Pete, that's exactly why my son Mike, after seeing the nicely integrated European bumpers on the GTV-6, was determined to find a set for his '86. And we did. And one of the USA market bumpers was heavier by far than both the Euro bumpers together. Driving the car after the conversion, you could actually feel the response difference from the reduction of weight at both ends of the car.
The asinine saga of the 5mph bumpers, forced upon us by the DOT, Institute for Highway Safety and the insurance lobby, was a testimony to the ineffectiveness of big government and the nanny state. We all paid dearly for those absurd bumper designs, and today they are nowhere to be found. Why? Because they were finally revealed to be of zero cost-benefit, which is what educated, sensible people argued in the first place. It seems some manufacturers, like BMW and Volvo, went out of their way to create ugly bumper solutions for our market.
Give me the pure aesthetic of the original carrozzerie designs, every time. If I want bigger bumpers I'll buy an F-350 and bolt bully bars on it. Rant's over... back to this exciting barn find!
