@stanleybmanly I’ve seen a few places for racing and demolition derbies that had Four-banger classes. The last demo derby I went to, the four-banger class was dominated by a VW Squareback due to it’s rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. (For those that don’t know, many demo derby losses are due to a cracked radiator.) The important thing isn’t size, but rather having the field comprised of roughly equal cars.
@Dutchess_III No need for me to imagine; I’ve seen it. They actually hold up better than the older ones in some ways, especially around the driver’s seat where it really matters. Most derbies forbid intentional rams to the driver’s door anyways, but they sometimes happen, and those with side impact beams tend to fare better than cars that are nothing but sheetmetal in the ~18 inches between the door and framerail. Also, a modern unibody car is less likely to get the engine knocked back through the dashboard; a distinct possibility considering that everyone else there is trying to ram your front end because that’s where your radiator is.
Naturally they’d be in their own weight class though, as despite the differences in construction that allow newer cars to withstand impact better, putting a 2800-pound car versus a 3800-pound car isn’t fair from a competitive viewpoint.