Re: What was the first Packard to have seat-belts, if at all?

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2016/4/7 11:03:45

As already pointed out by Rusty, Stutz was perhaps the most noteworthy maker who made a real point of emphasizing safety, even to the point of referring to their car the "Safety Stutz". Most all the makers made a point in their promotions when they went to safety glass, especially those who went to it in all windows and not just the windshield. Hudson tried to make a safety distinction with their brakes postwar which had a mechanical override such that the foot brake pedal would automatically engage the parking brake if the hydraulics failed - it might have helped sell a few cars. Also postwar the "deep dish" steering wheels got a bit of play in promotion, as did early users of padded dashboards (Kaiser notably, also with their "pop-out" windshields. But I guess after Stutz the first to put together a comprehensive safety promotion was Ford in 1957, not that it helped their sales much if any.

One wonders how much today's safety crash test results and safety classifications influence buyers?