Just food for thought, this si not exactly very scientific but it does prove a point:

why bother with B-pillars when push come to shove they're all pretty weak...

I do not beleive a B-pillar saves lives more often than sheer luck does.

http://www.crashanalysis.com/crash_test.htm

bring back 2 AND 4 door hardtops!

Yes... this one especially!

B pillars are not designed to prevent roof shear - by the time whatever is shearing off your roof gets to the B pillar, you'r pretty much dead anyway.

B pillars provide enhanced structural rigidity (preventing cowl shake and chassis flex) and side impact protection.

Can a car be designed without a B pillar? Absolutely - convertibles are a good example, as are a one or two high-end coupes. However, unless you severely overbuild and strengthen the chassis, it's going to flex and creak and be less safe in a T-bone collision.

-RBB

I know RBB... & like I said this was a silly alegory but I thought

that you guys might get a kick out of the wacky website.

Recently I have done some drawings of a 4-door hardtop design

that might be as good or better than a 4dr sedan in side impact.

Cost is the only major problem/limitation but then again a four

door hardtop would be a very niche driven and more upscale

specialty vehicle these days.

Edited December 29, 200618 yr by Sixty8panther

I like looking through those pictures. The 15-20mph crashes most cars do ok, no intrusion into the seats, but over 20mph you see the big ugly stuff. I did find it amusing that a Chevette fared better than an F-150 pickup at around 22mph.