The Mercedes Ponton, a symbol of post-war automotive engineering and design, often evokes images of elegance and classic motoring. But how would this icon of the 1950s fare when subjected to the rigorous safety standards of the 21st century? In an unprecedented event at the annual meeting of the Mercedes Benz Interest Group (MBIG) in 2010, a Mercedes Ponton underwent a modern offset crash test at the ADAC crash test facility in Landsberg / Lech, Germany. This pioneering test aimed to explore the safety characteristics of a vehicle developed decades before the introduction of modern crash safety regulations.
The crash test was designed to mimic the stringent EuroNCAP standards, involving a 64 km/h offset frontal impact into a deformable barrier. This type of impact places significant stress on the vehicle’s structural integrity, simulating a severe real-world collision scenario, such as an oncoming traffic accident. This test configuration was deliberately chosen to push the Ponton (specifically a model 180) to its limits, far beyond the safety assessments conducted in its era. However, due to concerns about potential damage to expensive sensor-equipped crash test dummies and the Ponton’s lack of seatbelts, dummies were not used in the driver and passenger seats. Consequently, the test focused on evaluating the structural response of the vehicle rather than gathering precise occupant injury data.
High-speed camera footage of the crash revealed crucial insights into the Ponton’s structural behavior. The passenger compartment demonstrated a commendable level of “survival space.” Post-impact, the right-side door could be opened without difficulty, indicating the structural integrity of that side. The left door, while significantly deformed, would have required only light tools to open, suggesting that the deformation, although substantial, was somewhat controlled. As expected, the front end of the Ponton absorbed a significant amount of impact energy, behaving as a rudimentary “crumple zone.”
