Roy. Cars only have to meet the design standards applicable to the year they were manufactured...
No, that wording is not technically accurate. Because it also has to take into account the market for which it was built. If the design standard in Europe (for which the Bagheera and Murena were built) did not come up to the standard that applied in Australia in the year they were manufactured, then strictly the cars could never be sold there, and should never have been allowed in to the country. To let them in and now attempt to impose a standard for which they were never designed, will only lead to problems because as I've said retro fitting something will impose loads in places that were never designed to cope with those forces.
A car should only ever have to meet the design standard TO WHICH IT WAS DESIGNED & BUILT as well as the years it was manufactured. When authorities decide to change some regulations, then there has to be a lag before they can be implemented, so the manufacturers have time to change the design to meet those newer regulations. So a car built in say 1981 or 1982 like the Murena, to the standard that applied in 1980 when it was designed, is fully acceptable.
Hence the wording that says 'in the year they were manufactured' and no more cannot be strictly correct.
Now if Australia had a side impact regulation in the seventies (which I find hard to believe but will accept) then the Bagheera and Murena which were only built for Europe, and only had to meet the European regulations that applied at that time, will not meet your regulations.
The original question was did the Murena have side impact intrusion bars in the doors and the answer is 'No'. It was never designed for them.
I find most testers agree with you that the requirement is nonsense for a 37 year old classic so, as long as one can point to something, the tester will probably wave it through. (Or at least that is what I hope)!
regards
Ron
The problem as I see it, is that they have allowed various old cars to be imported, that were never built to the Australian standard of the day, and now some time later they are trying to impose a regulation that the car was not designed for, and should never have been allowed in, but were. Good luck in trying to get the car passed for the road.
Roy