There was an outfit in the UK called MIRA, the Motor Industry Research Association. It was formed after World War II as a central research nexus for the British automobile industry, and over the years it built up comprehensive test facilities with the goal of helping British automakers become more competitive globally. Over the years its mission and focus shifted and drifted, and although they didn't shred and trash their archives like GM did (see my other ad), they closed it down: the materials still exist in deep storage, but they might as well not — there's no staff, no budget, no access at all, to anyone, for any reason. So I was lucky to pry this report out of 'em when I did; if I'd waited another year or two it would've been "oh, dear…terribly sorry, old chap!".

From time to time MIRA bought cars, tested them extensively and tore them down to see how they were made and how they tended to break. One such car was a 1961 Valiant.

When I say they "tested extensively", I mean this MIRA test of the '61 Valiant includes mindbending levels of detail. Aside from all the normal things you'd expect (acceleration, fuel economy, handling, etc), heater performance was measured and plotted in detail. So was dust and water entry. So were numerous kinds of noise. And the glass thickness, and the spring tension force of the windshield wipers against the glass. And brake force (main and parking brakes), cold and hot. And aerodynamics, and driver sightlines, torsional stiffness, alternator output, suspension forces, and much more, all to an astounding degree of precision. About the only thing they didn't measure is the pitch and sound pressure level from the horn!

And when I say they "tore it down", I mean they took the car apart down to the last nut, bolt, screw, and clip, then dissected and analyzed the pieces. They subjected trim parts to various kinds of corrosive environments and recorded the results in words and pictures. They chased down every crack and creak that developed in body panels and welds and gaskets, photographed and documented them. They weighed and measured everything.

It's like they put the car through an exhaustive battery of tests (including the exhaust and the battery), then shot it and did a thorough autopsy. This test makes any car test you've ever seen look like a book report by a not-very-bright 3rd-grader who wrote it on the bus the morning it was due, with the flu and without having read the book. Seriously, it's difficult to overstate the thoroughness of this report, which runs to a hundred and six pages, a few of which are shown here.

$61 plus postage from British Columbia, Canada. Please send me a PM.