SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY SOUTH OF STROMSUND

We journey to Sweden to find the location that changed the course of car safety. We start from an ice lake near Arjeplog, a tiny village near the Arctic Circle whose population swells in winter as car companies conduct cold weather testing. It’s another 300km to Stromsund, a six-hour grind thanks to convoys of trucks and snow ploughs.

We make it but can’t find the historic spot as the terrain either side of town is covered in ice and snow.

Then there’s divine intervention — we find the tow company that pulled Werner-Mohn from the ditch and the new owners know how to find Tommy Bjurstrom, who as a lad went with his dad that day to retrieve some fancy new Mercedes.

We show the former towie photos of the crashed car and a young Tommy with his father and the tow truck. His eyes light up and he beckons us to follow.

We head about 4km south to a nondescript stretch of straight road. There is still a ditch but with the trees cleared from the edge.

The men get out and hug. Werner-Mohn can’t believe Tommy has found the spot. The towie can’t believe what the fuss is all about — until we explain what that crash led to and how many lives the technology has saved since.

Werner-Mohn reflects on the events: “In my heart I was wounded because it was my invention and it was given away.

“But of course I now see the best decision was … to make it available to everyone, to spread it out to all cars.”