Hans Ledwinka | |
|---|---|
 Ledwinka in 1942 | |
| Born | (1878-02-14)14 February 1878 |
| Died | 2 March 1967(1967-03-02) (aged 89) |
| Nationality | Austro-Hungarian,Austrian |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Children | Erich Ledwinka,Fritz Ledwinka |
| Engineering career | |
| Projects | Tatra 11,Tatra 77,Tatra 87,Tatra 97,Tatra 111 |
| Significant design | Backbone chassis, air-cooled engines, swing-axles |
Hans Ledwinka (14 February 1878 – 2 March 1967) was an Austrianautomobile designer.
Ledwinka was born inKlosterneuburg (Lower Austria), near Vienna, then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire.
He started his career as a mechanic, and later studied in Vienna. As a young man he worked for Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau inKopřivnice, thenNesselsdorf, inMoravia, the company that later becameTatra. 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 ofWorld War I in May 1916 he accepted directorship atSteyr, initially working at home and moving there permanently in 1917.[1]
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") withswing axles, fullyindependent suspension andrear-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 sonErich, who became chief designer at Tatra, Ledwinka andErich Übelacker, a German engineer also employed by Tatra, designed the streamlined Tatra modelsT77,T77a,T87, andT97, which had rear-mounted air-cooled engines.
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.
In 2007 Hans Ledwinka was inducted in theEuropean Automotive Hall of Fame [nl].
Ledwinka's son Erich, was also a car designer. He designed the uniqueHaflinger forSteyr-Daimler-Puch, as well as the largerPinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle. Both utilize tubular chassis and swing portal axles.
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