Safety steering columns were just a good idea (VW versus Opel)
Until the 1960s, accidents usually looked exactly like this example, when a VW Beetle collided with an Opel Rekord. While the passenger compartments remained intact, the steering column, which pushed into the interior of the car, significantly impaired the survival space. Even a steering wheel with a dish, as used in the Beetle from 1959, was of little help.
Only the safety steering column, which was introduced into cars in the 1960s, for example by splitting and possibly overlapping the two segments, improved the situation.
The Porsche 901 already had a safety steering column (with two universal joints) in 1963, and the same design was chosen for the Beetle in the 1970s. The Ford Capri also had a safety steering column as early as 1967, while the Opel Manta was fitted with a mesh tube that shortened in the event of an accident. In general, most car manufacturers recognized the new trend in the 1960s and retrofitted them. Thank goodness!
