The Ugliest US Bumpers Ever Produced — Carmudgeon Ep. 245 w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott

The Ugliest US Bumpers Ever Produced — Carmudgeon Ep. 245 w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott

From The Carmudgeon Show by Hagerty Media

July 20, 2026 · 1h 6m

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of US Department of Transportation regulations on car bumpers and design from the mid-1970s to 1980s.

Today’s episode of The Carmudgeon Show is a bumper episode. It’s also a headlight, taillight, and side market episode - all of the above which were effected greatly in the mid-1970s to 1980s by updated US Department of Transportation regulations in 1974.===Visit http://JasonSentMe.com to get a Hagerty Guaranteed Value (TM) collector-car insurance quote! === But first, a Rover update!! The Rover is back (temporarily) on the west coast - we get some long awaited updates, new plans, and of course a new chapter of the saga which may send the car back where it just was……the project never stops! 5-mph bumpers were one of the crucial components removed from the Rover to make it tolerable to look at today. These US-mandated bumpers (and headlights and taillights) the bane of existence for many European and Japanese manufactures in period. Most of these manufactures were so perturbed by this regulation, that the bumper integration became a bit of an afterthought. Cars like the Mercedes-Benz R107 and W116 were considered some of the worst offenders given the size and integration of the bumper in comparison to the car’s raw proportions. Other cars like the BMW E21, E23, E24, E28, and E30…

Sponsors

Hagerty Media

More episodes of The Carmudgeon Show

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Carmudgeon Show podcast page.