Car explosion after crash

definitely. In 1971 Herbert Muller had a big crash on the starting line of the 1000 KM at Nurburgring, his car exploded and he escaped the fireball with flames surrounding him. Unfortunatelly he died 10 years later in a similiar accident in the same race. Another example is the death of Pedro Rodriguez at Norisring in 1971, while Henri Pescarolo suffered burns on his face (can be still seen...) while testing the Matra at Le Mans. Le Mans is a very realistic movie and you can really understand how that race was (and somehow still is)

In real life, most cars might not of blown-up in that fashion (the explosions in the film look like a bomb going off), but yes, in those days cars caught on fire often.

To add to what HMS Surpriser wrote: what's worse, especially in open-wheel cars at the time, the tanks were normally positioned in the sides of the cars, one of the most exposed areas of the car, easily suspectible to damage or puncture in an accident.

That first fiery crash in the beginning of the film, the one where McQueen stops at Maison Blanche and has a flashback to the accident involving him in the previous year, has some connection to a real accident that happened in Le Mans in 1969.

One of the Porsche 917 cars was to be driven at the start by the inexperienced John Woolfe.
That was the last year that the drivers ran to their cars at the start (some would not fasten their belts in order to get off the line quicker).

The 917s were unwieldy to drive that year, Woolfe lost control at Maison Blanche on the first lap, crashed, and the car split in two; Woolfe was thrown out and killed. The fuel tank also disconnected and caught on fire.
Chris Amon, driving a Ferrari 312P through the wreck, could not avoid the burning tank and had it lodged under his car, but luckily, he managed to get out of the vehicle without injury.

The awful crash at the 1st start of the 1982 Canadian GP.

John Watsons McLaren, Italian GP 1981

Lorenzo Bandini 1967 Monaco Gp.

Niki Lauda German GP 1976. Niki was back in the 312 Ferrari 6 weeks later!!!

British GP 1973.

To name just a few. So sometimes they do blow up easily.

Very ghoulish stuff to watch.

"...and if the bible has taught us anything (and it hasn't)..." Homer

This is really the closest thing I've seen to an actual "explosion" but it's really a big fireball. Horrendous, but both drivers survived. I find it very difficult to watch Tetsuya Ota once they get him out of his car (The red Ferrari that is the last one into the wreck and burns the most). I don't like the music being added but I haven't found a video of this without music.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSIz-KXjvE&feature=related


I am not old enough to remember this era through my one experiences, but since the late 1970's I've been to literally hundreds of races (I used to attend my local track weekly for 10+ years) and seen many hundreds more on TV and cannot really remember any "explosions" but many fireballs.

I just watched this movie for the first time. I'm a big F1 and Le Mans fan so I appreciated the focus on the racing and almost total lack of dialogue.

When the crash happened and the driver attempted to run away frantically, I was trying to fathom WHY ? You've just been in an accident, you're injured, relax, help is on the way. Then I started to thinking "Its not going to explode is it ? It shouldn't. Seriously, it shouldn't..." Then BOOM!

As explained by others, they shouldn't explode. Sure, they can I GUESS. Burn, yes. It was an older, less sophisticated time but still, explosions didn't happen. A car (and driver) being engulfed in flames of course was a possibility, as evidenced by Lauda and others especially if the tank is ruptured but if the car had exploded I doubt they'd still be alive today. Most drivers die from the violent high speed impact and nothing more. They wear flame retardant clothing, not bomb proof. Your average fuel tank in an average car is designed to be safe, not 100% but close to it. Plus, most explosions come from things that are compressed.

Thats why its made fun of in comedies (Simpsons did a funny one on this, car runs off road, stops barely in time a foot away from a tree, driver exhales, then BOOM!!) but still shown in many a movie of course. Why ? Its dramatic and gives a reason to use explosives. Think of all the accidents you've seen or heard about, on the streets and in racing, how many times have you seen a car explode (or even on fire) ? Rarely, if ever. But in movies ? All the time.