He started his career as a mechanic, and later studied in Vienna. As a young man he worked for Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau in Nesselsdorf, the company that later became Tatra in Moravia. He was first employed in the construction of railroad cars, and later involved in the production of the first cars made by this firm. He designed the 5.3-litre, six-cylinder Type U motor car. In the midst of World War I in May 1916 he accepted directorship at Steyr, initially working at home and moving there permanently in 1917.[1]
Chief designer at Tatraedit
Backbone chassis, developed by Hans Ledwinka in 1923 for Tatra. The company uses the modernized concept to this day.
Ledwinka returned to Tatra company (originally Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau) in Kopřivnice (Nesselsdorf), then in Czechoslovakia, and between 1921 and 1937 he was their chief design engineer. He invented the frameless central tubular chassis (so-called "backbone chassis") with swing axles, fully independent suspension and rear-mountedair-cooledflat engine. Another of Ledwinka's major contributions to automobile design was the streamlined car body. Under him, Tatra brought the first mass-produced streamlined cars to market. With his son Erich, who became chief designer at Tatra, Ledwinka and Erich Übelacker, a German engineer also employed by Tatra, designed the streamlined Tatra models T77, T77a, T87, and T97, which had rear-mounted air-cooled engines.
Both Adolf Hitler and Ferdinand Porsche were influenced by the Tatras.[2] Hitler was a keen automotive enthusiast, and had ridden in Tatras during political tours of Czechoslovakia.[2] He had also dined numerous times with Hans Ledwinka.[2] After one of these dinners Hitler remarked to Porsche, "This is the car for my roads".[2][3] While the book Car Wars, quotes Hitler as saying it was "the kind of car I want for my highways".[4] In any case, of Ledwinka, Porsche admitted "Well, sometimes I looked over his shoulder and sometimes he looked over mine" while designing the VolkswagenType 1.[2][3][4] There is no doubt that the Type 1 bore a striking resemblance to the earlier Tatra.[2] Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. At the same time, Tatra was forced to stop producing the T97. The matter was re-opened after World War II and in 1965 Volkswagen paid Tatra 1,000,000 Deutsche Marks in an out-of-court settlement.[5]
Final yearsedit
After WWII Ledwinka was accused of collaboration with the German occupation forces and jailed for five years in Czechoslovakia. After his release in 1951, he refused to work for Tatra, and retired to Munich, Germany where he died in 1967.
The legacyedit
In 2007 Hans Ledwinka was inducted in the European Automotive Hall of Fame [nl].
hans, ledwinka, february, 1878, march, 1967, austrian, automobile, designer, ledwinka, 1942born, 1878, february, 1878klosterneuburg, lower, austria, austro, hungarian, empiredied2, march, 1967, 1967, aged, munich, west, germanynationalityaustro, hungarian, aus. Hans Ledwinka 14 February 1878 2 March 1967 was an Austrian automobile designer Hans LedwinkaLedwinka in 1942Born 1878 02 14 14 February 1878Klosterneuburg Lower Austria Austro Hungarian EmpireDied2 March 1967 1967 03 02 aged 89 Munich West GermanyNationalityAustro Hungarian AustrianOccupationEngineerChildrenErich Ledwinka Fritz LedwinkaEngineering careerProjectsTatra 11 Tatra 77 Tatra 87 Tatra 97 Tatra 111Significant designBackbone chassis air cooled engines swing axles Contents 1 Youth 2 Chief designer at Tatra 3 Volkswagen controversy 4 Final years 5 The legacy 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksYouth editLedwinka was born in Klosterneuburg Lower Austria near Vienna then part of the Austro Hungarian Empire He started his career as a mechanic and later studied in Vienna As a young man he worked for Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau in Nesselsdorf the company that later became Tatra in Moravia He was first employed in the construction of railroad cars and later involved in the production of the first cars made by this firm He designed the 5 3 litre six cylinder Type U motor car In the midst of World War I in May 1916 he accepted directorship at Steyr initially working at home and moving there permanently in 1917 1 Chief designer at Tatra edit nbsp Backbone chassis developed by Hans Ledwinka in 1923 for Tatra The company uses the modernized concept to this day Ledwinka returned to Tatra company originally Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau in Koprivnice Nesselsdorf then in Czechoslovakia and between 1921 and 1937 he was their chief design engineer He invented the frameless central tubular chassis so called backbone chassis with swing axles fully independent suspension and rear mounted air cooled flat engine Another of Ledwinka s major contributions to automobile design was the streamlined car body Under him Tatra brought the first mass produced streamlined cars to market With his son Erich who became chief designer at Tatra Ledwinka and Erich Ubelacker a German engineer also employed by Tatra designed the streamlined Tatra models T77 T77a T87 and T97 which had rear mounted air cooled engines Volkswagen controversy editSee also Tatra V570 Both Adolf Hitler and Ferdinand Porsche were influenced by the Tatras 2 Hitler was a keen automotive enthusiast and had ridden in Tatras during political tours of Czechoslovakia 2 He had also dined numerous times with Hans Ledwinka 2 After one of these dinners Hitler remarked to Porsche This is the car for my roads 2 3 While the book Car Wars quotes Hitler as saying it was the kind of car I want for my highways 4 In any case of Ledwinka Porsche admitted Well sometimes I looked over his shoulder and sometimes he looked over mine while designing the Volkswagen Type 1 2 3 4 There is no doubt that the Type 1 bore a striking resemblance to the earlier Tatra 2 Tatra launched a lawsuit but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia At the same time Tatra was forced to stop producing the T97 The matter was re opened after World War II and in 1965 Volkswagen paid Tatra 1 000 000 Deutsche Marks in an out of court settlement 5 Final years editAfter WWII Ledwinka was accused of collaboration with the German occupation forces and jailed for five years in Czechoslovakia After his release in 1951 he refused to work for Tatra and retired to Munich Germany where he died in 1967 The legacy editIn 2007 Hans Ledwinka was inducted in the European Automotive Hall of Fame nl Ledwinka s son Erich was also a car designer He designed the unique Haflinger for Steyr Daimler Puch as well as the larger Pinzgauer High Mobility All Terrain Vehicle Both utilize tubular chassis and swing portal axles See also editJoseph Ledwinka TatraNotes edit Schmarbeck Wolfgang 1997 Hans Ledwinka Seine Autos Sein Leben in German Graz H Weishaupt Verlag pp 35 36 ISBN 3 900310 56 4 a b c d e f Willson Quentin The Ultimate Classic Car Book New York New York DK Publishing Inc 1995 ISBN 0 7894 0159 2 pp 214 215 a b Margolius Ivan and Henry John G Tatra The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka Harrow SAF 1990 a b Car Wars Jonathan Mantle Arcade Publishing 1997 Schmarbeck Wolfgang 1997 Hans Ledwinka Seine Autos Sein Leben in German Graz H Weishaupt Verlag p 174 ISBN 3 900310 56 4 References editBibliographyMargolius Ivan Henry John G 1990 Tatra The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka Harrow SAF ISBN 0 946719 06 3 Margolius Ivan Henry John G 2015 Tatra The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka Dorchester Veloce ISBN 978 1 845847 99 9 External links edithttp www aeiou at aeiou encyclop l l358333 htm internal amp action setlanguage action LANGUAGE en Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hans Ledwinka amp oldid 1135200265, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
