IIHS finds Ford only reinforced trims the IIHS would test

[Pulsar]

There is always going to be a subset of the population (and let's be blunt, it's the old people) who don't understand that the skin of a modern vehicle is in no way structural.

It's just there to look pretty and make the air go where it's supposed to.

I'd bet (though I'm no expert) that the old vehicles were no different it's just public perception going from thick steel to aluminum/plastic is going to confuse the general population.

Viper GTS

That's not necessarily true though. Modern monocoque construction of most non-frame vehicles places a large amount of strength and stiffness in the body panels. It just so happens that trucks are one of the few vehicles still built on a frame - for obvious reasons.