Great point. I have watched hundreds (not exaggerating). Sobering. New in general is much better than old. But, it gets complicated. The strength of the cage

Great point. I have watched hundreds (not exaggerating). Sobering. New in general is much better than old. But, it gets complicated. The strength of the cage the passengers are in hasn't improved much, what has is how they behave in very specific crash tests. Go outside of that (go off a bank and roll down the hill over and over) and you'll find an old GL750 Volvo or '79 W116 merc will still have kept it's integrity in the passenger compartment (the doors will probably still open) where most modern cars would be crushed, passengers included. Basically the bottom line is if you're going to buy an older car, get one that is still considered safe today. That leaves you with all mercs, volvos, most BMWs and Saabs from the post-airbag era. And get ABS - avoid the accident in the first place.