Experimental Safety Vehicle
Encyclopedia
Car safety
Automobile safety is the study and practice of vehicle design, construction, and equipment to minimize the occurrence and consequences of automobile accidents. Automobile safety is the study and practice of vehicle design, construction, and equipment to minimize the occurrence and consequences of...
ideas.
In 1970 the U.S. DOT
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
announced its ESV project, the aim of which was to obtain safer vehicles by 1980. http://www-esv.nhtsa.dot.gov/pages/ConfHistory.htm: A car produced by this effort was known as the Minicar RSV
Minicar RSV
The Minicar RSV was a concept automobile created in the United States by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find ways to decrease highway fatalities. The design was picked in 1975 from a competition between Calspan & Minicars, after rejecting unsuitable concepts presented by the...
.
In 1991, the ESV abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
was backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
ed to Enhanced Safety of Vehicles. http://www-esv.nhtsa.dot.gov/pages/2ndAnnouncement/ConfHistory.htm
Some ESVs
- AuroraAurora (1957 automobile)The Aurora was an American automobile manufactured by Father Alfred A. Juliano, a Catholic priest, from 1957 to 1958. The Aurora is arguably the first Experimental Safety Vehicle ever made, even before the coinage of the ESV acronym. This safety car was to be available with a Chrysler, Cadillac,...
, a one-man effort 1957 ESV. - Austin Metro PSC1 (Pedestrian Safety Car One), 1986 http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?lc8psc1f.htm.
- BLMC SSV -Safety Systems Vehicle- series http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?researchsrvf.htm.
- SSV1 Based on the MGB GT (1972).
- SRV2 Based on the Morris MarinaMorris MarinaThe Morris Marina is a car which was manufactured by the Morris division of British Leyland in the UK throughout the 1970s, which was a period of great turbulence and difficulty for the British car industry. It was known in some markets as the Austin Marina, Leyland Marina, and Morris 1.7...
(1974). - SRV3 Based on the BMCBritish Motor CorporationThe British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
ADO 17 Austin 1800 badge engineeredBadge engineeringBadge engineering is an ironic term that describes the rebadging of one product as another...
family. - SRV4 Based on the MiniMiniThe Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
. - SRV5 Based on the BMC ADO 16 Austin/Morris 1300BMC ADO16ADO16 is the codename for the development of what became the Morris 1100, a small family car built by the British Motor Corporation and, later, British Leyland...
, featuring an innovative spring-loaded pedestrian-catching bar.
- ChryslerChryslerChrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
RSV -Research Safety Vehicle- based on the Simca 1307Simca 1307The Simca 1307 was the name under which Chrysler Europe launched its new large family car in July 1975.A modern, front-wheel drive hatchback, it was one of the first such cars in that class, along with the Volkswagen Passat, and became the 1976 European Car of the Year...
http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/car-development/dev-rsv.html. - DatsunDatsunDatsun was an automobile marque. The name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Co. for a new car model, spelling it as "Datson" to indicate its smaller size when compared to the existing, larger DAT car. Later, in 1933 after Nissan Motor Co., Ltd...
ESV (1973), based on the Nissan BluebirdNissan BluebirdAlthough Nissan's own materials indicate that the Bluebird name emerged in 1959, some records show that the name first adorned a 988 cc, four-door sedan in 1957, which was part of the company's 210 series...
. http://waybackmachine.org/*/www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentraljapan/datsunesv.html. - FiatFiatFIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
ESV 1500 libbre, 2000 libbre and 2500 libbre (libbre meaning poundsPound (mass)The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) (1971) Galleryhttp://waybackmachine.org/*/www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentralitaly/esv.html. - Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
ESV24 (1974) http://www.worldcarfans.com/classics.cfm/classicID/5040513.002/country/gcf/mercedes/mercedes-safety-research-test-lab-on-wheels. - Nissan 216X (1971) http://waybackmachine.org/*/www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentraljapan/216x.html
- PininfarinaPininfarinaPininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...
PF Sigma (1963)http://waybackmachine.org/*/www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentralitaly/sigma.html - Pininfarina Sigma (1969), a Formula OneFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
ESV http://www.madle.org/epmsigma.htm - Pininfarina Nido (2004), featuring a sled-mounted survival cell with interior crumple zoneCrumple zoneThe crumple zone is a structural feature mainly of automobiles. Crumple zones have also been incorporated into railcars in recent years.They are designed to absorb the energy from the impact during an accident by controlled deformation. This energy is much higher than is commonly recognized...
s. - RenaultRenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
BRV -Basic Research Vehicle- (1974). - Renault Epure, based on the Renault 5Renault 5The Renault 5 was first unveiled on 10 December 1971, being launched at the beginning of 1972.The Renault 5 was styled by Michel Boué, who died before the car's release, the R5 featured a steeply sloping rear hatchback and front dashboard...
(1979). - Toyota ESV (1972-1973)
- Volvo VESCVolvo VESCVolvo VESC, the Volvo Experimental Safety Car, was an ESV concept car built by Volvo in 1972. Its design emphasized car safety and many of the ideas that would later appear on the Volvo 240....
(1972). - Volvo SCCVolvo SCCThe Volvo Safety Concept Car is an ESV concept car which was first shown at the 2001 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.The car was the first and, to date, the only car to have an experimental criss-cross seatbelt...
(2001). - VolkswagenVolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
ESVW1 (1972) http://www.classicvw.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=5498.
External links
NHTSA Page of ESV Conference Proceedings, 1998 (16th) to 2009 (21st): http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-01/esv/esv.html- Collection of technical PDFs about ESVs including Proceedings from several older ESV Conferences.