MB archive
Automobile pioneer Barényi reaches 90
Stuttgart, 28th of February 1997
1955 - 1972 Head of advanced design at Daimler-Benz
Most current safety standards in the automotive sector are based on one
of Barenyi's original ideas. Whether it be the safety body shell, the
crumple zone or the safety steering system, more than 2500 patents bear
the Mercedes-Benz engineer's name - patents that have saved countless
lives.
Nobody in the world has given car safety more thought than Bela Barenyi.
His specialty was "thinking ahead": many of his ideas where so
visionary that it took several years for them to actually come to bear.
They revolutionised the car industry.
Text: Mercedes-Benz
Major inventions:
He developed the basic foundations for the beetle in 1925.
Mercedes-Benz accidents + crashes
book recommendation: "Bela Barenyi, Nestor der passiven Sicherheit" by Harry Niemann, Motorbuch Verlag (1995), 240 pages, ISBN: 3613303019
created in 2001
Professor Bela Barenyi, doyen of passive safety technology, will
celebrate his 90th birthday on the 1st of March. He was born in
Austria and worked as a design engineer, in passenger car development,
for Daimler-Benz from 1939 until his retirement in 1972. Around 2500
patents tell the story of his life’s work. In 1994 Barenyi was honoured
with a place in the "Hall of Fame" in Detroit, USA, which is
an exclusive circle of the most famous automobile pioneers in the world.
crumple zone
frontal pedestrian protection
multi piece steering column
pagoda roof
passenger vehicle with a frame
protection against side impacts
rigid occupant safety cell
safety steering wheel
some seat belt patents
TerraCruiser
Verschwindscheibenwischer
Volkswagen beetle
MB archive, Dr. Niemann
Terracruiser, August 1948