In 1968, a Fiat 600 D car showed the revolutionary nitrogen cushion technology, precursor of modern airbag
Saturday 2 November 1968, visitors of the Turin Automobile Motor Show they were lucky enough to see one of the very first in action airbag. The demonstration was organized by Eaton LiviaItalian American subsidiary Eaton Yale & Town. Led by the engineer Ferdinando Palazzothe Piedmontese car surface company showed the perfect functioning of the “nitrogen pillow», An Italianization of the”Autoceptor»American, developed starting from the mid -1960s.
The car chosen for the demonstration was one Fiat 600 Dwith a mannequin on board, launched at speed against an obstacle outside the pavilions of the Turin event. With a noise similar to that of a hunting rifle coup, the guests saw the pillow swell, which appeared from the steering wheel in 5 millisecondswhile the slender bodywork of the small small car was crumpled against the concrete barrier. Calibrated for front impacts above the speed of 11 km/hthe pillow was operated by a charge that triggered a cylinder loaded a 280 atmospheres. The pillow, made of special fabric, deflated after a second from the impact thanks to a series of lateral holes.
Panorama He talked about it in an article signed by the journalist who would later become the voice of the Formula 1, Mario Armchairs. It was actually the first true airbag made in Italy, but they passed several years before the device was installed on Car in great series. In the United States it was initially installed on OldSmobile Toronado of 1973, but later he was abandoned. In Europe, however, it was the top of the range sedan Mercedes Class S To equip themselves with the airbag in 1981.
Only in the following decade did the life -saving device become common to many models on the market. The first Fiat To adopt it as an option was the Timing In 1992, followed by Point (driver only) the following year. More than 20 years had passed since the “nitrogen pillow»Exploded in that small one Fiat 600.
