I’ve got two VX hatchbacks. One of them I have been using a floor jack placed under the front middle jack point to raise it up and put jack stands under the points behind the front wheels. No problems at all and everything works great. Tonight I jacked up my newer VX using the same point and it crushed it- it crumpled and now has a giant bend and crease in that metal bar. What the heck happened?

 

If I had to guess, that car has been in a front end collision and the core support was replaced with an aftermarket part that did not meet OE spec.

The tell is the black paint. VX did not come in black, that was an SI only color. Replacement body parts typically come in a black semi gloss primer like pictured. That looks too clean to be nearly 30 years old.

 

If that’s the case, I’ll plan on building a custom front end for it when it comes time to strip it all down for a turbo build. I’ve got a feeling I can build something a good bit stronger than this.