[Dan Case]

Re: Seat Belts
IMPACT brand seat belts, and in the case of competition cars shoulder harnesses too, were used throughout Cobra and '65 GT350 production. Some of Friedman's books show competition team cars (289s) with the famous in the period "Wear Your IMPACT..." white sticker on either the steering wheel spokes or the sun visor in front on the driver. When Cobras were new the popular media made a big deal of the "fighter plan seat belts" in Cobras. SAI relied on aircraft supply companies heavily for competition "hardware". This was quite natural if you read the biographies of early SAI employees. Many had military experience. Aircraft hardware was and still is much supperior to what normally goes into cars. Using aircraft belts in the cars when sold new was pretty radical for the time. I have been hearing for decades about "Ray Brown" brand belts in SAI cars. I have seen a picture of a set of "Ray Brown" belts that were "IMPACT" belts with a Ray Brown label attached. I think Ray Brown was just marketing and not making belts. I belive the parent company for IMPACT was American Safety. Back in the 1960s almost all safety belts in Fords, any commerical aircraft, and many military aircraft were marked as being supplied by American Safety. They are still a major player in 2004.