Lamborghini Splits In Half. Somewhere Bela Barenyi Smiles

Ronnie Schreiber
by Ronnie Schreiber

First photos and now surveillance video of a dramatic wreck involving a Lamborghini Aventador and what looks like a Mazda, in Brooklyn’s Mill Basin neighborhood, have been bouncing around the ‘ol innerwebz because the Lambo split in two, right behind the passenger safety cell, as it was designed to do. The driver was apparently unhurt and you can see him walk away from the accident in the video. Somewhere, Bela Bareny i is smiling. It was Barenyi, working for Mercedes-Benz in the early 1950s, who invented the concept of building a car with front and back “crumple zones” that would deform and absorb energy in the event of a collision, protecting the passengers in a more rigidly constructed, non-deformable safety cell.

By the way, contrary to some reports, it wasn’t the collision with the other car that broke the Aventador apart. It was the corner of the brick wall that the $400,000 supercar hit sideways that tore the back end off of the Lamborghini, not the initial collision with the Mazda, which sent the sports car spinning into the wall. Witnesses say that the sedan was attempting to make a left turn into a driveway. The Mazda’s driver was either distracted or apparently misjudged the closing speed of the Lamborghini, “approaching at a high rate of speed.”

Bela Barenyi’s 1950 drawing laying out the crumple zone / safety cell concept that likely saved the life of the Lamborghini driver.

Ronnie Schreiber
Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

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  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
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