The Mercedes-Benz W111 introduced the production-car crumple-zone design in 1959.
The safety breakthrough grew from the work of Béla Barényi, an engineer whose earlier patents challenged the idea that a safer car should simply be rigid. His design divided the vehicle into a strong passenger cell and deformable front and rear sections. Those sections absorbed crash energy before it reached occupants.
The 1959 W111, commonly known as the “Fintail” or “Tail Fin,” was the first Mercedes-Benz body developed around Barényi’s mature crumple-zone patent. Its longitudinal members were straight around the passenger compartment but curved toward the ends, allowing the front and rear structures to deform progressively in a collision.
A frequent mix-up is crediting the W111 with inventing the entire idea in 1959. Barényi had patented the concept in 1937 and developed it further in 1952; the W111 was the landmark production Mercedes-Benz implementation. Later W108, W114, and W123 models refined the same safety philosophy.