Modern Muscle Cars Aren’t Quite As Safe As You’d Think

Since sports cars tend to be driven enthusiastically, it’s important they’re as safe as possible. However, a trio of modern muscle cars - a Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger - all missed out on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) top safety ratings.

To nab the IIHS’ ‘Top Safety Pick’, a car needs a ‘good’ rating in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restrain tests, and have some kind of front crash prevention system. The Mustang came closest, but was let down by an ‘acceptable’ rating in the small overlap test, where the roof buckled and the A-pillar plus instrument panel intruded into the cockpit.

The Camaro fared much better in the small overlap, but it scored only ‘acceptable’ in the roof strength test, and doesn’t have any front crash prevention tech.

The Challenger - the oldest of the trio - performed the worst, scoring ‘acceptable’ for roof strength and the head restraints, and only ‘marginal’ in the small overlap.

So in other words, room for improvement with all three cars…