Carpenter (racing car)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zimmermann , founded by Willi Zimmermann, was a German racing team from the 1950s and 1960s that fielded a racing car of the same name.

Willi Zimmermann was one of the many German designers who began to build a racing car for Formula Junior at the end of the 1950s . However, Zimmermann's design differed from its contemporaries in one essential respect. The competition primarily relied on DKW engines for the drive . However, Zimmermann opted for a mid-engine (inspired by the design of the Formula Junior Cooper ) and used a Goliath Hansa four-cylinder boxer engine. His car was based on a tubular space frame with independent suspension. He used transverse spring leaves and lower wishbones at the front and rear.

Overall, the car looked a bit chunky and stocky, which was primarily due to the large telescopic dampers. Zimmermann himself was able to win several national races with the vehicle in 1959, but had to realize that the mid-engine design was too fragile. So in 1960 he converted the vehicle to a DKW engine. As the competition grew more and more intense and Zimmermann lacked the funds for a new building, the small team soon disappeared from the scene.

Literature and Sources

  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A to Z after 1945 Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 271, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .