Giovanni Michelotti: Research and Patents for Active and Passive Automotive Safety

For Giovanni Michelotti, the motorcar always symbolised freedom. But as he often remarked, it was also “the most widespread legalised weapon in the world.” This awareness accompanied him throughout his career and made safety—both active and passive—a core principle in his approach to automotive design.

Words by Edgardo Michelotti

Photos and Drawings: Archivio Storico Michelotti www.archiviostoricomichelotti.it

Safety and visibility: pioneering ideas for everyday cars

Although my father designed elegant and sporty cars, he was never attracted to supercars. He only created one, the “Laser”, based on the Matra M530, unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. He considered them unsuitable for daily use: too low, with poor visibility, overly large, and often not road legal.Instead, he preferred to focus on innovative vehicles for urban use. As early as the 1950s and 60s, he patented several solutions aimed at improving road safety. Among them, an antenna-mounted red brake light positioned on the roof, to make emergency braking visible even to vehicles not directly behind.

He also added lateral brake lights, in addition to turn indicators — an idea he applied to the Osca 1600 Coupé shown in Geneva in 1961.That same vehicle also featured an original pagoda-style roof, raised along the doors to improve access and aerodynamics. Initially criticised by French journalist Alain Bertaut, this solution was adopted two years later by Mercedes-Benz on the 230 SL. As I wrote in a previous piece, Bertaut later publicly acknowledged my father’s priority in the design.

The first airbag in the world?

In 1964, my father addressed a problem that at the time had received little attention: how to protect the front passenger in the event of a collision. Unlike the driver, the passenger had no steering wheel to hold on to. From this concern came an innovative dashboard, with all instruments placed in front of the driver and, on the passenger side, padding made of mattress springs designed to absorb impact. This solution was applied to a Japanese prototype, the Hino Contessa 1300 Coupé — and could be considered a forerunner of the modern airbag.

Considering pedestrians, too

In 1967, he designed a one-off model based on the DAF 55, named Siluro, featuring a sharply tapered front end to reduce impact surface area in the event of a pedestrian collision. This car is still preserved today at the DAF Museum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Aerodynamics and wind tunnel testing

Aerodynamics was another key focus of his work. The Triumph Le Mans, developed in 1961 on commission from Standard Triumph, with mechanicals by Virgilio Conrero, was likely one of the first cars to be tested in the wind tunnel at the Polytechnic University of Turin, which had just opened in 1958. Data was collected on graph paper and plotted with great care.

Shock-absorbing bumpers

With the introduction of polyurethane resins in the early 1970s, my father developed shock-absorbing bumpers, designed to deform and protect the bodywork in the event of an impact. The “resins” department within his coachbuilding facility was highly advanced at the time, and many prototypes featured these solutions: the Fiat 128 Coupé Pulsar, Fiat 132 Coupé Flares, the Ferrari 365 GTC4 Spiaggetta built for Willy Felber, the Fiat 126 City Car, the Hillman Paykan Coupé for an Iranian client, the Lancia Beta Mizar, several Felber models, and a number of Ferrari 365 GTB/4s produced for Luigi Chinetti.

Urban mobility and vision for the future

Urban mobility was a recurring theme in his thinking. I recall a 1978 concept involving split rear wheels — a project that never came to life due to his untimely passing in January 1980.Among his final significant creations was the Fiat 127 Every4R, developed in collaboration with the magazine Quattroruote: a car designed for young people, with a modular body — summer/winter — made up of easily interchangeable panels. The prototype was presented in Turin in 1978.

There are many more urban vehicles that came from his pencil, which I will explore on another occasion. For now, I will simply note how, alongside his taste for design, there was always a deep concern for safety, technical progress, and the human aspect.er maintained a consistent focus on safety, technical progress, and the human being.

About the author Edgardo Michelotti: Born in 1952, I hold a diploma as a surveyor and pursued a degree in Architecture in Turin. I began working alongside my father in 1973 until his illness and passing in early 1980. I continued his work until 1991, when I transitioned away from the automotive industry. For the next 15 years, I focused on industrial design, while also engaging in photography and archival digitization from 2003 to the present. This allowed me to manage an extensive archive, including the specific cataloging and complete digitization of approximately 6,000 graphic units, 20,000 photographs, 7,000 kg of full-scale design plans, as well as scale models, tools, correspondence, and periodicals. The archive spans over three decades, covering the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.