Date:         Tue, 14 May 1996 12:39:42 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SyncroHead@aol.com
Subject:      Re: Front Glass

In a message dated 96-05-14 06:46:25 EDT, SMAHER@gi.com (Maher, Steve
(SD-MS)) writes:

>
>Moral of the story is, there are at least two kinds of safety glass. One
>(which I gather is used in cars in Europe) breaks easily and shatters into
>little, not-very-dangerous pebbles; and the other (used in cars in the U.S.)
>is the plastic-laminate kind, somewhat more resistant to breakage, and which
>keeps its pieces to itself when it does break.

I think this is partially correct, but I believe the European tempered glass
is much much stronger than the laminated glass the government requires in
America.  American windshields crack, pit, break, and scratch at the
slightest provocation while the tempered ones live a long clear life.

>
>The tempered glass, which shatters so spectacularly and showers everyone
>with (nonlethal) pieces, is also used in Hollywood movies. They make it
>very breakable so that Schwarzenneger won't break half the bones in his
>hand when he punches through a car windshield trying to kill Linda Hamilton.
>But they used the real stuff in Die Hard and Ghost... very carefully.
>

No. "Glass" in Hollywood movies is not real glass at all but a movie prop
made specifically for breaking while not killing anyone.  Any body part going
through real glass (tempered, laminated, whatever) would be inevitibly cut.
 The way they do it in the movies they would be cut to shreds if it were real
glass.

Jim Davis
87 GL Syncro
88 GL Wolfsburg