Safety for all: Béla Barényi's Terracruiser

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In 1946/1947 Béla Barényi, an engineer at Daimler-Benz started with the design of the ‘Terracruiser’ a vehicle with divided functional spaces. Previously designers thought that a body that was as rigid as possible was the best way to protect the driver and passengers in an accident. In fact it means that the forces generated during the impact are transferred to the occupants with hardly any prior absorption. For this reason Barényi turned to controlled body deformation at the front and rear, so as to absorb the kinetic energy built up during a collision. Although Barény’s design was patented by Daimler-Benz on 23 January 1951, it took until 1959 before the safety body went into serial production with the W 111 series (model 220b).
(photos courtesy Daimler AG)

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