Abstract: A hood safety stop mechanism for restricting backward movement of a hood, which is bendable convexly upward relative to the car body during a front-end collision of a vehicle, includes an elongated opening formed in either the hood or the car body, and a hook, secured to the other of the hood and car body. The hook is formed so as to be located within the opening without any engagement with an edge of the opening. During a collision, the hook is initially brought into engagement with the edge of the opening when the hood begins to open and after the hood has opened to a predetermined engaging angle. The hook is then disengaged from the opening when the hood begins to bend during further opening of the hood. Finally, the hood is fully bent to a predetermined bend angle.

Abstract: A rear body structure of a vehicle is provided with a space, defined under a floor panel between a passenger room and a trunk room, in which a fuel tank is received. The structure includes support beams for supporting the fuel tank from an underside, in a fuel tank space. The space is formed by bending up and down a floor panel in a lengthwise direction of the car body, such as the rear floor panel of the passenger room and the trunk floor panel of the trunk room. The support beams include a pair of support beams, disposed in parallel and extending in a lengthwise direction of the car body, and a pair of connecting beams, extending in a transverse direction of the car body between and connected to the supporting beams, which are assembled as parallel crosses.

Abstract: An automobile body of a front-engine-front-drive type has an engine located in the engine compartment with the crankshaft directed transversely. The frame assembly for supporting the power unit comprising the engine and the transmission device is constituted by a front and rear sections. The rear section is secured to the body and the front section is removably connected at the front end with the body and at the rear end with the rear section. The power unit is mounted on the front section so that it can be removed from the body together with the front section.