I was thinking the other day how cool were those old Volvo commercials… Remember the one where they would stack one Volvo on top of another? Well if that was a little before your time check out the picture below, Volvo stacked 7 cars on top of each other without crushing the vehicle below. That was safety at its best back in the day. Just think that was 30 years ago… Can you imagine the technological advances that have taken place in the passed 30 years in just Volvo chassis? Not to mention all the active safety features that take place while you are driving that control the vehicle brake systems, steering systems, and traction. Let me explain… Volvo introduced the side impact protection system (SIPS) in 1991. This structure minimizes the intrusion by adding stronger B-pillars, rigid rockers, transverse floor and roof cross members, and the SIPS box. After adding SIPS Volvo added a new front structure on the P2 chassis the “Three leg support system” lots of geometry went into this one, sub frame struture enhancement, engine cradle reinforcements and more. After that came Boron Steel… This stuff is strong… just ask an engineeror a body man who has had to cut this stuff. I could continue to list chassis advances but just don’t have time for this post.
