Mercedes-Benz had no choice to create this feature for fear of people literally losing their heads

Mercedes-Benz was once forced to create a feature for its R129 convertible cars as it feared people would lose their heads without it.

During the 1970s, there was a risk that drop-tops and convertible cars would disappear altogether due to proposed new regulations regarding the rollover safety of these cars.

People could, quite literally, lose their heads if these regulations were not brought in. But Mercedes wanted to make sure the drop-top survived.

This is what led to its new R129 generation SL-Class, ensuring that convertible cars in the United States could continue to thrive.

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Convertible cars had been very popular in the 1950s and early 1960s.

However, that popularity began to wane as the 1960s became the 1970s, and this was reflected in sales.

For example, from 1965 to 1970, sales shares for the Ford Mustang convertible dropped from 22.8 to 3.9 percent.

Making the situation worse were new regulations in America being proposed to increase rollover safety.

The problem was that those inside the car could be severely injured in the event of an accident that caused the car to roll over.

There was nothing for convertibles to slide along should that happen.

That is when Mercedes developed its radical automatic rollover bar, debuting on its 1989 R129 generation SL-class.

Mercedes-Benz engineers created a new A-pillar that was much, much stronger than anything seen before it.

The German company then designed an automatic rollover bar, placed behind the seats of the car.

It was mounted on top of hydraulic springs.

If the SL detected a rollover was incoming, the spring system would engage and fire up the rollbar in less than a second.

This would then impact the ground first, and then it would blast the car back onto its wheels.

It was a truly brilliant system, and now it is used on virtually every convertible in the world.

The R129, which it debuted on, was also well-received and is now an affordable classic.

The most affordable is the 300 SL variant with its 3.0-liter inline-six, costing only $20,000 in some cases.

Had it not been for the Mercedes rollover system, convertibles might have become a thing of the past.

Thanks to Mercedes, the convertible was not only saved but also made much safer than before.

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