PROTECTING CHILDREN ON THE ROAD SINCE 1966
Fifty years ago, Britax introduced the company‘s first child restraint system. It was the 1960‘s and Britax was the UK‘s, and at that time Europe‘s, leading OEM supplier of in-vehicle safety equipment such as brakes, seatbelts, vehicle lighting accessories and helmets.
Britax, including its subsidiaries, had built its reputation in post-war Europe where the needs for road vehicle occupant safety became apparent through the extensive use and acceptance of seatbelts in wartime aircraft.
The company was one of the first to recognise this need and introduced vehicle seatbelts to the manufactured product range.
By the 1960s, Britax and its subsidiaries were major suppliers to leading automotive brands across Europe including Volkswagen, Opel and Audi.
Fifty years ago, Britax introduced the company‘s first child restraint system. It was the 1960‘s and Britax was the UK‘s, and at that time Europe‘s, leading OEM supplier of in-vehicle safety equipment such as brakes, seatbelts, vehicle lighting accessories and helmets.
Britax, including its subsidiaries, had built its reputation in post-war Europe where the needs for road vehicle occupant safety became apparent through the extensive use and acceptance of seatbelts in wartime aircraft.
In 1966 the company extended its vehicle safety expertise to children in the car in both the UK and Germany.
In the UK, our first child car seat was the stylish Britax Star Rider available in red, blue or grey for children 6 months of age to approx. five years old and featured a five-strap-harness.
The Galaxy Harness from the child seat could be used for children from 5-11 years old in order to restrain and protect them in the car.
The Lufki was developed in 1966-67 in Ulm, Germany by young father and Römer employee, Hermann Wetter.
The idea for a child car seat came to him the previous year when he drove his newborn daughter placed in a cardboard box in the backseat of the car from Vienna, Austria to Ulm. Upon being urged by his wife, he sought a better solution to transporting children safely in the car.
The Lufki was an inflatable car seat bright blue and red. The company only manufactured a few hundred pieces before Wetter continued to work on an improved version of the car seat.
In 1969, the Peggy was born.
The Peggy belongs to one of the most iconic, instantly recognizable products in Germany. The black and orange car seat is synonymous with childhood and car safety in the 1970s and 1980s.
It was manufactured by Britax Römer for more than 30 years.
Our heritage is deeply rooted in both safety and the automotive industry, as opposed to many other child car seat manufacturers whose heritage lies in the toy or pushchair business.
Britax had the unique know-how born out of an automotive safety environment and applied it to developing a strong child car seat that works seamlessly with the other components in the vehicle.
In the 1970s, Britax made the strategic decision to only focus its efforts on child car seats and early on in the decade, Britax and Römer merged.
Despite the long road that Britax has been on that led to child seats, one thing is clear: passenger safety runs in our DNA.
Specifically, the number one priority for all of our seats is not how they will look, but what they will do for the children they are built to protect and the everyday family freedom they provide to parents.
What makes our child safety so unique over the past 50 years and today has been our innovative technology full of industry firsts, our superior research and testing capabilities and our long-term partnerships in the motor vehicle and racing industries. What remains strong is that we are always pushing boundaries – so that your family life is boundary free.
CONGRATULATIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Mothercare, UK
Danielle Slater, Halfords child seat specialist, UK
VOLVO CAR CORPORATION, SWEEDEN
EDM, Child Product Distributor, Russia
Robert Bell, Chain store owner and formerly longtime Britax colleague, Sweden
Ulrich Riestenpatt gt. Richter, Managing Director, Volkswagen Zubehör GmbH / Volkswagen R GmbH
Matias Massó, S.A., Child Product Distributor, Spain
Patrick Kennedy, former Römer employee, New Mexico, USA
Karl Straub, Owner of ‘Princess’, a baby specialty store in Metzingen, Germany
Silke Vetter-Kissel und Manfred Kissel, Owners, Vetter for Kids, Weinheim, Germany
Andrea Hufnagel, Geschäftsführerin von Kinderwagen Risch, Heidelberg, Deutschland