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Erwin Komenda

 

 
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Erwin Komenda
 
 
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Erwin Komenda (April 6, 1904 - August 22, 1966) was the designer of the bodies for the VW Beetle and various Porsche
Porsche

Porsche SE or Porsche is a Germany automotive industry of luxury vehicle automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Porsche family and Pi?ch families....
 sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
s.

He was born in Weyer
Weyer

Weyer is a German surname and placename. Etymologically, it appears to be a habitational name meaning "someone living in a place called Weier, Weiher or Weyer"....
, a little village in Upper Austria
Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine States of Austria or Bundesl?nder of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria , and Salzburg ....
 near Steyr
Steyr

Steyr is a town in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria, located at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns .It has a long history as a manufacturing center, and has given its name to several manufacturers headquartered there, such as Steyr Mannlicher , Steyr Tractor, and Steyr Automobile....
. From 1926 to 1929 he worked as a car-body designer in the Steyr
Steyr-Daimler-Puch

Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria which was broken up in 1990. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names....
 factories. There he met Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche

Prof. Dr. Ing h.c. Ferdinand Porsche was an Austria-Hungary automotive engineering. He is best known for creating the Volkswagen Beetle as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles, and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I, Tiger II and the Elefant....
 in 1929 when Porsche joined Steyr as technical director. In 1929 Komenda's innovative ideas landed him the post of Chief Engineer for Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines which was founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest?which was valid until year 2000?was signed on May 1 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie....
 in Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen

Sindelfingen is a town in the German state of Baden-W?rttemberg. It lies 15 km southwest of Stuttgart. The economy is mostly based upon the automobile industry, especially the Daimler AG factory and Smart offices ....
 (Germany), a position he held until 1931.






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Erwin Komenda (April 6, 1904 - August 22, 1966) was the designer of the bodies for the VW Beetle and various Porsche
Porsche

Porsche SE or Porsche is a Germany automotive industry of luxury vehicle automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Porsche family and Pi?ch families....
 sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
s.

He was born in Weyer
Weyer

Weyer is a German surname and placename. Etymologically, it appears to be a habitational name meaning "someone living in a place called Weier, Weiher or Weyer"....
, a little village in Upper Austria
Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine States of Austria or Bundesl?nder of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria , and Salzburg ....
 near Steyr
Steyr

Steyr is a town in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria, located at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns .It has a long history as a manufacturing center, and has given its name to several manufacturers headquartered there, such as Steyr Mannlicher , Steyr Tractor, and Steyr Automobile....
. From 1926 to 1929 he worked as a car-body designer in the Steyr
Steyr-Daimler-Puch

Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria which was broken up in 1990. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names....
 factories. There he met Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche

Prof. Dr. Ing h.c. Ferdinand Porsche was an Austria-Hungary automotive engineering. He is best known for creating the Volkswagen Beetle as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles, and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I, Tiger II and the Elefant....
 in 1929 when Porsche joined Steyr as technical director. In 1929 Komenda's innovative ideas landed him the post of Chief Engineer for Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines which was founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest?which was valid until year 2000?was signed on May 1 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie....
 in Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen

Sindelfingen is a town in the German state of Baden-W?rttemberg. It lies 15 km southwest of Stuttgart. The economy is mostly based upon the automobile industry, especially the Daimler AG factory and Smart offices ....
 (Germany), a position he held until 1931. During his tenure he managed in most cases to reduce the weight of Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coach es, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz....
 cars through better design. During that period Mercedes also developed a streamlined car with monocoque
Monocoque

Monocoque, from Greek language for single and French for shell , is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin....
 construction. In October 1931, Komenda resigned his most respectable job with Mercedes and joined Ferdinand Porsche's new company, a step into an unknown future.

From 1931 to his death in 1966 Komenda was chief engineer and leader of the Porsche
Porsche

Porsche SE or Porsche is a Germany automotive industry of luxury vehicle automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Porsche family and Pi?ch families....
 car-body-construction department.

Komenda developed the car body construction of the VW Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Type 1 is an economy car produced by the Germany auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. The car was originally known as K?fer, the German language word for "beetle," from which the popular English nickname originates....
, the most built car body of the last century. He designed with his co-worker Josef Mickl the famous Auto Union
Auto Union

Auto Union was an amalgamation of four Germany automobile manufacturers, established in 1932 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as an independent subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
 Grand Prix car and the Cisitalia
Cisitalia

Cisitalia was an Italy sports and racing car constructor. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Consorzio Industriale Sportive Italia," a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio....
 Grand Prix car.

After World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 Porsche was (for a short time) headquartered in Gmünd
Gmünd

Gm?nd is a town and municipality in Spittal an der Drau , Carinthia , Austria....
 in Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
, where Komenda and Ferry Porsche designed the first Porsche sports car, the Porsche type 356
Porsche 356

The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile. It was a lightweight and nimble handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2 door sports car available in hardtop and convertible configurations....
. Further 356 variations and developments followed, including the 356 Porsche speedster. Komenda also worked out the design of the Porsche 550 Spyder. Due to his early death his last work for the Porsche company was with the development of the Porsche 911
Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is a sports car made by Porsche Aktiengesellschaft of Stuttgart, Germany. The famous, distinctive, and durable design is notable for being rear engined like the Porsche-designed Volkswagen Beetle it had been based on....
.

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