cruel and lot of people will say my username checks out, but hey, that’s just like your opinion man.
Agreed, many places don’t have seatbelt laws for adults for this reason.
Laws exist to keep you from hurting other people. If you want to hurt yourself that’s your prerogative.
I care less about the helmet law, because it’s (hopefully) more likely that you are putting only yourself at risk.
Seatbelts though? You think that the human body doesn’t become a projectile?
If you aren’t buckled in, you are now heavy bone and meat sack that could likely hurt (or kill) other people in the same vehicle that ARE buckled in.
I understand the ground you are standing on, and part of me wants to agree, but regarding seatbelts, I’m fine with it being a law.
Because if someone else is in the car with you, you aren’t putting just yourself at risk.
Think of an Uber. If you aren’t buckled in and your body hurts/kills the driver, you might get sued in to oblivion.
But why tell you when I can show you
(keep in mind this is a 35 mph example):
https://www.wral.com/story/new-video-shows-what-happens-to-unbuckled-passenger-in-crash/16857145/
For a kid in the backseat, those cushions would make amazing arm/face rests when you wanted to sleep slumped forward.
So, I guess David does the proofreading, and that step is being skipped now that he’s away?
In the first paragraph, “who’s” should be “whose”; in the second paragraph, “that’s” should be “that”; in the penultimate paragraph, “they” should be “the”.
Most significantly, when talking about the plushness of cushioning, “thick” should be spelled “thicc”.
Agreed on all points.
Serious offer: I’ll copy edit everything for free. lmk. I’m a professional.
I’d love to see a car outfitted with modern roller coaster restraints. Start the car and the over-the-shoulder thing rotates down to hold you nice and secure in the seat. Good luck checking blind spots though.
I was just thinking they should have tried roller coaster lap bars. Who doesn’t like putting that bar down, it just screams excitement is coming.
Obligatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjC0vMIrOAk
God these were shit when new and are doubly shit now. Absolute bare fucking minimum effort cars for the terminally crass who think prawn cocktails and Black Forest gateaux are the height of sophistication.
Try the Australian version, it took a shit car and made it shitter.
A 3.3L or 4.1L six cylinder engine from the Falcon was shoved into it, a new bonnet with a bulge added because the engine was so tall and wouldn’t fit under the standard bonnet, and some classy quad headlights added…..you then had a car with the fuel economy of a larger car but the interior space of a mid size car.
Quick in a straight line, nose heavy handling and terrible build quality. What a machine!
Strewth!
Good lord man Black Forest gateaux is a level of luxury above these folks. These is Viennetta people.
I am somewhat offended by this comment. I couldn’t stand Black Forest gateau, but Viennetta was bloody fantastic.
What does it say about me that I have no idea what either of those are? 🙂
It says you either didn’t grow up in the UK in the 80s, or you’re too young to remember the 80s. Either way, you should be grateful.
I love the mkIII Cortina. I don’t care if you think I’m wrong.
Love the brown accent stripe on the dash & doorcards. Presumably suggesting the fake vinyl wood grain stripe that was de regueur at the time. Even the steering wheel has a tricorn. Class! Luxury!
Would the safety TransAm have had shiny prismatic vinyl stickers evocative of the machine-turned* gauge surround?
*cannot remember what that’s called —you know: little ~3/8” circles overlapping almost like fish scales
Engine-turned I think is the term you were looking for, but honestly I’ve heard machine-turned used before as well. Either way you got your meaning across!
That’s a lot of money for a car full of bubble wrap. But more importantly, I don’t trust the idea of a safety car prototype that hasn’t been crashed to prove it’s worth.
All the pillows in the world won’t protect from the structure of the car itself invading your space as it quickly concertinas like a tinfoil hat that’s been sat on. Cause that’s what these old Cortina’s did when they hit something. Based on a sample size of two, I think Ford installed a folding point just inline with the b pillar…
This is an outdated and cosmetically humorous attempt, but the concept has merit. I have a more eclectic career past than anyone I’ve met. From 1996 to 2003 I worked on exactly this concept out of the U.S. headquarters for an international concern that had 60% world market share of EPP energy absorbing bumper cores. I CNC machined and fabricated thermoforming tooling, and thermoformed A class surface sheet stocks onto prototype IPs, door cards, center consoles, package shelves, headliners, and A,B,C pillar covers. It was Not to replace seat belts, or air bags, but to offer some level of energy absorption to any surface you, your dog, whatever, may come into contact with in an accident. What you touch in your interior that has give is only 1.5mm to 2.5mm of PU backed sheet stocks over hard and brittle injected molded plastic substrates that offer no energy absorption. I am a big fan of side curtain airbags that offer some protection from head striking side window, not so much for the ones pointed at your face. They come out like a shotgun blast, have broken thumbs and noses, and deflate on impact to serve their function, but are still blocking your view, and have no residual energy absorption if it happens to be a multi collision event. Personally, I’d prefer ignition lockout till 4 or 5 point belts locked than blast aimed at face. Thomas Losito is credited with inventing the collapsible steering column in 1934. It is reported that Thomas Losito invented the collapsible steering column after a friend of his died in a car accident in large part due to the rigid type of steering column that was previously found in most cars.In 1968, United States regulations (FMVSS Standard No. 204) were implemented concerning the acceptable rearward movement of the steering wheel in case of crash. Collapsible steering columns were required to meet that standard.
Personally I feel pretty safe in any car that has a collapsible steering column, safety glass, crumple zone features (especially in the hood – I want that to fold rather than come through the windshield whole and knock my head off) 3-point belts and front disc brakes. Most cars post ’68 fit that bill – actually, when did 3 point belts as we know them become required, as opposed to the early types that were separate lap belts and shoulder belts that were folded up and clipped into the headliner, never to be worn?
Béla Barényi, ( Jason wrote about him a year ago as the intellectual father of the beetle ) an engineer and inventor has over 2,500 patents related to automobile safety.While working for Daimler the crumple zone and the rigid passenger safety cell, patent in 1951. Barenyi was the first to incorporate the principle of a rigid passenger cell enclosed by crumple zones at the front and at the rear of the car.front and/or rear sections of the car were designed to deform and dissipate the kinetic energy of the collision before reaching the safety cell, thus reducing the load on the passengers during the impact.
Another invention from Béla Barényi in this area was a wedge-pin door lock. A small but sturdy pin incorporated in the door lock insured that the doors stayed closed even in the event of a serious car crash, such as a rollover. I see credited with inventing the collapsible steering column in 1947 but also, Thomas Losito is credited with inventing the collapsible steering column in 1934. Launched in 1959, the Mercedes-Benz W111 incorporated all of the above inventions.On August 13, 1959, Volvo Cars made automotive history when they sold the first car equipped with today’s three-point-belt system to a customer in Sweden. Volvo Cars invented the seat belt, then quickly made their invention available to the world in the interest of saving lives.
You’re underestimating drum brakes, and also overestimating crumple zones.
Drum brakes can work very well, appropriately sized. Almost all class 8 trucks have all drum brakes, and they can stop on a dime – once.
My ’78 Cougar has front disc brakes and (big) rear drums. The brakes work very well for anything approaching regular street driving. Ditto for my ’89 F150, the old S10… I’ve had plenty of cars with drums with no issues. The only time I ever experienced the onset of fade was a panic stop from 75 mph, but it didn’t negatively impact my stopping distance – the front brakes were still working fine.
My problem with passenger cars with 4 wheel drums is that they tended to be undersized relative to the vehicle weight *for modern driving*. If you did all your driving at 55 mph and below they’d be fine. The reality is that we don’t drive that way anymore.
Your comment did remind me of one more piece of safety tech I consider mandatory for a daily driver – dual master cylinder brakes.
I’m curious about your statement about me overestimating crumple zones. I would much rather have them than not in the event of an accident – care to elaborate?
What are the chances of, say, the Lane Motor Museum having a showdown or crash-off between this particular Cortina, Father Juliano’s Aurora, the Sir Vival, a Bricklin SV-1, the Volvo VESC, and maybe a Tucker Torpedo to see who emerges as the most alive (or the most dead) of all the drivers and passengers?? Ha. Needless to say, chances are nil…
There’s something wrong w/ you if you think that’s a good idea for the people and those cars
Lol… [insert Leonardo di Caprio/Gatsby “Just Because You Didn’t Get the Joke Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Funny” meme]
The Cortina/Taunus and the Granada were handsome cars with great presence, especially compared to other cars other than MB at the time in Yurp. The Granada in particular had a strong resemblance to the equally handsome Peugeot 505 we got here in the US for a while.
Ah, the good old days, when you announced to the world (well, other road users in the UK) that you were driving an Automatic.
Which makes me wonder why automatic transmissions, overdrive, turbochargers, 4WD and fuel injection were considered worth bragging about with boot badges and stickers, but not disc brakes, power steering, independent suspension…
Several automakers did used to advertise disc brakes on their wheel covers, not the trunk, but, still, on the outside of the car anyway. Buick just put big “Power Steering” emblems in the middle of the steering wheel – why are you advertising a feature to someone who already bought it?
“Disc Brakes” on wheel covers – I like the logic: you can only read the message when the car is stopped.
I think that was for the prospective buyer in the dealership.
My friends mum had a Daihatsu Charade that proudly announced 5-Speed on its tailgate. This was an 80’s car.
Japanese products of the 70s and 80s with everything labeled and all features announced were just a lot of fun.
We used to have the most basic takoyaki (battered octopus balls…) maker. It cost the equivalent of about $5 and had so few features that the box proudly announced the on-off switch.
A long time ago my friend’s kid had a beater Toyota (forgive me for forgetting the model). The badges were deteriorating, so he simplified ‘4 wheel drive’ to ‘4 wheels’. It was a great middle finger to who cares?
In the 1970s and 1980s, the vehicles in Europe were often poverty-specced, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz, so the owners had to pay extra for the options. Some owners in the 1970s and 1980s wanted to flaunt their “conspicious consumption” by having the badges affixed to the vehicles: “LOOK! I HAVE AUTOMATIC GEARBOX! I HAVE SHITLOAD OF MONEY! YOU SUCK! HAHAHA!” Some even attached the fake badges to their vehicles.
Automatic gearboxes were mostly frowned upon by the Europeans due to its perceived sluggishness, prodigious appetite for volatile remainders of dinosaurs, expensive operating cost, and higher degree of ennui.
Back then, we didn’t have the option packages as we do today. Some offered the trim levels with certain equipment installed as standard. Mercedes-Benz never offered the trim levels until 1993 introduction of W202 with four trim levels: Classic (poverty-specced), Esprit (louder colour palette), Sport (no explanation needed), and Elegance (luxury).
In Japan, many new automotive or race-inspired technologies (turbochargers, dual cams, four valves, rear-wheel steering, flux capacitor, etc.) were introduced during the 1980s. So, the bragging rights were exalted amongst the Japanese owners. They liked to remind others of what sort of technology their cars were equipped so the string of badges on the rear passenger doors or at trunk edge.
My favourite badging on a Japanese car trunk in the 1980s was the Toyota Vista AVANTE Lordly…
4 different badges, a mixture of chrome silver, gold and cream imitation enamel, 4 different fonts in a mixture of all caps and mixed upper and lower case and telling you nothing about the car besides who made it.
Ford only recently stopped drivers from flexing their left leg action in the Ranger… the previous generation advertised both the engine displacement (either 2.2 or 3.2… the 3.2 being a glorious 5 cyl) and the transmission option with the badge either saying 6 speed for manual or 6 auto (self explanatory)
The idea behind this ignores the deaths that occur from rollovers, in which unbelted passengers are ejected (or half-ejected) from the windows and crushed by the rolling car. Seat belts have saved a hell of a lot of lives.
You are free to scream at windmills as much as you want, just like ‘mercans are free to never have to belt up. /s
I think the display might be a Panaplex. I’ve never seen a neon VFD.
There’s a really strange disconnect between the exterior of this car, which is pure 1970’s, and the interior, which, ignoring the blobbiness of the huuuuuge padding, actually looks like it could be in a 21st-century car.
I think it’s the shape of the instrument binnacle (that looks like today’s wraparound-screen affairs) and particularly, the tri-spoked and thick-rimmed steering wheel, which looks like a modern airbag-equipped “sporty” item (minus today’s encrustation of buttons)
*My dual shepherds begin wagging and violently shedding*
It didn’t work out because Ford didn’t have access to Chrysler’s “Rich Corinthian Leather”.
Now we know what Mike Lindell was doing at age 13.
I doubt he ever cared about other people’s safety.
Sleeping soundly at the wheel?
Cocaine?
If I’m not mistaken, the C4 Corvette featured a big dash pad on the passenger side, GM thinking this would be the next passive safety requirement.
We call it a breadbox. I think they were really put on the dash just to fill space. Maybe it’s age, but the one in my 87 Corvette is about the density of a brick.
Interestingly, it needs to be very dense. Rollbar padding comes in two types, pool noodle soft (useless), and very dense closed cell foam. Only the latter is FIA rated for use in a race car.
Seems like you are comparing 1974 apples to 2023 oranges. Sure that padding wont work but i bet it led to the idea of the airbag. You know the next idea added to increase the cost and reduce visibility and actual safety. Those seatbelts at the time were waist only. Stopped your naughty parts from going anywhere but allowed spinal cord injuries, chest impalement on the steering column after knocking most of your teeth out on the steering wheel. Now most of the safety devices have become good ideas but none were smart or affective back in 1973.
The initial air bag implementation was because folks would not wear three point belts.
Speaking of sponge padding I remember the disappearance of the MGB glove box a sad point in history.
The air bag was invented in the late 60’s and available in the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1973.
And my ‘73 Chevy had shoulder belts. The top part was separate… but it still had them.
> allowed spinal cord injuries, chest impalement on the steering column after knocking most of your teeth out on the steering wheel.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. That sounds like a good time to me.
This is about the same time that GM started offering airbags in their fullsize cars on this side of the pond but soon dropped the option due to lack of interest.
Even Kramer’s Chevy had one!
https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-genres/kramer-seinfeld-1973-chevrolet-impala-airbags-details-photos/
Correct – and, at the time, a big selling point of air bags was that they might reduce the need for seat belts, or, at least compensate for people refusing to wear seat belts. I believe GM’s 1973-1976 Air Cushion Restraint System actually did only have lap belts instead of 3 point, since it was felt the air bags would do a good enough job at restraining front seat passengers on their own.
Also, it was a $180 option on ’74-’76 big Oldsmobiles and a $300 option on Cadillacs, with Buicks somewhere in between. Yeah, decent change at the time, but really not all that crazy in relation to the MSRPs of those cars and given what people were used to paying for, say, air conditioning, AM/FM radios, automatic transmissions, and the like in those days. GM priced it at a loss hoping people would buy it and eventually create economies of scale, but it didn’t happen. GM were also one of the ones who actually lobbied to make airbags mandatory in the 1970s, because they had tooled up to build hundreds of thousands of them a year and were hemorrhaging cash on it since nobody was buying them, and they were the only automaker with a system already in production. By the ’80s, they changed their tune and lobbied against airbags, because ACRS had long since been discontinued and GM didn’t want to have to go through the whole process all over again.
Hell yeah, that’s awesome! Love Kramer & his car…Seinfeld is my favorite show of all time
“He stopped short!!!”