After his retirement in 1972, and particularly after the death of his wife in 1980, Barényi devoted himself to building up his personal archives. During this time he received numerous awards for his life’s work as the inventor and pioneer of passive safety (and indeed he had already received the Rudolf Diesel medal from the German Inventors’ Association in 1967).

In 1981 he was awarded the Aachen and Munich Prize for technology and the applied sciences, and in 1986 the Deutsche Museum in Munich honored him with a special exhibition entitled “Barényi – and his design concept of 1925 for the people’s car [Volkswagen] of the future.” This was followed by another Deutsche Museum exhibition the following year, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, entitled “Béla Barényi, automotive pioneer.” And in 1987 he received the Badge of Honor of the city of Sindelfingen and the freedom of the town of Terracina. His portrait was placed in the Inventors’ Gallery at the German Patent Office in Munich, and the Museum of Technology in Vienna devoted several display cases to his achievements – a fitting gesture of recognition from the country of his birth. He was also appointed as an emeritus professor in Austria in 1989, and received the city of Baden’s Culture Prize for outstanding scientific achievements. In 1991 he even became the main character in a Mercedes-Benz publicity film on automotive safety.

The international significance of his developments was highlighted in 1994 by his induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, USA. This puts him alongside automobile pioneers like Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. Béla Barényi received the Federal German Cross of Merit [Bundesverdienstkreuz] in 1995, and died in Böblingen on May 30, 1997, at the age of 90.

The man who pioneered passive safety is commemorated by plaques in Germany, Austria and Italy, and particularly by the Béla Barényi Prize, introduced in 2005. This prize is awarded by Bosch and the Austrian Vintage Motor Car Association for special achievements in working for the preservation of the automotive heritage.