Erwin Komenda

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erwin Komenda (born April 6, 1904 in Jauern am Semmering , Austria ; † August 22, 1966 ) was an Austrian automobile designer and head of the Porsche body construction department from 1931 to 1966 .

From 1926 to 1929 Komenda worked as a coachbuilder in the Steyr works , where he met Ferdinand Porsche . In 1929 Komenda first moved to Daimler-Benz in Sindelfingen as chief engineer , where he was employed until 1931. There he succeeded several times in reducing the weight of Mercedes cars through his designs. During this time, Mercedes also developed a streamlined car with a monocoque construction.

In October 1931, Komenda left the company and joined Ferdinand Porsche's new company . From 1931 until his death in 1966, Komenda was chief engineer and head of the Porsche body shop. Among other things, he developed the body construction of the VW Beetle , the most frequently built body of the 20th century. After the Second World War, Porsche briefly had its headquarters in Gmünd in Austria (Carinthia), where Komenda designed the first Porsche sports car, the Porsche Type 356 , and developed it several times, such as the Porsche 356 Speedster . Komenda also designed the shape of the Porsche 550 Spyder .

In 1955 Ferry Porsche appointed him chief engineer. Most recently, Komenda worked on the body development of the Porsche 911 .

Erwin Komenda died in August 1966 and was buried in the family grave in Weyer an der Enns .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Cumberford, The Cumberford Perspective in: Sports Car Market, 2012 (Engl.)
  2. ↑ Roger de Weck: Interview: Mr. Volkswagen . In: The time . December 30, 2013, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed April 18, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Komenda, Erwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian automobile designer
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Weyer (Enns) , Austria
DATE OF DEATH 22nd August 1966