The Volkswagen Beetle body is one of Erwin Komenda's designs
Erwin Komenda (Jauern am Semmering, April 6, 1904 - August 22, 1966) was an Austrian designer of the Volkswagen Beetle body and of various Porsche sports cars.
Komenda was born as the son of the engineer Franz Komenda and Leopoldine Wipplinger. He went to primary school in Weyer an der Enns (Upper Austria) and the citizens school in Steyr. From 1916 to 1920 he received a metalworking training in Steyr, and in 1920 he followed a course car design in Vienna. From 1920 to 1926 he worked as a designer in a bodybuilding company in Vienna.
Comendas worked from 1926 to 1929 at Steyr. Here he met Béla Barényi, who later claimed to have devised the Volkswagen Beetle in 1925, and Ferdinand Porsche when he became Technical Director in 1929. Komenda conceived a streamlined little car with the engine in the back. This idea was later developed by Porsche and Komenda to the KdF-Wagen, known after the war as the Volkswagen Beetle. In 1929, due to his advancing ideas, Komenda was accepted as Daimler-Benz's chief designer at Sindelfingen, where he became Head of the Production Production Division in 1930. He lowered the weight of Mercedes models through a better design. During this period, Mercedes also developed a powerline car with self-supporting bodywork. In October 1931, Komenda resigned from Mercedes to work with Ferdinand Porsche's new company. Until his death in 1966, Komenda was the head designer of Porsche and head of the department who designed bodywork.
Komenda designed the Volkswagen Beetle bodywork, and designed with Josef Mickl the aluminum body of the famous Auto Union Grand Prix race car. During the Second World War he designed, among other things, the bodywork for the Volkswagen Kübelwagen and the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen.
After the war, the headquarters of Porsche was located in Gmünd (Austria) for a short period of time. Komenda and Ferry Porsche designed the first Porsche sports car, the Porsche 356. There were variations on the 356, including the Porsche 356 Speedster. Komenda also designed the body for the Porsche 550, and the rolling bracket for the Porsche Targa. The latest model that he helped develop was the Porsche 911.
Komenda has been married to the Augustine Eugenie Hauptmann since 1920. The couple got two children, Erwin (1926) and Ingrid. Komenda died at the age of 62 in lung cancer. Externe link
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