They weren't mules, they were early production cars. DMC gave four cars to the DOT/NHTSA - VIN 515, 517, 531 and 537. Several years back there was a guy in Ohio, I think, who had at least two of these crashed cars that he bought from a government auction. I think Ken K went to look at them. On the 40mph test, there was a notation that they were unable to completely latch the drivers door - remember this was in teh days before door guides - and that's what they attributed the door opening to on that test. James --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Chris Shepherd <chrisau79@...> wrote: > > BUT.......Did these two "mules" bear any resemblance, structurally, to the cars that were sold to the public? > > James Espey <james@...> wrote: DMC donated a couple early cars to the NHTSA for use in airbag > testing. NHTSA contracted with a company install some off the shelf > airbags and actuators for two tests. Results were very favorable with > the 35mph test which is why the did the 2nd test at 40mph. I have a > copy of the test results and have spoken with the principals who were > involved at the company who did the work at NHTSA. It's shaping up to > be a nice article for the magazine. In any case, the videos are real. > > James > > > > > > > Chris > 06301 > Find me on Google Earth > 45°43'03.24"N 123°53'45.81"W > > --------------------------------- > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/