Airbag on 85 vette?
 

HI, I am a newbie in search of my first vette, and will probably buy a mid 80's car... I notice that these cars have huge passenger side dashboards directly in front of the seat... Is this for an airbag?, or is it just padding? If just padding, what was Chevrolet thinking? If it is an airbag, is it defeatable? i.e. can I install a switch to turn it on and off? Thanks for helping out. I have owned classic mustangs for the last twenty years and have always loved corvettes, but they are new to me...

the crash pad, breadbox, or whatever is just a pad - no airbags, etc.
there are kits to make it a flat panel if you don't like it :thumbs:

If my memory serves me correctly after all these years. :crazy:

The breadbox was GM's answer to non-mandated passive restraint systems from the feds. This was prior to driver side airbags which were a few years ahead of the passenger side airbags. It is nothing more that a big pad that you get to bounce off when you run into something. :ack:

Bob
Save the wave

It's the Flinstones airbag.

When I bought my 86 someone had bandsaw cut a notch out of it,and put a portable TV in the dash.It was wired to VCR in the back storage compartment.It was probably cool back in the day,but it was all warped by the time I got it.

The original purpose of having the 'breadbox' was because GM thought the feds would require passenger side airbags, it turned out that it wasnt necessary, but they got stuck with the large pad.

No airbags, no ABS, no traction control...

I think the only safety feature on this car is the accelerator pedal. :lol: It's saved my azz on several occasions.

No airbags,no ABS,no traction control... I think this is why I like mine so much. No frills only fun. To keep the thread legal,no passanger side pad.